Ronnie O’Sullivan to play new tournament with radical rule changes | Other | Sport

O’Sullivan, 50, will compete against former world champions Shaun Murphy and Stuart Bingham, in addition to Jimmy White, Joe Perry and Alfie Burden from the Seniors circuit. The tournament will see 20 players, including an under-18 qualifier, fight it out for a £100,000 prize pot.

The seven-time world champ will get a bye through to the quarter-final stage for the new six-day event, which will take place between May 12-17. And O’Sullivan’s talents could be even more suited to a new format that will benefit those who are quick with a cue in their hand.

The tournament will play host to matches that are best of nine frames until the semi-final stage where it will move to best of 11. The final will see a best-of-19 match play out.

Frames are unable to last more than 15 minutes, providing the 900 in the name of the competition from the number of seconds played. A 20-second shot clock will be implemented to speed up the play, and it is ball-in-hand for a foul.

O’Sullivan’s manager and the creator of the Snooker Legends brand, Jason Francis said: “Snooker 900 has pledged to provide opportunities for professional players like Ronnie as well as provide TV exposure for juniors, women, amateurs and players with a disability.

“Both Ronnie and Jimmy are supportive of our efforts to provide opportunities on TV for junior players. And both have said they would consider mentoring anyone we discover who they think has real potential to make it one day in the professional game.”

The Global Snooker 900 Championships will be streamed on Pluto TV and follow the launch of the Crucible Cup in November.

For a second time in as many years, the World no.8 pulled out due to medical reasons. His place in the draw was taken up by reserve Chris Wakelin, who plays Neil Robertson.

O’Sullivan’s next opportunity to play competitively in Britain will be either in March’s Tour Championship in Manchester or the World Championship in Sheffield, in April.