Ronnie O’Sullivan’s wish has been granted by snooker managers when an announcement is made.
Ronnie O’Sullivan is sure to react positively to the World Snooker Tour’s most recent statement.
The World Snooker Tour (WST) has announced that a new ranking tournament will debut next season, with the first Xi’an Grand Prix taking place in August. It is the fifth tournament scheduled in China since Ronnie O’Sullivan threatened to retire if he is not permitted to compete in Asia more frequently.
Xi’an, the capital of Shaanxi Province in central China, is expected to host some of snooker’s top names, including O’Sullivan, who is presently on hiatus. The Grand Prix joins the Shanghai Masters, Wuhan Open, International Championship, and World Open as matches during the 2024/25 season in China.
The competition will provide a stunning total prize money fund of £850,000, which will increase by £25,000 over the next two years. It outperforms the International Championship won by Zhang Anda in November, which had a prize fund of £825,000. This year’s winner will get £177,000.
The news might be interpreted as an olive branch from the WST to O’Sullivan, following his concerns that he was unable to compete in China as frequently as he would have liked. O’Sullivan and other UK-based stars are under contract to compete in WST tournaments and may face punishment if they miss them to attend abroad exhibitions.
Not only does the WST calendar now include a fifth event in China, but it also allows for more exhibition tournaments to be planned around the Grand Prix, which O’Sullivan stands to benefit from following his demands in November to compete in Asia more frequently.
“If I can’t go and do what I need to do, which is play a lot in China, I won’t ever play again,” O’Sullivan told the BBC. “So we’re at a crossroads now.
“If it gets to the point where I can’t do it or am not allowed to do it, I’m probably not going to play. I’ll probably go play Chinese 8-Ball since I still want to play snooker with a cue in hand.
“There’s just not enough here in the UK to repay the effort I’ve put in. Why wouldn’t I move somewhere where I will be respected and valued more? It’s like being in an unhealthy relationship with someone; why would you do that?
“I’d love to be able to just keep playing snooker for the next five, six, seven, eight years, but if I’m going to be forced into a situation where that’s not possible, then I’m not going to just accept whatever 132 players do, which is to go and play tournament after tournament, week in, week out.”
