Ronnie beat Luca Brecel by 10-5 yesterday evening to win the first “Global Championship”.

Congratulations Ronnie!

Once again l’ll share here the piece written by the always excellent David Caulfield:

Global champion Ronnie O’Sullivan says Snooker 900 has ‘hit the sweet spot’ for snooker

David Caulfield

Ronnie O’Sullivan believes that the rapidly growing Snooker 900 format could have a long-term future in the sport after capturing the inaugural Snooker 900 Global Championship title on Sunday.

The Rocket beat Luca Brecel 10-5 in the final to pocket the £25,000 top prize from the tournament’s overall £100,000 purse.

O’Sullivan produced another sparkling scoring display in victory, compiling five century breaks in the showpiece contest.

He also made the same number of tons during his recent triumph over Joe Perry in the final of the World Seniors Championship.

The 50 year-old has now won three consecutive titles outside of the main World Snooker Tour circuit, having also captured the John Virgo Trophy that was contested under the same Snooker 900 rules in April.

Yet while O’Sullivan’s latest success added another trophy to his glittering collection, much of the post-match discussion surrounded the format itself and whether it could become a more permanent fixture in professional snooker.

“I think if you asked 128 players, I reckon 70% of them would say we would rather play under this format,” O’Sullivan said.

“Because we’ve played a lot of snooker today, but we’re not sitting here until 1 o’clock in the morning – we’re not playing sessions thinking: ‘what time will we get something to eat?’”

“We know where we are, we just love playing. But at some point you’ve just got to know when you’re clocking on and off.

“Jason [Francis] has come up with an amazing format, and I just think he has hit the sweet spot with snooker really.

“If he can get some sort of tour going and get some backing, I’m sure this will be here to stay forever.”

Runner-up Brecel echoed those sentiments despite ending up on the losing side in the final on this occasion.

“I really like this, and I would love there to be more of them,” the Belgian Bullet said. “I think many players would love to be involved in these kinds of tournaments.”

“You also can see that it’s not like a World Championship – it’s not the prize money or the ranking points. But you can see all the players are really, really focused all the way through.

“The intensity with Ronnie and me was the same as in a UK Championship final, for example. So that just shows you how special this is.”

Brecel certainly contributed to a high-quality final despite ultimately falling short in his bid to secure a first individual title since winning the 2023 World Championship.

O’Sullivan established a 6-3 advantage after the opening session and didn’t relinquish control thereafter, with his heavy scoring proving decisive.

The Englishman’s victory continued an excellent recent record against Brecel, having now beaten the former Crucible king in each of their last three meetings in finals.

O’Sullivan survived an epic quarter-final clash with Billy Castle – beating the amateur in a deciding frame – before outlasting Kyren Wilson 6-4 in the semi-finals.

For Snooker 900 as a concept, though, the bigger picture may prove even more significant than the result itself.

The format appears to be growing rapidly and is increasingly being embraced by both players and fans alike.

While traditionalists will always prefer the longer tactical battles that have defined snooker for decades, Snooker 900 has arguably found a modern niche that feels commercially and practically appealing.

Frames move quickly, matches are completed within predictable time slots, and audiences can plan around broadcasts far more easily than they often can with conventional snooker tournaments.

That scheduling aspect may sound minor on the surface, but it is an important factor in an era where entertainment is competing harder than ever for viewers’ attention spans.

The format also seems to suit television requirements more naturally, with broadcasters able to work around tighter and more reliable schedules.

Importantly, the standard of play has not suffered.

O’Sullivan’s five centuries in the final alone demonstrated that quick-fire snooker does not necessarily mean lower-quality snooker, albeit it should be noted again that, like in last week’s World Seniors Championship, the pockets did appear to be on the generous side.

Yet even without ranking points on offer, the players appeared fully invested throughout the week.

Interest surrounding the format also seemed to be increasing online, with traffic on SnookerHQ.com high during both this tournament and the earlier John Virgo Trophy.

Whether that momentum eventually translates into a permanent place within the professional calendar remains uncertain.

Snooker 900 would arguably make an entertaining addition to the main tour, either as a standalone ranking/invitational event or as part of a broader series.

However, the well-documented fracture between Jason Francis and the World Snooker Tour hierarchy makes that scenario unlikely in the immediate future.

Still, if the objective is to attract new viewers while simultaneously creating a more player-friendly environment, Snooker 900 currently looks like one of the most interesting ideas the sport has produced in years.

Earlier this week, Csilla expressed her dislike for the format and in particular for the fact that frames are played over a limited time frame. While I understand her point of view, I also see the practical advantages of the said format. So many times in the past, when I was watching snooker on television, especially on the BBC, I was unable to watch the conclusion of the matches because they hadn’t finished in the allocated time frame and BBC had to switch to the next program … typically “Only fools and horses”. We were told to watch it on the red button … which wasn’t, still isn’t , available to us in Belgium. And there was no option to watch it later either. That was extremely frustrating.