O'Sullivan Promotes Snooker 900 as Easier Alternative
Ronnie O'Sullivan has thrown his support behind Snooker 900, a short-format snooker game played over 15-minute frames, declaring that traditional snooker is 'too hard' for young players. The seven-time world champion, who won the Snooker 900 Global Championship in May 2026, says he would encourage children to take up the faster-paced version instead.
Format Details and Growth
Snooker 900 features a shot clock and tweaked rules, including ball-in-hand for fouls. Initially featuring amateurs, the format has grown to attract top professionals. The Global Championship, held in Reading, saw O'Sullivan defeat Luca Brecel to claim the £25,000 top prize. O'Sullivan hailed format creator Jason Francis, saying, 'Jason's come up with an amazing format and I just think he's hit the sweet spot with snooker, really.'
O'Sullivan's Vision for the Future
Speaking on Pluto TV, O'Sullivan explained his preference: 'What I love about it is it hasn't interfered with the actual game itself, but it's kind of sped it up. It's put a start and an end time to it. So everyone knows where they are: players, fans, TV, whoever's involved.' He contrasted Snooker 900 with the traditional World Snooker Tour, calling the latter 'the F1' – hard and requiring grinding. 'If you want to be a touring car racing driver and you love driving, you want to make a living and have fun and just have a good life, go play 900. You can be the best in the world at 900,' he said.
Encouraging Junior Participation
O'Sullivan stressed the importance of making snooker accessible: 'I wouldn't say to my son, "play snooker." I try to take him away from it. If you say, I want to play 900, I go, "yeah, fine." I believe in 900. It's enjoyable snooker. If you want painful snooker, go and play the WST tour.' He added, 'We want to catch them young and just take them all the way through. They've got a choice for tennis, golf, we need to give them the snooker option, and I want to give them a healthy snooker option. I feel like the 15-minute frames just keeps it modern day.'
Plans for a Dedicated Tour
O'Sullivan hopes his legacy will be providing a Snooker 900 tour: 'For me, my legacy would be providing a tour, hopefully. We want to have summer camps for juniors where they play snooker, but it's just 900. That's what I believe in, that's what I'm happy to get behind.' While Francis has big plans, the format cannot yet offer a financially-rewarding career like traditional snooker. Nonetheless, O'Sullivan remains optimistic: 'If Jason gets some sort of tour going, some backing or whatever, I'm sure this will be here forever.'
