Ronnie O’Sullivan leading ‘TikTok of snooker’ charge with 900 debut

The John Virgo Trophy this weekend has seen Ronnie O’Sullivan make his Snooker 900 debut, a format dubbed the ‘TikTok of snooker’ by creator Jason Francis.

It’s a heavyweight line-up at Goffs in County Kildare, Ireland as Stephen Hendry, John Higgins and Mark Williams are also in action in the fast-paced event.

Snooker 900 has been around for a while now, mainly played in amateur events, but is increasingly attracting top professionals, such as at the Crucible Cup in November, won by Neil Robertson.

The 15-minute frames are played under shot clocks, with a spotted cue ball and with amended rules, such as ball-in-hand for a foul.

Along with some of the game’s greatest ever players, Snooker 900 is going down the influencer route, with the upcoming Creator Clash featuring well known content creators Jaack Mate, Pieface, Aaron Hunt and Sara Guzo facing each other.

Francis hopes this kind of venture is what can bring a new, younger audience to the sport.

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‘The amount of followers and viewers they have, if we’re trying to say that we’re the new TikTok of snooker, and the fast, exciting, modern way, then we’ve got to try and attract the young people,’ Francis told Metro.

‘The influencers get partnered with a snooker legend – Dennis Taylor, Reanne Evans, Joe Perry and Tony Knowles – and in the afternoon, we give them the table and the snooker legend to create their own content for their channels. They’ll also get mentoring and coaching from that player and then at 7pm, we do the Creator Clash, so they play each other at Snooker 900.

‘It’s a massive audience to potentially reach. If I’m going to rebrand myself as the new thing with the new exciting, short, sharp matches, then these are the people that are experts in creating short, sharp, fast content.

‘I don’t know if it’ll be amazing or, or just four people who can’t play snooker. It’ll be a fun, exhibition style event, but the key focus is just to try and bring Snooker 900 to a new audience.’

The John Virgo Trophy may also be the first time some fans have seen Snooker 900, with the superb four-man field attracting a full house at Goffs.

The late great JV was due to work at the event before his death rocked the snooker world in February, but his family will be represented at the iconic Irish venue.

‘His daughter and son are coming over to present the trophy on Sunday,’ said Francis. ‘John was due to work here. He was part of shaping how this weekend was going to work. I’d spoken to him about giving an opportunity for the juniors and the legends on the undercard and he was fully involved in that.

‘The plan was always to run it as it is, but the naming of it, I hadn’t actually got that point. When what happened to John happened, we wanted to name it after him and the family were delighted to do it. It’s our little tribute. It’s our 15th year in Goffs [with seniors and 900 events] and John’s been at the other 14.’

The rise of Snooker 900 comes as NST Worldwide – a company Francis is a director of – continues its case against World Snooker Ltd and the WPBSA in the Competition Appeal Tribunal, claiming that ‘unlawful and anti-competitive practices’ have been used to prevent snooker players ‘playing in tournaments, events, or matches organised by competitor promoters.’

A statement from World Snooker Tour when the case was launched read: ‘WST rejects the claims and will defend them.’

The top 16 trio of O’Sullivan, Higgins and Williams are able to play in the John Virgo Trophy during the ongoing World Championship qualifiers as they are not eligible to play, but would not be able to compete in a televised event away from the main professional tour while one is going on that they could play in.

‘This is the first time there’s been a weekend broadcast, ticketed event during a World Snooker event, that they’re not involved in,’ said Francis. ‘It’s quite a significant milestone this weekend.

‘I know I did the Crucible Cup, but that was out of Reading, this is a proper ticketed audience with a simulcast broadcast.

‘We just want players to be able to have choice, that’s the whole point. I’m not going to suddenly turn around and put an event on during the actual World Championship. I am not going to put an event on Masters week. It’s just common sense.

‘But a lot of the top players don’t play in the Home Nations, they don’t play in the Shoot Out, they don’t play in the Championship League, or if they do, it’s one week out of a 10-12 week process. So these are ideal times for me to be saying: “Well, maybe there’s something else you can consider to play in”.’

O’Sullivan will be back in Snooker 900 action at the Global Championship, held in Reading from May 12-17, which also features a very strong field.

The likes of Shaun Murphy, Stuart Bingham and Matthew Stevens are all involved, as are Jimmy White, Ken Doherty, Tony Drago and Joe Perry.

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