It was an eventful day in Xi’An , with some really unexpected results coming our way. Indeed, as we enter the round of 32, only 8 of the top 16 players are still in the draw.
Robert Milkins boosted his tour survival hopes with a stunning 5-2 win over World Champion Zhao Xintong at the Xi’an Grand Prix.
Milkins first turned professional in 1995, but he now finds himself ranked 56th in the world. He’s currently projected to end the season in 74th position on the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings and faces potential relegation.
A miserable current campaign had seen Milkins only manage to register three match wins heading into today. However, four frames on the bounce, from 2-1 down, saw him overcome China’s first ever Crucible king. He now faces close friend Jimmy Robertson.
2023 Welsh Open winner Milkins said: “It does feel good. I was expecting Zhao to play better, but he struggled. You just have to take it. I’ve lost a lot of deciders this season and it has put me in a bad position. I’ve really been struggling and everything is like a pint of blood at the moment.
“I’ve been playing well when practising. I’ve been waiting for something to happen, but I haven’t taken it into any matches at all this year. It has been a bit of a shambles. A couple of deciders the other way and it could be different.
“Tournaments are very tough to win nowadays. I was lucky to win a couple and I’ll never forget that. I could do with winning one now. I don’t want to be going into the World Championship knowing I have to win matches to stay on tour.”
Ronnie O’Sullivan admitted he is hitting the ball the best he has in 13 years, after a 5-1 demolition of Yao Pengchang.
The Rocket hammered home two 147 breaks during a remarkable semi-final win over Chris Wakelin at the recent Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters, exhibiting his brilliant best on one of the sport’s biggest stages.
Breaks of 63, 128, 53 and 54 helped him to victory today and earned a last 32 clash with Stephen Maguire.
O’Sullivan said: “I feel like I’m cueing as well as I have done since 2012. I played well between 2016 and 2019, but the last few years were pretty awful. I know I had some good wins but I was struggling with ball striking. At the moment I’m hitting the ball so pure and so clean. Sometimes when I’m practising I hit the ball so well I feel bored.”
Teenager Stan Moody continued his tremendous start to the season with a 5-3 win over two-time world finalist Ali Carter at the Xi’an Grand Prix, but played down headlines dubbing him the “Luke Littler of snooker”.
World number 49 Moody went on a stunning run to the quarters of the Wuhan Open earlier in the campaign and followed that up by making the same stage at the British Open. That has sparked a frenzy of media interest in the talented Englishman.
Next up this week for Moody is 2015 World Champion Stuart Bingham. After today’s game he was keen to talk down the Littler links and admitted the recent surge in 147s has left him craving one of his own.
“I’ve seen a few of the headlines. I’ve got a long way to go to be a Luke Littler of snooker yet, but I’m on my way,” said 19-year-old Moody. “I want to be top 32 by the end of the season and go deeper in tournaments. I’m doing alright.
“I want one. I’ve only ever had one 147 which is a bit mad, but if I get a chance I’ll go for it. I only made my first one about five months ago, in a practice match, which is a bit mad.”
.World number one Judd Trump did make a maximum yesterday, but he tumbled out 5-4 at the hands of Matthew Stevens today, while Mark Selby suffered a shock 5-4 exit against Mark Davis
Strangely not mentioned in the above report is the 5-4 victory by Oliver Lines over Mark Allen.
Here, two more videos shared on Youtube and some pictures shared on social media. The first of the two videos presents the same frame as the one in the above WST report, but in full.
Playing the 1,000th ranking event match of his illustrious career, Ronnie O’Sullivan looked sharp as he fired two centuries in a 5-0 win over Iulian Boiko to reach the last 64 of the Xi’an Grand Prix.
Seven-time World Champion O’Sullivan joins John Higgins and Mark Williams as the only players to reach four figures in terms of matches in ranking events. In fact this was the Rocket’s first competitive outing for over seven weeks, as his last appearance was at the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters in August, when he made two 147s in the semi-finals before losing an epic final 10-9 to Neil Robertson. He chose not to compete in the next three tournaments but delighted fans in Xi’an today with a few vintage moments, notably breaks of 107 in the opening frame and 112 in the fourth.
“It was a tough game, there were two or three frames which Iulian could have won,” said 49-year-old O’Sullivan, who will face Yao Pengcheng on Wednesday. “I haven’t played for nearly two months so it felt a bit strange to play a serious game, I felt a bit rusty. My preparation on the practice table has been good, but practice and playing matches are very different.
“It’s an amazing milestone (1,000 ranking event matches), well done to Mark and John for reaching it too. We knew each other as juniors, I have been playing Mark since we were ten. Now we have been pros for 33 years, we have all had really good careers and we are still going.“
There were two maximum breaks on Tuesday – only the fifth time in snooker history that multiple 147s have been made on the same day. World number one Judd Trump scored one of those during a 5-2 win over Onyee Ng, while Aaron Hill made the other in a 5-2 win over Huang Jiahao – for more on that story click here.
Defending champion Kyren Wilson started strongly with a 5-1 defeat of Haris Tahir, compiling breaks of 52, 60, 103 and 76, and now receives a bye into the last 32 as his second round opponent Marco Fu has withdrawn due to injury
Wilson revealed afterwards that his wife Sophie has been unwell in recent weeks, possibly explaining a poor run of results as he has not reached a semi-final since winning the invitational Shanghai Masters in July. “It has been a torrid time off the table, my wife has been very poorly,” said the world number two.
“She was having surgery while I was at the Wuhan Open, it was a last minute decision to play in that event but it did my head in a bit, to know she was on the operating table while I was hitting snooker balls. Those are the sacrifices that me and my family are willing to make to be successful at this game. But sometimes you have to make sure your head is clear. She has six weeks until recovery. I have not really played snooker for a few weeks but I am slowly putting more time in and focussing on my game so hopefully I’ll start seeing results.”
Reflecting on today’s victory, he added: “As defending champion you don’t want to go out in the first round so it’s a pleasing win. I have very fond memories of this place from last year. It’s a fabulous city, I’m going to look around and go a bit deeper into the culture. I like visiting temples and I’m hoping to go and see the Terracotta Warriors. We do so much travelling around China and I love seeing the historic landmarks and creating new memories.”
Ding Junhui top scored with 94 in a 5-1 win over Sam Craigie while Neil Robertson saw off Leone Crowley by the same scoreline. World Champion Zhao Xintong beat Xinbo Wang 5-2, while Louis Heathcote continued his strong start to the season with a 5-0 defeat of Jackson Page.
Saudi Masters semi-finalist Elliot Slessor earned a 5-3 success against Ricky Walden with top runs of 132 and 117, while BetVictor English
Here are the scores for Ronnie’s match:
Obviously a 1000 ranking professional matches is some milestone!
Congratulations Ronnie, on the win and on the 1000th!
The match is available here:
It was an interesting match. Ronnie showed a lot of patience and his tactical game was excellent in general. But he didn’t score as heavily as he used to do and Julian had his fair share of chances. Ronnie will have to improve if he is to go deep in this tournament.
Ronnie O’Sullivan says it would ‘mean a lot’ to break record held by ‘father figure’
by Phil Haigh
Ronnie O’Sullivan is often coy on whether he is bothered about breaking snooker records or not, but one would certainly mean a lot to the Rocket.
The 49-year-old has plenty of pieces of snooker history on his CV, with the most ranking titles, most Triple Crown triumphs and most centuries among them.
O’Sullivan is level on seven World Championship titles with Stephen Hendry in terms of the modern record, and he will be trying to claim that one for himself as well before he hangs up his cue.
There is the possibility the Rocket can write his name into the history books in another way this season, by becoming the oldest winner of a ranking event.
His former mentor and coach Ray Reardon holds that record, setting it way back at the 1982 Professional Players Tournament, which he won aged 50 years and 14 days.
The legendary six-time world champion died aged 91 last year leaving behind an immense snooker legacy, which included improving O’Sullivan’s game dramatically when they worked together 20 years ago.
O’Sullivan doesn’t turn 50 until December 5 so he cannot break Reardon’s record just yet, but if he can be the one to do it, it would mean a lot to him.
‘Yeah, listen, I loved Ray, he was like a father figure to me, you know,’ O’Sullivan told Metro. ‘I got to know him so well, so if I was to break Ray’s record, it would be nice.
‘I’m sure he’d be pleased and he’d be looking down, just going, “I’m happy it was Ronnie that took my record.”
‘So yeah, definitely, it would mean a lot.’
Reardon predicted that O’Sullivan would break his record as the oldest ranking event winner, telling World Snooker Tour in 2023:
‘I can’t see any reason why not. I wish him well because I’m on his side. It would be wonderful. Good for him. What a wonderful player and the most natural player you will ever see.
‘I was amazed when I worked with him. I saw him play and I’d heard about him and read about him. To stand by him for a practice session is unbelievable. It is magic and I used to call him the magician. He wouldn’t have that, he wanted to be The Rocket.’
There is every chance that O’Sullivan could end up as the oldest ranking event winner, but he may not be the player to beat Reardon’s record as there are others who can get there first.
Mark Williams is in the draw for the Xi’an Grand Prix, starting Tuesday, and if he wins then the Welshman will become the oldest winner of a ranking title.
John Higgins lost in his Xi’an qualifier, but he is also already older than Reardon was when he won his last ranking event, so the Wizard of Wishaw could also beat the Rocket to the record in the coming weeks and months.
When he won the World Open in March this year, Higgins became the oldest player to win a ranking title since Reardon at 49 years old, then added another trophy to his collection at the Tour Championship the following month, shortly before his 50th birthday.
Those Class of 92 legends are the most likely to break Reardon’s record, but they are not the oldest players still on the professional tour.
Jimmy White (63), Ken Doherty (56) and Mark Davis (53) are all still competing professionally, although their odds of claiming the record from Reardon are remote.
O’Sullivan’s first chance to break the record – if no one has beaten him to it by then – would be the Scottish Open in December, but he is very unlikely to play in that event.
As always, thanks to Kalacs for their help. The best “media hunter” on the Intenet!
Addendum:
Ronnie practicing in Xi’An – shared by Victoria (6.10.2025)
In this interview by Phil Haigh, Ronnie explain how some “obsevations” from Reanne Evans helped him rediscover his game.
Ronnie O’Sullivan reveals Reanne Evans advice has changed his game: ‘She was right!’
Ronnie O’Sullivan feels things are looking up for his game (Picture: Getty Images)
Ronnie O’Sullivan is enjoying playing snooker again, feeling an upturn in performances from last season, partly down to some advice from 12-time women’s world champion Reanne Evans.
The last campaign was one to forget for the Rocket as he struggled for results and to reach anything like the immense standard he is capable of.
His frustrations boiled over in January when he snapped his cue and then pulled out of a number of tournaments, including the Masters.
He returned at the World Championship in April and made the semi-finals, but still wasn’t finding top form and was hammered 17-7 in the last four by eventual champion Zhao Xintong.
After a summer off, including moving to Dubai, O’Sullivan’s game looks to be heading in the right direction, reaching the Saudi Arabia Masters final where he narrowly lost to 10-9 to Neil Robertson.
The semi-finals of that event in Jeddah saw the Rocket knock in two 147s in his win over Chris Wakelin, so the magic is certainly back in the new cue he is playing with this season.
O’Sullivan also credits a comment from legend of women’s snooker, Evans, who noted a change in his game which he has tried to put right and has helped rediscover some enjoyment for the sport.
Reanne Evans noticed a change in O’Sullivan’s game which he hadn’t (Picture: Getty Images)
‘Reanne Evans came up to me a year ago and she said, “you’re not the player you was”,’ O’Sullivan told Metro. ‘I was like, “what do you mean?”
‘She went, “well, you know, blah, blah, blah,” I won’t go into details, and I thought, okay, interesting, but I didn’t really pay much attention to it.
‘Then at Sheffield, she went, “yeah, you used to do this, you used to do that.” I was thinking, really?
‘But I started looking at old videos and it’s not even a technique thing, it was more how I went about my approach to the shot and that sort of stuff. And she was right and I was like…wow!
‘So I’ve tried to sort of unlearn that. It’s not easy, but I feel like I’m on the right track and I feel like I’m just devoting all my time to snooker now, and as a consequence, I feel better on the practice table.
‘I feel like I want to go to tournaments, I feel like I wish I could have gone to Brentwood, I wish I could have gone to play in Wuhan. I wish I could do them all because I’m enjoying playing, which is great.’
O’Sullivan is yet to win a title this campaign, and hasn’t lifted a trophy since the World Masters of Snooker in March 2024, but he feels he is playing at a level again which means success will likely follow.
The double-147 exhibition of brilliance against Wakelin was the standout, but he feels he has been good throughout his Shanghai Masters and Saudi campaigns so far.
‘That was just a great performance, but I thought I played great in the final, I thought I played very well against [Kyren] Wilson in Shanghai,’ he said. ‘I think every match I’ve played this year has been good.
‘I’ve played seven matches and I’ve played seven good matches whereas when I won them five tournaments in that season [2023/24], I might have played seven good matches in the whole year!
‘So that’s always been the most important thing to me, you know, the result has always been secondary. But it’s nice to get a few results and play well.’
The Rocket confirms his schedule this season
O’Sullivan will be at the Xi’an Grand Prix next week as he looks to continue the good form he has shown, followed by the International Championship in Nanjing and then the UK Championship in York before the end of the year.
‘I’ll be doing the China one, which is Xi’an,’ he said. ‘Hopefully I’ll be doing the Nanjing one in China and hopefully I’ll be doing the UK championships. That’s the plan anyway.’
However, he told talkSPORT that he may not play the Masters in January as he keeps his travelling and playing schedule light.
‘I probably won’t play the Masters this year,’ he said. ‘I think I’m just going to play the UK Championship, hopefully the Tour Championship if I’ve done enough, which I think I have because I did well in Saudi.
‘Then the World Championship, it would be nice to win that one more time before I snap another cue.’
Why the move from the UK?
The seven-time world champion is not playing a lot in the UK after his move to Dubai with wife Laila Rouass, which he is thoroughly enjoying.
‘I really like it, to be honest, it’s just made life a lot more simple, straightforward,’ he said. ‘For work, obviously, I’m working a lot that way anyway, so I don’t suffer really with jet leg and my flights are cut down in half. So, yeah, all around, it’s just makes life so much easier.
‘The dogs are there, all set up with a house, all the furniture just moved out, so everything’s all done. We’ve sold up virtually everything I had in the UK, so, yeah, nothing left there now for me, really.’
The Rocket is not the only player to make the move to Dubai, with Judd Trump and Matt Selt doing the same and O’Sullivan says they all now practice in the same place.
‘We all play in the same facility,’ he said. ‘It’s one of the best practice facilities I’ve ever had. Great, great set-up there. And the people there are amazing. I couldn’t have had it any better, really.
On what pushed him to make the move from Essex to Dubai, he said: ‘I think it was a few things really. The only time I enjoyed being in the UK was when I was I was on the road travelling, do you know what I mean? I used to travel a lot and then I’d come home and, especially where I live, it was always congested, lots of traffic. So in the end, I didn’t really venture out.
‘That was fine because obviously I was working and when I come home, it’s nice to be home, but I wanted to get out a bit as well.
‘It just made everything much more straightforward to get away. It just feels like I’ve got more time, more to do all the things I want to do.’
All this looks great 😊
Just a few more personal thoughts/observations
Ronnie listened to Reanne. She is a very good player but nowhere near Ronnie’s level and yet he listened to her. Some “fans” are quick to brand Ronnie as “arrogant”. He’s absolutely not like that. Yes, he knows his own value, and he wants tp protect himself from hassle. Believe it or nor, he’s also shy by nature, and some people therefore see him as “distant”. But he is definitely NOT arrogant.
He moved with his dogs. That might sound “obvious”, “normal” but actually, since living in Santorini, I have come to see by myself how often pets are discarded as soon as they become an “inconvenience”. Cats are abandoned in the street. Dogs, if lucky, surrendered to the shelters, if not they are left in the fields where they form packs. My island is full of these poor souls. People “adopt” them to have company while they work here, in the hotels or in the fields and leave them behind when they move away. In winter the packs of famished dogs raid the villages. They are a danger to children and elderly persons in particular. They raid farms, killing chickens and even goats. They eat them. It’s not sports, it’s survival, but it doesn’t make them less dangerous for it. I’m glad that Ronnie isn’t like those people.
Gary Wilson made the sixth maximum break of his career during a 6-3 victory over Artemijs Zizins in the qualifying round of the International Championship.
World number 17 Wilson made his perfect break in the final frame, having earlier scored runs of 133, 61 and 79. He becomes the tenth player to reach six official 147s and is now in line for the £5,000 high break prize.
It’s the 228th maximum in snooker history and 11th of the season, just four short of the record of 15 set last season.
Ali Carter top scored with 105 in a 6-0 defeat of Liam Graham, booking a place in the final stages in Nanjing in November. Michael Holt saw off Reanne Evans 6-2 with a top break of 110, while Aaron Hill won an all-Cork derby with Leone Crowley by a 6-1 scoreline.
The completed draw and match schedule for the final stages will be announced soon.
I really don’t have much to add. There were only two sessions yesterday and most matches went the way I expected them to go. Actually, all the matches except the last two on the day went to the highest seeded player. Indeed Louis Heathcote beat Jamie Jones by 6-2 and Oliver Lines beat Jordan Brown by the same score.
Louis has been in excellent form this season so far. According to Cuetracker he has won 15 of the 21 matches he has played so far, and if we look at “straight knock-out” events only, he has won 14 matches out of 18. That’s a 78% win rate in straight knock-out and, believe me, that’s a very, very high success rate. Therefore, even if Jamie Jones is currently ranked higher than Louis, the outcome of their match did not surprise me at all.
Oli Lines and Jordan Brown can both play at a very high standard, but both tend to be a bit inconsistent/unpredictable. No “shock” there either.
Scott Donaldson has withdrawn from the event, so the winner of the match between Mark Williams and Chatchapong Nasa or Zhou Jinhao will rceeive a bye to the last 32.
Details of how to watch the event will be announced soon.
Ronnie O’Sullivan loving new life in Dubai after wife Laila Rouass gave him ultimatum
O’Sullivan has also thrown his support behind the world’s first 24/7 dedicated snooker channel
by Rob Maul, Associate Sports Features Editor
RONNIE O’SULLIVAN says he is loving his new life in Dubai – and loving the fact he now has a wife.
Snooker’s greatest ever player made two significant lifestyle changes this year and both of them have given him major contentment in his personal life.
In June, the Rocket got married to long-term partner Laila Rouass, an actress and former Strictly Come Dancing contestant, in a low key ceremony in East London.
Few people knew about it until he announced the news on his Instagram page with a photo from the big day and the caption: “We finally made it official!! Mr & Mrs O’Sullivan.”
And then the couple packed up their belongings and moved to the UAE, which is an easier commute to events in China and his Saudi Arabia snooker academy.
On the benefits of heading to sunnier climes, O’Sullivan, 49, told SunSport: “It’s really good. I’ve got a great practice facility there, which was one of the main reasons for going.
“I was struggling to find somewhere to play. It was either get a train up to Sheffield or try to move to Sheffield.
“But my wife wasn’t too keen on Sheffield. So she said we either go Spain or Dubai.
“And I thought, well, Dubai is nearer China. Obviously it’s in the Middle East.
“All the tournaments that I play and all the work that I do is there. It just made sense to go to Dubai.
“Really enjoying it out there. Great gyms. I’m enjoying that side of it.
“I had some friends over there before that played snooker and they’ve helped me get into Dubai life.
“I’ve met some really nice friends and fitted in really well. So yeah, it’s great.
“I’m not a sunbather, but I’d much rather the heat than cold, if that makes sense. Spring and autumn are my favourite times.”
Like most newly-married men, using the word ‘wife’ instead of girlfriend or fiancée in conversation has taken some getting used to.
O’Sullivan – who has three children from previous relationships – said: “Everyone just knows where they are a bit more.
“It probably feels a bit more mature, I suppose. It does take a while.
“At first I was like, oh, to say that word (wife), but now it feels pretty normal. It’s nice. Everything’s good. Everyone’s happy, which is the main thing.”
O’Sullivan has pulled out of three consecutive tournaments on medical grounds but his next appearance on the baize will be at the Xi’an Grand Prix, which starts on October 7.
The Snooker 900 format consists of 900 seconds (15 minutes) on the table, a 20-second shot clock, ball in hand for fouls and a sudden-death blue-ball deadlock shootout to settle ties.
The channel – which will initially broadcast 18 hours a week of live snooker from Monday to Wednesday – launches on Monday (October 6) with a Legends Week.
This will star golden oldies Jimmy White, Ken Doherty, John Parrott, Tony Drago, Joe Johnson and Tony Knowles.
Over the next 12 months, there is more than £600,000 in prize money pledged for amateur players.
And episodes of O’Sullivan’s acclaimed coaching series, The Rocket Method, will also be screened.
O’Sullivan, the seven-time world champion, said: “I remember filming the masterclass and after day three, having been on my feet for 12-13 hours a day, I couldn’t even walk.
“That was probably the hardest work we’ve ever done because we really had to crash it out.
“You’ll see every bit of advice from beginner to the real advanced stuff.
“I put it all on the table there. It’ll be great for any snooker or pool player or any cue sports player that wants to improve their game. I’ve really gone into big detail.
“Hopefully this new channel launches some snooker ambition in young players. It’s going to be like a bit of talent spotting.
“The 900 format, which sharpens the mind, is going to give people a chance to feel what it’s like to play on TV. Feel what the pressure and that nerve is like.”
The Pluto Snooker 900 is the latests – but surely not the last – of Jason Francis snooker brainchildren. I’m really curious about it.
Mitchell Mann kept his recent momentum going as he scored an impressive 6-4 victory over Mark Allen to reach the final stages of the International Championship.
Allen won the BetVictor English Open last month but he misses out on a trip to Nanjing, China for this ranking event which boasts a top prize of £175,000. World number 84 Mann was a quarter-finalist at last week’s Unibet British Open and enjoyed another fine performance today in Sheffield. From 4-2 down, Allen made breaks of 85 and 82 to level at 4-4, but Mann got the better of two tight frames to clinch the result.
Stuart Bingham top scored with 90 in a 6-3 success against Ian Burns, while Sam Craigie enjoyed a superb 6-1 win over Joe O’Connor with a top run of 128. Wu Yize won a Chinese derby against Lan Yuhao 6-3 with a top break of 100 while Elliot Slessor made a 122 in a 6-2 defeat of Alexander Ursenbacher. Liam Highfield came from 3-1 down to edge out Jackson Page 6-5.
Again the “late session” is not covered by WST report. Most matches in that late session went the way you would expect although Bothh David Gilbert and Stephen Maguire were taken the full distance by their much younger and less experienced opponents, Liam Davies and Kreishh Gurbaxani. But the very last match of the day saw 14 years old Michal Szubarczyk beat Ishpreet Singh Chadha by 6-4 in a hard fought affair where both players scored four breaks over 50. The match score however doesn’t tell the whole story: Michal lead by 5-1 before Ishpreet came back at him to make it 5-4 with breaks of 55, 68 and 68. For a 14 years old child, to find it himself to take the next after that onslaught, at about 10 minutes short of midnight, when he probbly should be fast asleep in bed, is truly remarquable.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 