Ronnie O’Sullivan will have to play in the United Kingdom for the first time since winning May’s World Seniors Championship for a chance at £175k in prize money
Ronnie O’Sullivan is set to jet back and play in the United Kingdom after four months away for a chance at winning prize money worth as much as £175,000.
O’Sullivan, 50, is scheduled to play an International Championship qualifier against Louis Heathcote in Leicester on September 17. That match would be his first on English soil since winning May’s World Seniors Championship on debut.
However, the seven-time world champion has already withdrawn from this month’s British Open and English Open, citing medical reasons for the former. O’Sullivan has spent this summer playing exclusively in China, across Shanghai, Taiyuan and Wuhan.
He reached the semi-finals of the latter just a week ago before succumbing to eventual winner Bingyu Chang. Following the defeat, O’Sullivan said: “It was another really poor performance. It is just embarrassing.
He continued: “I will see out the next 18 months and see how we go. I don’t want to throw the towel in just yet; I’ve committed to playing until then. I want to give myself a chance. I’d hate to finish my career on performances like that.
“It is just sad and very disappointing for me. I feel embarrassed by my own performance. It is not nice for any sportsperson.”
The next fixture scheduled for O’Sullivan is an all-British encounter with Heathcote in Leicester. He is not amongst the four players – Ding Junhui, Judd Trump, Wu Yize and Zhao Xintong – whose matches are being held over to the finals venue in.
O’Sullivan revealed he intended to take a break with family and friends in Ireland following the Wuhan Open. That is where he established his base for this year’s World Championship.
That hiatus stretched through the British Open and will carry on into the English Open as well. It remains unclear whether the break will conclude in time for his qualifier.
Should it not, then O’Sullivan will forfeit the opportunity to secure £175,000 by claiming the International Championship. It is a tournament that has eluded him in seven previous attempts, with his best showing being a semi-final exit in 2023 to eventual winner Zhang Anda.
O’Sullivan has been eliminated at the last 32 stage in both years since. Those performances have netted him £9,000 in prize money on each occasion.
That current sequence of three successive appearances represents his longest streak since the event commenced in 2012. O’Sullivan withdrew from the inaugural tournament before then playing in the following two editions.
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