{"id":9266,"date":"2026-05-06T13:08:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T13:08:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news678.top\/?p=9266"},"modified":"2026-05-06T13:08:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T13:08:14","slug":"why-is-ronnie-osullivan-playing-in-the-world-seniors-snooker-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news678.top\/?p=9266","title":{"rendered":"Why is Ronnie O’Sullivan playing in the World Seniors Snooker Championship?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Ronnie O\u2019Sullivan makes his World Seniors debut on Friday (Picture: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ronnie O\u2019Sullivan is back at the Crucible this week, making his debut in the World Seniors Snooker Championship on Friday afternoon.<\/p>\n

He is the runaway favourite to win the tournament, which features recognisable names like Stuart Bingham, Ali Carter and Matthew Stevens alongside amateur hopefuls including Australia\u2019s Roger Farebrother and Egypt\u2019s Mohamed Elkhayat.<\/p>\n

While the 50-year-old comfortably fulfils the age criteria of over-40, he was not able to play in Seniors events until a change in the rules last year.<\/p>\n

Previously, professional players were only able to play in Seniors events if they were outside of the top 64 in the world rankings.<\/p>\n

As World Seniors Snooker (WSS) wanted to change that, an agreement could not be reached and the partnership between World Snooker Tour (WST) and WSS was terminated.<\/p>\n

Now any player over 40 can compete in Seniors events and O\u2019Sullivan has chosen to have a crack at winning the title in Sheffield.<\/p>\n

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You’re in the right place. I’m Phil Haigh, and I cover the game we all love for Metro<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In my newsletter, The Table, I analyse the biggest talking points, pull back the curtain on the sport and crown the biggest winners and losers every week.<\/p>\n

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Phil has been reporting on snooker for over a decade<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

The Rocket has worked closely with WSS chairman Jason Francis for a number of years, with their relationship a big factor in O\u2019Sullivan retuning to the Crucible this week.<\/p>\n

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O\u2019Sullivan was beaten 13-12 by John Higgins at the Crucible (Picture: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The seven-time world champion is also set to play in the Snooker 900 Global Championship next week, also organised by Francis.<\/p>\n

After his first round victory over He Guoqiang in the World Snooker Championship last month, O\u2019Sullivan was asked why he had chosen to compete in those three events.<\/p>\n

\u2018I don\u2019t know really. It felt like a good idea at the time,\u2019 he said. \u2018If I won this or got to the final I\u2019d have to see if I could physically do the Seniors. But I wouldn\u2019t want to let Jason down. We\u2019ve worked together a lot over the years and he said my health is more important.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019ll try and do my best, but if I get dumped here by John [Higgins], I\u2019ll just be in Ireland for two weeks on holiday, have a little break and play the Pluto 900, which I look forward to. I suppose I\u2019m just hedging my bets, in a way.\u2019<\/p>\n

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O\u2019Sullivan plays Ken Doherty or Aaron Canavan in his Seniors opener (Picture: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After losing in the second round to Higgins, O\u2019Sullivan confirmed his plans, saying: \u2018I\u2019ll go back to Ireland tonight and just chill there and come back whenever I\u2019ve got to play. <\/p>\n

\u2018Yeah, absolutely, yeah [I\u2019ll play the Seniors]. It\u2019s work, mate, got to go to work. Got bills to pay. Got a lot of people on the payroll.\u2019<\/p>\n

Three-time world champion Mark Williams was also due to be playing in the World Seniors Championship, but pulled out, replaced by Nigel Bond.<\/p>\n

Replying to a disgruntled fan on X, he explained: \u2018Sometimes you can\u2019t help these things , I\u2019m in China tomorrow, there\u2019s lots of good matches still to watch there.\u2019<\/p>\n

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