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Is Ronnie O’Sullivan playing in the World Snooker Championship? Legendary star confirms decision on participation
The 2025 edition of the World Snooker Championship gets underway this weekend and Ronnie O’Sullivan has made a decision. O’Sullivan has been crowned champion at The Crucible seven times, but his participation this year wasn’t guaranteed. O’Sullivan is still snooker’s biggest starGetty The 49-year-old is one of Britain’s greatest sportspeople, but he has been mainly absent this season. The last time O’Sullivan played competitively was in January in the Championship League. As a result, he is down in 31st on the one-year list, meaning he missed out on the chance to compete at The Players and Tour Championships. And with the World Snooker Championship coming up, huge questions were raised over whether O’Sullivan could be absent. However, he’s now announced whether he will be playing or not… Is Ronnie O’Sullivan playing in the World Snooker Championship? O’Sullivan has confirmed he will be at The Crucible this year. He told TNT Sports on Thursday: “I’m proud to continue my record of having never missed a World Championship. “I have many fond memories at The Crucible and look forward to making more in 2025. “I’ve enjoyed some good prep with my cue over the last week, so feel good ahead of Tuesday.” O’Sullivan continued: “Before I’m at the table, I’ll be on the sofa this Saturday and Sunday evening. I’m really looking forward to seeing the team again and having some fun.” O’Sullivan is going to return for the World ChampionshipGetty The World No.5 admitted earlier this year that he was going to make a decision at the last minute. And he’s backed that up by confirming his decision only a few days before the tournament gets started. However, how well O’Sullivan is going to play is up in the air, as he doesn’t feel like his game is in a good place at all. In an interview with The Sun, he said: “I would be happy to win a match. If I turn up at Sheffield and I win a match, I would go ‘that’s a huge victory for me’. It really would be. “I know I’ve got the talent and I know that it’s there but it’s just finding it. I haven’t found it for three or four years. “I had a spell in 2022 from January until the world championship where I won it and beat Judd Trump in the final and felt great. O’Sullivan has been drawn to face rival Carter in the first roundGetty “Other than that, the last four years have been so appalling I’m not sure what to expect really. “In 2013, I know I hadn’t picked a cue up for nine months but the minute I did pick my cue up I felt like I couldn’t miss. “On the practice table I felt like I was hitting the balls as sweet as ever. My confidence was there. “This is completely different. If I was to be honest, I’d ask myself this question . . . where would I rank myself on performance compared to where everyone else is at the moment? “I’d probably say I’d be lucky if I made the top 32. There are so many good players around and the standard is very, very good. “So, I need to be good to be able to compete with the top guys.” Despite his fall in the world rankings, O’Sullivan didn’t have to qualify to be at The Crucible, so he will definitely be playing. He’s now been drawn against fierce rival Ali Carter in the first round and they will clash on Tuesday, April 22. World Snooker Championship: Date and how to follow The 2025 World Snooker Championship will begin on April 19 and will run until May 5. The tournament will be held at the iconic Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. Morning sessions are scheduled to begin at 10am each day, with afternoon sessions starting at 2:30pm and evening sessions at 7pm. The final will begin at 1pm on Sunday, May 4 and Monday, May 5, with the evening sessions for the final beginning at 7pm. Fans will be able to watch the action live and free-to-air across the BBC and on iPlayer. talkSPORT will also have live coverage of the action. To tune in to talkSPORT or talkSPORT 2 through the website, click HERE for the live stream. You can also listen via the talkSPORT app, on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.
The 2025 edition of the World Snooker Championship gets underway this weekend and Ronnie O’Sullivan has made a decision.
O’Sullivan has been crowned champion at The Crucible seven times, but his participation this year wasn’t guaranteed.
The 49-year-old is one of Britain’s greatest sportspeople, but he has been mainly absent this season.
The last time O’Sullivan played competitively was in January in the Championship League.
As a result, he is down in 31st on the one-year list, meaning he missed out on the chance to compete at The Players and Tour Championships.
And with the World Snooker Championship coming up, huge questions were raised over whether O’Sullivan could be absent.
However, he’s now announced whether he will be playing or not…
Is Ronnie O’Sullivan playing in the World Snooker Championship?
O’Sullivan has confirmed he will be at The Crucible this year.
He told TNT Sports on Thursday: “I’m proud to continue my record of having never missed a World Championship.
“I have many fond memories at The Crucible and look forward to making more in 2025.
“I’ve enjoyed some good prep with my cue over the last week, so feel good ahead of Tuesday.”
O’Sullivan continued: “Before I’m at the table, I’ll be on the sofa this Saturday and Sunday evening. I’m really looking forward to seeing the team again and having some fun.”
The World No.5 admitted earlier this year that he was going to make a decision at the last minute.
And he’s backed that up by confirming his decision only a few days before the tournament gets started.
However, how well O’Sullivan is going to play is up in the air, as he doesn’t feel like his game is in a good place at all.
In an interview with The Sun, he said: “I would be happy to win a match. If I turn up at Sheffield and I win a match, I would go ‘that’s a huge victory for me’. It really would be.
“I know I’ve got the talent and I know that it’s there but it’s just finding it. I haven’t found it for three or four years.
“I had a spell in 2022 from January until the world championship where I won it and beat Judd Trump in the final and felt great.
“Other than that, the last four years have been so appalling I’m not sure what to expect really.
“In 2013, I know I hadn’t picked a cue up for nine months but the minute I did pick my cue up I felt like I couldn’t miss.
“On the practice table I felt like I was hitting the balls as sweet as ever. My confidence was there.
“This is completely different. If I was to be honest, I’d ask myself this question . . . where would I rank myself on performance compared to where everyone else is at the moment?
“I’d probably say I’d be lucky if I made the top 32. There are so many good players around and the standard is very, very good.
“So, I need to be good to be able to compete with the top guys.”
Despite his fall in the world rankings, O’Sullivan didn’t have to qualify to be at The Crucible, so he will definitely be playing.
He’s now been drawn against fierce rival Ali Carter in the first round and they will clash on Tuesday, April 22.
World Snooker Championship: Date and how to follow
The 2025 World Snooker Championship will begin on April 19 and will run until May 5.
The tournament will be held at the iconic Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.
Morning sessions are scheduled to begin at 10am each day, with afternoon sessions starting at 2:30pm and evening sessions at 7pm.
The final will begin at 1pm on Sunday, May 4 and Monday, May 5, with the evening sessions for the final beginning at 7pm.
Fans will be able to watch the action live and free-to-air across the BBC and on iPlayer.
talkSPORT will also have live coverage of the action.
To tune in to talkSPORT or talkSPORT 2 through the website, click HERE for the live stream.
You can also listen via the talkSPORT app, on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.
