Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters Day Four: O’Connor To Face Rocket In Jeddah
Joe O’Connor looks set to provide a tough test for Ronnie O’Sullivan in the last 32 of the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters having whitewashed Sanderson Lam 5-0 in round four.
O’Connor was runner-up in the Championship League earlier in the season and will feel confident of his chances ahead of a clash with fans’ favourite O’Sullivan on Tuesday night in Jeddah. Breaks of 97, 69 and 112 helped O’Connor to put Lam to the slaughter.
“I am playing solid this season, though I feel there are plenty of gears to come,” said Leicester’s O’Connor. “I have been taking chances and not missing easy balls. This could be the season where I do really well and lift my first trophy. I come to every tournament trying to win it.
“Ronnie is the best ever, he has always been the main man in snooker. He’s a pleasure to watch when he is on form. I enjoy taking on the top players on centre stage, I don’t hide away from the headlights.”
Stephen Maguire built on his excellent start to the season by beating close friend Anthony McGill 5-0 with breaks of 52, 128, 81, 52, 64 and 64 to book a tie with Ding Junhui. “That was the best I have played this season by a mile,” said Glasgow’s Maguire, who won the first ranking event of the campaign at the Championship League. “We can all play – Anthony could have done that to me on another tonight. When you win matches you gain confidence and enjoy it more. The big boys come into it now but maybe I can still compete with them.“
Ben Woollaston again proved his ability to knock out higher ranked players as he edged out Jack Lisowski 5-4 to set up a match with Neil Robertson. Woollaston finished last season by beating Mark Selby at the Crucible, which he described as the best win of his career so far. And today the Leicester cueman came from 2-0 down to get the better of Lisowski with a top break of 63.
“Jack played better than me but I stole a few frames on the pink and black,” said Woollaston. “Beating Mark (at the Crucible) gave me a lot of confidence in my safety play in particular. I know I need to score heavier, if I score well then I can beat anyone because I will always create chances. I have put extra effort into that, I know if I want to be a top 16 player then I need to improve.”
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh followed up Sunday’s 147 heroics by beating former Crucible finalist Jak Jones 5-1. After losing the first frame, Thailand’s Un-Nooh rattled in runs of 57, 67, 95, 110 and 103 as he set up an intriguing clash with Shaun Murphy.
China’s Yuan Sijun remains unbeaten in ranking event matches so far this season as he thrashed Stan Moody 5-0 with top breaks of 89 and 65. Oliver Lines top scored with 106 as he beat Noppon Saengkham 5-2 to set up a tie with friend Judd Trump.
Elliot Slessor enjoyed a superb comeback from 4-1 down to beat Lan Yuhao 5-4, while Wu Yize looked sharp in a 5-1 win over Matthew Stevens, firing runs of 73, 105, 124, 73 and 95.
Steven Hallworth secured his highest ever pay day of £20,000 by beating Zhou Yuelong. Hallworth is one of four players who have made it from round one to reach the last 32, alongside Pakistan’s Farakh Ajaib, China’s Chang Bingyu and Ukraine’s Iulian Boiko.
I’m very happy for Ben Woollaston whose career was badly impacted by health issues after the pandemic as he suffered from “long covid” but at the same time I’m extremely frustrated by Jack Lisowski’s inability to do justice to his incredible talent. Of course, Jack suffered from cancer as a teenager, a terrible ordeal, and none of us know what “scars” this illness, and the real prospect of possibly losing his life so very young, have left on his mind and body. We shouldn’t judge but when one watches him in full flow, he makes it look so easy and effortless and then, so often, the odd silly mistake happens out of nowhere …
I’m also happy for Iulian Boiko. It feels like he’s been around for a very long time. I remember him playing at the South West Snooker Academy, a place that closed after the 2019 Pink Ribbon. He was just a child, he’s only 19 now. We should remember how young he still is. Far too much was expected from him, far too early. And, also, the situation in his country must weight on his mind. Every match won is more than just a victory at the table.
Ronnie enters the fray today and faces Joe O’Connor. That won’t be easy!
2 thoughts on “The 2025 Saudi Arabia Masters – Day 4”
I’m really worried about the future of snooker now. Loads of empty seats both in Shanghai and Saudi. I don’t think the game is growing at all. I think that’s a lie. Most of the young players are awful. The tour actually shrank. A few years ago we had tournaments all over Europe and even Australia. None of that now. It’s all just a pretentious money grab. Now imagine when Ronnie does retire…
Regarding Shanghai, I have been at that event and there was a good crowd, but it didn’t show on TV because the seats close to the tables were far too expensive for the “normal” Chinese citizen. So the “crowd” was sat higher up in the arena and not visible on TV. In the UK or Europe the organisers would probably have moved them closer to the table, as it doesn’t look good on TV when empty but not in China. RE Saudi Arabia it looks quite empty indeed but then it’s a very huge arena and still early stages. A few years back we had indeed the PTCs, many in mainland Europe. They were costly for the players. Unless you made it to the last day, you lost money. They were also not profitable for the European promoters because WST wanted most of the money. It was a lot of work for the promoters for very little … sometimes, often actually, it even cost them. Paul Mount had built a fantastic venue at the SWSA, he had been promised all sorts by WST. But it didn’t “yield” what he expected and eventually he closed the venue, refurbished it for his own business use and stopped managing snooker players. Paul loves snooker dearly but, again, it hadn’t turned the way WST had promised it would.
And an additional issue was the sponsoring. In most mainland Europe countries at the time, promoting betting on television, or similar media was forbidden. I remember one event in particular in Poland, where we were told that either the sponsors banners had to be taken down, or the event could not be streamed/broadcast at all.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
I’m really worried about the future of snooker now. Loads of empty seats both in Shanghai and Saudi. I don’t think the game is growing at all. I think that’s a lie. Most of the young players are awful. The tour actually shrank. A few years ago we had tournaments all over Europe and even Australia. None of that now. It’s all just a pretentious money grab. Now imagine when Ronnie does retire…
Regarding Shanghai, I have been at that event and there was a good crowd, but it didn’t show on TV because the seats close to the tables were far too expensive for the “normal” Chinese citizen. So the “crowd” was sat higher up in the arena and not visible on TV. In the UK or Europe the organisers would probably have moved them closer to the table, as it doesn’t look good on TV when empty but not in China. RE Saudi Arabia it looks quite empty indeed but then it’s a very huge arena and still early stages. A few years back we had indeed the PTCs, many in mainland Europe. They were costly for the players. Unless you made it to the last day, you lost money. They were also not profitable for the European promoters because WST wanted most of the money. It was a lot of work for the promoters for very little … sometimes, often actually, it even cost them. Paul Mount had built a fantastic venue at the SWSA, he had been promised all sorts by WST. But it didn’t “yield” what he expected and eventually he closed the venue, refurbished it for his own business use and stopped managing snooker players. Paul loves snooker dearly but, again, it hadn’t turned the way WST had promised it would.
And an additional issue was the sponsoring. In most mainland Europe countries at the time, promoting betting on television, or similar media was forbidden. I remember one event in particular in Poland, where we were told that either the sponsors banners had to be taken down, or the event could not be streamed/broadcast at all.