Ronnie O’Sullivan wish snubbed as World Snooker Tour announces new rules and prize money

Ronnie O'Sullivan explains why he made a 146 in 2016

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Ronnie O’Sullivan’s plea for the World Snooker Tour [WST] to offer more financial help to first-round losers in tournaments has fallen on deaf ears. ‘The Rocket’ has dominated snooker headlines this month after capturing his seventh world championship at The Crucible, equalling the record of Stephen Hendry by beating Judd Trump in the final.

O’Sullivan, 46, received £500,000 for his triumphant efforts in Sheffield, meaning his career winnings now exceed £12 million. However, he’s recently spoken out for players unable to associate with those kinds of figures.

In December, he argued he would not be encouraging his own son to play snooker because of the lack of financial incentive in the sport: “I’m not talking about the winners,” he said. “I’m talking about the guys that are ranked 60, 70 in the world that are struggling. It’s not good for them.

“If you compared the 125th golfer and what he earns and the 125th snooker player then he’d make a million dollars on the golf tour. You can afford to miss a few cuts because you can make enough money to offset the losses you might make.”

The icon did however, offer a solution: “One way you could maybe remedy it is at least give the first round losers their expenses,” he added. “A lot of these guys have not got the money. It’s unfair. Take it off the top. Winners don’t really need that extra money, give it to the first round losers so at least it doesn’t cost them anything. Then you can call it a job.”

However, despite the WST announcing a series of new measures, according to The Metro, O’Sullivan’s proposal isn’t amongst them. A spokesman for the authority said: “We have made prize money increases to various events and we have made amendments which are aimed at creating a more balanced prize money ranking system. These changes are based on discussions and feedback from players and the WPBSA Players Board.”

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There have been major changes in total prize funds elsewhere though, with increased funding available for the Turkish Masters, British Open, European Masters, English Open, Northern Ireland Open, Scottish Open, German Masters and Welsh Open.

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