Ronnie played two exhibitions over the weekend. As usual Johm Virgo was the host and compère, and this time Brendan Moore was the referee on duty.

The Friday exhibition was organised bu ABC and this is the report they put on their facebook page:

Now on to the night.

The evening kicked off with a very warm welcome and a huge round of applause for the 1979 UK Champion, John Virgo. JV entertained the crowd with his world famous trick shot routine and hilarious impressions. After that, it was time for JV to introduce the six times world champion.

A huge round of applause welcomed Ronnie, and at 7.45pm the first frame broke off and it didn’t go too well for the first VIP player. In fact all 9 frames went to Ronnie. The highest break of the evening was a fantastic 140. During the interval the crowd were given the opportunity to have more photos taken with Ronnie’s world championship trophy which Ronnie later signed and also signed other memorabilia for guests. After the 9th and final frame, Ronnie and JV said their goodbyes and the raffle was drawn (congratulations to all winners). The evening finished off by presenting Nick Sewell with his VIP High Break trophy.

On Saturday Ronnie was at Jackson’s and after the exhibition tweeted this:

Well done Ben for all the hard work you’ve put into getting Jackson’s club to where it is now. Look forward to coming back.

I didn’t find more details about what happened that night but will put more here if/when I find out.

Now here it is thanks to Kalacs

Melton goes snooker loopy as Ronnie O’Sullivan comes to town

Snooker legend Ronnie O’Sullivan took Melton by storm on Saturday, with a thrilling evening’s entertainment – and he enjoyed the experience so much that he wants to come back.

Excitement had been growing in the days leading up to the six-time world champion’s visit to Jackson’s lounge and ‘The Rocket’ did not disappoint.

The snooker hall had been transformed into a staging area with space for 110 spectators for the event, which had sold out within a matter of days.

And as the start time approached there was a buzz outside as the queue of ticket-holders, eagerly waiting to get inside the club to see their hero, stretched down King Street into Market Place.

Another snooker legend, John Virgo, was compère for the evening and before play got underway he warmed up the crowd with some trick shots involving the audience, along with his witty repartee.

Eight lucky people took on The Rocket – with world-class referee Brendan Moore officiating.

Virgo introduced each player before they entered the hall to walk-on music they had chosen but despite some glimmers of hope none of them were able to pull off a shock upset.

Jackson’s assistant manager Karl Barratt was proud to be the only player to take a lead over Ronnie when he went 10-0 up and the highest break of a challenger went to Stuart Hammond with 22.

It was a real thrill for all who got the chance to take on the sporting superstar.

Ronnie, whose highest break was 114 on the night, is often called the most naturally gifted and greatest player of all time. Known for his fast and attacking style the event gave the popular 45-year-old Londoner the chance to wow the audience with his incredible skills.

During the interval fans had the chance to get autographs and chat with Ronnie as well as have a photograph taken with his World Championship trophy.

Excitement had been growing in the days leading up to the six-time world champion’s visit to Jackson’s lounge and ‘The Rocket’ did not disappoint.

The snooker hall had been transformed into a staging area with space for 110 spectators for the event, which had sold out within a matter of days.

And as the start time approached there was a buzz outside as the queue of ticket-holders, eagerly waiting to get inside the club to see their hero, stretched down King Street into Market Place.

It was the snooker legend’s first visit to Melton and he was full of praise for the town and the club.

“It’s good to be here,” he said. “The club is lovely, the crowd are great – very knowledgable about snooker. I hope to come again.”

Although Ronnie’s opponents never expected to get much of a look-in he was complimentary about their skills.

“It’s tough when you’re only playing one frame,” he commented.

“There were some good shots played, there are some good potters.”

One of Ronnie’s opponents Stuart Hammond used the opportunity to raise nearly £700 for MIND, the mental health charity.

Ronnie, who has struggled with depression in the past said: “It’s good that people are talking more about these issues and considering people’s well-being. Sports people struggling with mental health problems shouldn’t be penalised.”

Ronnie says he’s enjoying his snooker at the moment: “During the past few years I’ve been playing more exhibitions as well as the tour. I’m happy with how things are at the moment. It’s good to have a balance.”

Jason Francis, creator of Snooker Legends events, praised Jackson’s owner, Ben Jackson, for the hard work he had put in to making the event happen.

And the day after his Melton appearance, Ronnie posted on Twitter: “Well done Ben for all the hard work you’ve put into getting Jackson’s club to where it is now. Look forward to coming back.”

…
Ben said that although it had taken a lot of planning and hard graft he was delighted the event had been such a huge success.
…

 

Today will see the start of stage 2 of the 2021 summer CLS and Ronnie will be on table 1.

I’m not too sure what to expect. I know that Ronnie wasn’t impressed with the conditions when he played in his first group. but the table seemed to play a bit better towards the end of stage one, and of course, the heat wave is over. There are rumours on twitter saying that Ronnie has pulled out of the CLS but at the time of writing he’s still in it both on WST site and the CLS site.

Update: The withdrawal has now be confirmed.

Not sure what that means in terms of prize money and ranking points.

This is not great although I’m not really surprised. Ronnie at this stage of his career wants to play on his own terms and enjoy himself. If he has to play in qualifiers for the Turkish Masters, I would not be surprised if he gave that one a miss as well.