Ronnie O’Sullivan and Luca Brecel will square off for glory in Sunday’s final for the inaugural Snooker 900 Global Championship.
The pair emerged from their respective semi-final ties on Saturday at the Crucible Sports and Social Club in Reading to move one victory away from the £25,000 top prize.
O’Sullivan trailed fellow Englishman Kyren Wilson 4-3 but reeled off the last three frames to extend his stay in the quick-fire tournament.
The Rocket is bidding to claim silverware in back-to-back weeks having got his hands on the World Seniors Snooker Championship trophy a week ago in Sheffield.
O’Sullivan, who is one of the backers behind the emerging Snooker 900 format, beat Joe Perry 10-4 to capture a maiden seniors title.
A repeat showdown in the final of this event had been on the cards, but Perry was downed 6-3 in the penultimate round by Brecel.
The latter is hoping to turn his fortunes around after a miserable couple of seasons during which he has rarely threatened at the business end of any events on the calendar.
Although the Snooker 900 Global Championship isn’t part of the main tour, victory for the Belgian Bullet would provide a timely boost in confidence ahead of the upcoming 2026/27 campaign.
The last time Brecel featured in a final was at the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship invitational at the end of 2024 when he was heavily beaten by Mark Allen.
And you have to go all the way back to the 2023 World Snooker Championship itself for the 31 year-old’s most recent individual success on the green baize.
O’Sullivan had endured a similarly long barren spell until he participated in the four-player John Virgo Trophy memorial tournament held in Goffs last month.
That short event was played using the snooker 900 rules, and having emerged triumphantly at the seniors a week ago the 50 year-old will be attempting to make it three titles on the trot in invitational competitions.
O’Sullivan boasts a superior head-to-head record against Brecel, winning five times out of their seven previous contests against one another.
Their most recent couple of clashes were both in finals, with O’Sullivan getting the better of Brecel in the Shanghai Masters and the World Masters of Snooker during the 2023/24 term.
Brecel’s two victories over O’Sullivan have proven to be important, though.
The former world number two’s wins at the 2017 China Championship and the 2023 World Championship helped pave the way for his maiden ranking title and a standout Crucible crown respectively.
The Snooker 900 Global Championship, with a total prize fund of £100,000, is using the new variation of rules that has gained popularity over the course of the last few years.
Frames are played over just 15 minutes – or 900 seconds – with a shot clock in operation and the ball-in-hand rule enabled when there are fouls.
The best-of-19 frames final takes place at 12:00 and 18:00 BST, with live coverage available in the UK and selected regions on Pluto TV.
Featured photo credit: WST
