In a surprising turn of events, Ronnie O’Sullivan has decided to exit the Championship League before completing all his matches in his group. After competing on the first day, he chose not to continue to the second day despite having three more games to play.
On the first day, O’Sullivan, who is currently the top-ranked snooker player in the world, won two close matches against Sam Craigie and Elliot Slessor, with both victories coming in with a score of 3-2. However, he faced a setback with a 3-0 defeat to Jak Jones. Even with this loss, O’Sullivan was still in the running to advance to the semi-finals of the group.
The event organizers announced on Wednesday night that O’Sullivan, often known as “the Rocket,” had pulled out. The competition in Leicester will proceed on Thursday with the remaining six players. Those players, including Jordan Brown, Joe O’Connor, and Pang Junxu, will compete for a spot in the prestigious Winners’ Group.
This group stage is the final opportunity for players to qualify for the Winners’ Group, which will take place on March 12-13. Stuart Bingham, Chris Wakelin, Mark Selby, Neil Robertson, John Higgins, and Kyren Wilson have already secured their places there.
Despite his withdrawal from the Championship League, O’Sullivan’s snooker journey continues. His next event will be in Saudi Arabia at the high-stakes World Masters of Snooker in Riyadh, starting on Monday. This event features the world’s top eight snooker players, including Judd Trump, Mark Allen, Mark Selby, Luca Brecel, Shaun Murphy, Ali Carter, and Mark Williams.
They will be joined by two wildcard entries, Omar Alajlani from Saudi Arabia and Ali Alobaidli from Qatar. The tournament began on January 2 with Group 1, and Group 7, O’Sullivan’s group, started on February 28 and will wrap up on February 29. The Winners’ Group is scheduled to begin on March 12 and conclude on March 13.
Thursday, February 29
FROM 11 AM
Pang Junxu vs Joe O’Connor
Pang Junxu vs Sam Craigie
Elliot Slessor vs Sam Craigie
Ronnie O’Sullivan vs Jordan Brown
Jordan Brown vs Elliot Slessor
Jordan Brown vs Jak Jones
Joe O’Connor vs Jak Jones
NOT BEFORE 4.30 PM
Ronnie O’Sullivan vs Pang Junxu
Joe O’Connor vs Elliot Slessor
Semi-finals
Final.
Collins Nwokolo
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