RONNIE O’SULLIVAN has committed to playing in a new snooker tournament – just eight days after the Crucible World Championship finishes.
The sport’s greatest ever cueist will be part of the line-up for the inaugural Global Snooker 900 Championships in Reading.
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Ronnie O’Sullivan will play in a brand new snooker tournament days after the World Snooker ChampionshipCredit: PA
He will play in the Global Snooker 900 Championships in Reading for a £100,000 prize potCredit: Snooker 900
This new six-day event will take place between May 12-17 and carries a £100,000 prize pot.
Snooker’s World Championship will finish in Sheffield on Monday May 4 and O’Sullivan, who is now based in Dubai, will be hoping to leave South Yorkshire with a record-breaking eighth crown.
O’Sullivan, who has slipped to eighth on the world rankings, will compete alongside former world champions Shaun Murphy and Stuart Bingham as well as Jimmy White, Joe Perry and Alfie Burden from the Seniors circuit.
The tournament will feature 20 players – one of which will be a qualifier under the age of 18 – but O’Sullivan, 50, will get a bye to the quarter-final stage on Friday May 15.
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It is best of nine frames until the semi-finals and then it is best of 11 – with the Sunday May 17 showdown being the best of 19.
Frames cannot last more than 15 minutes (900 seconds), it is ball in hand for a foul and there is a 20-second shot clock to speed up the play.
Jason Francis, manager of O’Sullivan and the creator of the Snooker Legends brand, said: “Snooker 900 has pledged to provide opportunities for professional players like Ronnie as well as provide TV exposure for juniors, women, amateurs and players with a disability.
“Both Ronnie and Jimmy are supportive of our efforts to provide opportunities on TV for junior players.
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“And both have said they would consider mentoring anyone we discover who they think has real potential to make it one day in the professional game.”
The Global Snooker 900 Championships will be shown on streaming channel Pluto TV and follows on from the successful launch of the Crucible Cup back in November.
In that latter event, Stephen Hendry picked up his cue again, returned to competition, and showed his enduring class as he lost in round one to Neil Robertson.
O’Sullivan has not played in the UK since December 2 when he was humbled 6-4 by Zhou Yuelong in the first round of the UK Championship in York.
The seven-time world champion has to be careful about the number of days he can spend in the UK since his relocation to the Middle East with his actress wife Laila Rouass.
He was set to play on Wednesday evening in the Masters first round but withdrew last week citing medical reasons.
His spot in the draw was taken up by reserve Chris Wakelin, who will take on Neil Robertson over the best of 11 frames.
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