Historic nightmare: professional snooker legend Ronnie O’Sullivan has finally spoken out for his tumbling kick Off…
Ronnie O’Sullivan had anything but an easy start to the 2024–25 season after being eliminated in the group rounds of the Championship League Snooker event. After being paired with amateur Kayden Brierley, Mitchell Mann, and He Guoqiang in Group 2, it was generally anticipated that the 48-year-old would cruise to the top. And when he defeated Brierley 3-0 and forced three half-centuries breaks in the process, everything appeared to be going according to plan.
O’Sullivan needed to defeat Gougiang in order to advance, though, after being held to a 2-2 tie with Mann.
Nonetheless, the Chinese player—who is currently rated 66th in the world—went on to triumph. With breaks of 80, 77, and 57, he not only defeated his more illustrious opponent but also emerged victorious in the group.
O’Sullivan humiliated his pre-tournament favorite status by finishing third. Furthermore, his dismal performance occurs barely one month after he raised doubts about how many appearances he would make in UK events this season.
“I can only spend so many days away from home,” he remarked following his elimination from the Sheffield World Championships. “Since World Snooker is a business, I felt that in order to enjoy being on the Tour, I had to be commercial.
“I don’t just show up at events; there is a tax that has to be paid, and I will withdraw my complaint if others are willing to pay it. If not, I’m happy to play other things and never ever play again. It was O’Sullivan’s first public appearance since his unsuccessful attempt to win a remarkable eight world titles in Sheffield this year. “The Rocket” advanced to the quarterfinals but Stuart Bingham defeated them 13–10.
But he wasn’t the only well-known figure to survive a challenging competition. John Higgins defeated Judd Trump in the championship match to win the ranking tournament for the first time last year.
