Ronnie O’Sullivan has been handed a mouth-watering tie for his return to professional snooker at the World Grand Prix next month. For the first time ever, the ranking event will be held outside of the UK, with the Kai Tak Sports Park in Hong Kong as the new venue.
A tournament record £700,000 prize fund is being made available, with the eventual winner taking home £180,000.
And O’Sullivan, the defending champion, has been drawn against rising Chinese star Si Jiahui in the first round.
Other high-profile ties include Judd Trump playing Gary Wilson, and two former world champions in Mark Williams and Stuart Bingham going head-to-head. UK Championship winner Shaun Murphy stakes on Welsh Open runner-up Stephen Maguire, while current world champion Kyren Wilson will play Matthew Selt.
The tournament, which gets underway on March 4, will mark O’Sullivan’s return to the sport after he opted not to defend his Masters title in January. He then withdrew from the German Masters and, last week, controversially pulled out of the Welsh Open just hours before his match with Jamie Clarke.
That decision led to a backlash from fans, many of whom claimed to have already spent hours travelling to watch the seven-time world champion. O’Sullivan later apologised for his actions, and conceded he understood why people were angry.
“I’ve been trying to prioritise my health and wellbeing, which sometimes means making last-minute decisions not to play,” he said. “It’s never an easy decision and I hate letting people down.
“I realise plenty of people who bought tickets to some recent snooker events will have been frustrated when I withdrew, so I just wanted to say sorry. I’m doing what I can to get back to my best, and I’m grateful for all your support and understanding.”
The 49-year-old has now not played on the World Snooker Tour (WST) since withdrawing midway through his Championship League group in January. That followed him snapping his cue during a defeat to Robert Milkins.
The elite field in Hong Kong will be made up of the top 32 performers in this season’s rankings. O’Sullivan prevailed in Leicester last year, beating Trump 10-7 in the final.
But he’ll face a tough test against Jiahui, who in 2023 became the youngest Crucible debutant to reach the World Championship semi-finals since 1995. This month, he reached the first ranking final of his career at the German Masters, where he lost out to Trump.
