Ronnie O’Sullivan produced a morale-boosting display to reach the sixth round of the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters on Tuesday in Jeddah.
Entering the fray of the lucrative ranking event in the last 32, the Rocket had a tough opening opponent in the form of Joe O’Connor.
But O’Sullivan swept aside the Championship League Snooker runner-up with a routine 5-0 victory at the Green Halls.
It was a disappointing 2024/25 campaign for the seven-time world champion, who failed to feature in a single final of any event on the calendar.
Bereft of form amid ongoing struggles with his cue, O’Sullivan withdrew from a slew of tournaments before suffering a heavy defeat to eventual world champion Zhao Xintong at the Crucible Theatre.
However, O’Sullivan has recently started playing with a cue made by fellow professional Sunny Akani – one that he is currently happy with.
“I felt I played okay,” Ronnie O’Sullivan, who lives in neighbouring Dubai and who opened an academy in Riyadh last year, told the World Snooker Tour.
“I don’t know, it’s alright playing well in one match. You have to try and put it together for a whole tournament. That’s what I was used to doing, that’s what I’d like to be able to do again.”
“I’ve got a good cue here. Sunny has made me this one, which was great, so I said to make me a couple more.
“Sometimes you think it might be a fluke if they make a good one, but I’ve used three or four of his cues and they’re all great.
“So I’m like, ‘fantastic, I might smash this one and just get another one!’ Sunny is a very intelligent guy, and he makes unbelievable cues.
“For me, after having such a poor playing form, it’s more important to play well. Play some good matches one after another.
“That, I’d be really happy with. Once I get that back, then I’ll maybe start wanting to win tournaments and sacrificing not playing so great.
“I know you can’t play well all the time, but it’d be nice to get into the flow of putting good matches together.
“Once you can do that, you can start thinking about winning ugly for a few matches just to get some trophies.”
O’Sullivan will play Chang Bingyu next after the young Chinese competitor extended his long run in the event with a 5-4 defeat of Mark Allen.
Chang is back on the main tour this season following the conclusion of his ban and appears like a player intent on making up for lost time.
The 22 year-old, who was caught up in the Chinese match-fixing scandal from a few years ago, has lost just one of the ten matches he has played this season so far.
Beyond that, O’Sullivan could potentially face Kyren Wilson in what would be a repeat of their quarter-final tie at the recent Shanghai Masters.
Wilson beat O’Sullivan that day and went on to claim the prestigious invitational crown, with the latter echoing many people’s belief that the Kettering cueist is among the best players in the world at present.
“I think Kyren was just phenomenal in China,” Ronnie O’Sullivan added. “I’ve played him a couple of times, and he plays at a John Higgins sort of level of top play.”
“It’s probably the biggest compliment you can give someone. But I always like to think that if I’m on it, I can always find a way to win.”
Wilson was slightly fortunate to stay alive in this event, though, with the world number two having to force his way back from 4-2 behind to deny Iulian Boiko in a deciding frame.
The Warrior will meet Si Jiahui in the last 16, one of four Chinese contenders still left in the 2025 Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters draw.
One of the others is Zhao, who orchestrated another incredible display of heavy scoring to thump Steven Hallworth with a 5-0 scoreline.
The 28 year-old compiled breaks of 132, 106, 97, 94, and 92 in a ruthless showing of what he is capable of when in top form.
Zhao will play Chris Wakelin who managed to end Farakh Ajaib’s excellent journey from the opening round of the competition.
The other two players to make it through on Tuesday evening were Ding Junhui and Barry Hawkins, who ousted Stephen Maguire and Martin O’Donnell respectively.
Earlier, there were a couple of shocks with reigning champion Judd Trump exiting the running after succumbing to a 5-3 reverse against Oliver Lines.
John Higgins also bowed out after being pipped in a decider by Elliot Slessor.
Last year’s runner-up Mark Williams advanced, though, alongside other marquee names in Mark Selby, Neil Robertson, and Shaun Murphy.
2025 Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters draw
Last 16 (bo11)
Matches on Wednesday, August 13th
11am UTC+1 (BST)
Oliver Lines vs Ali Carter
Neil Robertson vs Mark Selby
Elliot Slessor vs Stuart Bingham
Shaun Murphy vs Mark Williams
5:30pm UTC+1 (BST)
Kyren Wilson vs Si Jiahui
Chang Bingyu vs Ronnie O’Sullivan
Ding Junhui vs Barry Hawkins
Chris Wakelin vs Zhao Xintong
The full updated draw is available at snooker.org
Featured photo credit: WST
