Ronnie O’Sullivan believes that the rapidly growing Snooker 900 format could have a long-term future in the sport after capturing the inaugural Snooker 900 Global Championship title on Sunday.
The Rocket beat Luca Brecel 10-5 in the final to pocket the £25,000 top prize from the tournament’s overall £100,000 purse.
O’Sullivan produced another sparkling scoring display in victory, compiling five century breaks in the showpiece contest.
He also made the same number of tons during his recent triumph over Joe Perry in the final of the World Seniors Championship.
The 50 year-old has now won three consecutive titles outside of the main World Snooker Tour circuit, having also captured the John Virgo Trophy that was contested under the same Snooker 900 rules in April.
Yet while O’Sullivan’s latest success added another trophy to his glittering collection, much of the post-match discussion surrounded the format itself and whether it could become a more permanent fixture in professional snooker.
“I think if you asked 128 players, I reckon 70% of them would say we would rather play under this format,” O’Sullivan said.
“Because we’ve played a lot of snooker today, but we’re not sitting here until 1 o’clock in the morning – we’re not playing sessions thinking: ‘what time will we get something to eat?’”
“We know where we are, we just love playing. But at some point you’ve just got to know when you’re clocking on and off.
“Jason [Francis] has come up with an amazing format, and I just think he has hit the sweet spot with snooker really.
“If he can get some sort of tour going and get some backing, I’m sure this will be here to stay forever.”
Runner-up Brecel echoed those sentiments despite ending up on the losing side in the final on this occasion.
“I really like this, and I would love there to be more of them,” the Belgian Bullet said. “I think many players would love to be involved in these kinds of tournaments.”
“You also can see that it’s not like a World Championship – it’s not the prize money or the ranking points. But you can see all the players are really, really focused all the way through.
“The intensity with Ronnie and me was the same as in a UK Championship final, for example. So that just shows you how special this is.”
Brecel certainly contributed to a high-quality final despite ultimately falling short in his bid to secure a first individual title since winning the 2023 World Championship.
O’Sullivan established a 6-3 advantage after the opening session and didn’t relinquish control thereafter, with his heavy scoring proving decisive.
The Englishman’s victory continued an excellent recent record against Brecel, having now beaten the former Crucible king in each of their last three meetings in finals.
O’Sullivan survived an epic quarter-final clash with Billy Castle – beating the amateur in a deciding frame – before outlasting Kyren Wilson 6-4 in the semi-finals.
For Snooker 900 as a concept, though, the bigger picture may prove even more significant than the result itself.
The format appears to be growing rapidly and is increasingly being embraced by both players and fans alike.
While traditionalists will always prefer the longer tactical battles that have defined snooker for decades, Snooker 900 has arguably found a modern niche that feels commercially and practically appealing.
Frames move quickly, matches are completed within predictable time slots, and audiences can plan around broadcasts far more easily than they often can with conventional snooker tournaments.
That scheduling aspect may sound minor on the surface, but it is an important factor in an era where entertainment is competing harder than ever for viewers’ attention spans.
The format also seems to suit television requirements more naturally, with broadcasters able to work around tighter and more reliable schedules.
O’Sullivan’s five centuries in the final alone demonstrated that quick-fire snooker does not necessarily mean lower-quality snooker, albeit it should be noted again that, like in last week’s World Seniors Championship, the pockets did appear to be on the generous side.
Yet even without ranking points on offer, the players appeared fully invested throughout the week.
Interest surrounding the format also seemed to be increasing online, with traffic on SnookerHQ.com high during both this tournament and the earlier John Virgo Trophy.
Whether that momentum eventually translates into a permanent place within the professional calendar remains uncertain.
Snooker 900 would arguably make an entertaining addition to the main tour, either as a standalone ranking/invitational event or as part of a broader series.
However, the well-documented fracture between Jason Francis and the World Snooker Tour hierarchy makes that scenario unlikely in the immediate future.
Still, if the objective is to attract new viewers while simultaneously creating a more player-friendly environment, Snooker 900 currently looks like one of the most interesting ideas the sport has produced in years.
Featured image credit: Pluto TV
O’Sullivan helps any event generate more eyeballs but the actual viewing figures on the obscure PlutoTV will tell us more about whether this format is becoming that popular.
It doesn’t seem to be regarded that significantly by Snooker.org who are not carrying scores from the event. While Cuetracker is not including it for h2h purposes. The centuries being scored are also not being added to a player’s competitive tally.
Undoubtedly the Ronnie factor helps. But traffic here was high even at the start of the week before Ronnie was in it. People were clearly watching and/or searching for it. I think the fact that the likes of BBC, RTE (Ireland), and other mainstream media were starting to publish reports on it is another indicator that there was interest.
I wouldn’t say it’s definitely going to be a big success, but I’m certainly interested to see where it goes from here. And I quite like the format personally.
I agree those big name media organisations covering it was a sign of interest.
I’m not opposed to a ranking event adopting this format but some of the rhetoric from O’Sullivan and Brecel felt a little excessive.
Your point about the feud between Francis and World Snooker feels a huge stumbling block for that to occur as the enmity is significant between the warring parties.
Interesting format. I like the aspect of it where it’s snooker played with almost league pool rules more than the aspect of snooker played to the timing clock. Snooker played with a shot clock seems fake to me. Part of snooker being different is it’s tactical and matchplay element which gets reduced in this. But if you are going to have timed frames then you have to have a shot clock for fairness really. I’m 50/50 on that basis. But I think that the powers involved will be most enthused by what I was least impressed with, for the reasons described in the article, which Ronnie put as, “you know when you’re having your lunch” or words to that affect. It will be interesting to see how it does go.
“I think if you asked 128 players, I reckon 70% of them would say we would rather play under this format,” O’Sullivan said. “Because we’ve played a lot of snooker today, but we’re not sitting here until 1 o’clock in the morning – we’re not playing sessions thinking: ‘what time will we get something to eat?’” David Caulfield (snookerhq)
“We know where we are, we just love playing. But at some point you’ve just got to know when you’re clocking on and off.” O’Sullivan” (David Caulfield)
When I said the long matches were not my cup of tea for the World Championships, Dave told everyone that snooker was not for me. I am confident I watched more live snooker than most in 25/26 and yet because I agree with Ronnie O Sullivan, Mark Allen and many more fans and players, I am not a fan. I watched live snooker for than10 hours a day for the World’s, actually made me wonder how could someone with a full time job with a growing family ever watch except watching the highlights on youtube. I know experts tell us not to spend so many hours in front of a screen.
My reply then – a throwaway remark rather than a deeply personal attack as you seem to have taken it, by the way – was a direct response to your “negative rant”, which you chose to share merely minutes after what was widely heralded as one of the all-time great snooker finals.
As it turns out, I’m partially in agreement with you when it comes to longer formats. I’ve written several times in previous years that the World Championship doesn’t need to be that long.
I hear a few people question the length of the World Championship but yet this year’s event threw up three hugely entertaining matches in the semis and final. The viewing figures were excellent – and I’m unconvinced they will be any better if they trim a few frames off.
I do find it hard to understand how Len doesn’t like the long format matches but yet is watching copious amounts of the coverage.
I tried to wait before the tournament was over to state my overall experience of the World Championjships. Of course if you are basing the tournament on the semi’s and final, it was a wonderful experience. I take your reasoning with your comment being “a throwaway” remark for what it is.
To explain to Jay what he cannot understand, is traditionally I watch matches of sports from beginning, middle and final before watching a new or continuation of a different match. On Saturday April 25th Hossein Vafaei and Judd Trump played to a 4 all end to their first session.
Before I could watch the middle portion, there was John Higgins playing Ronnie O’Sullivan, Zhao Xintong playing Ding Junhui, Barry Hawkins vs Mark Williams and Mark Selby vs Wu Yize. I believe the reason is because this tournament added the length of the matches while going to only two tables too soon. Jay you defend David as though you are his attorney, pimp or something else. You defend the tradition of the World Championships so much that other tournaments that play for much shorter frames are insignificant. As far as your comment about great viewership for the World Championships, why wouldn’t be? The broadcast access for this tournament easily outnumbered any other tournament.
I hope I can rejoin snookerhq and put all this in the past.
You take umbrage about personal attacks but then launch one of your own by referring farcically to me as a pimp. I’m a supporter of this website and rate David as a writer, but I actually disagreed with him on the cutting of the semis.
I love Test Cricket but don’t watch every ball of a match. Most viewers can enjoy these long matches without needing to see every frame.
I have never dismissed other tournaments but frame length is an important factor when assessing prestige. The longer matches are a greater test.