Ronnie O’Sullivan has said that he plans to play more left-handed snooker during the 2024/25 season.
The Rocket posted a short video on Instagram with the caption: “Me playing in China…what can you spot that I’m doing differently?”
“A lot of you got it right,” he later wrote alongside an image of the 48 year-old lining up a shot with his less dominant hand.
“[I’m] gonna play more left handed from now on. It makes me happy,” O’Sullivan said accompanied with a dancing emoji.
O’Sullivan has long been heralded for his ability to perform at a high level while using both his right and his left hands.
There was a period in his early years as a professional during the 1990s when opposing players took offence to his unorthodox ambidextrous approach.
Alain Robidoux was left unimpressed when a young O’Sullivan completed a 10-3 hammering of the Canadian at the 1996 World Championship with his apparently weaker hand.
But it didn’t take long for people to understand that O’Sullivan wasn’t disrespecting his opponents, rather attempting to enhance his own game to a superior level.
In the decades since, O’Sullivan’s tendency to interchange between his right and left hands has become so seamless in frames that it often goes unnoticed.
It will be interesting, then, to see just how frequently he chooses to play with his less dominant hand during this fledgling campaign.
Ronnie O’Sullivan Instagram.
Ronnie O’Sullivan is next in action at the inaugural Xi’an Grand Prix, the new ranking tournament which begins on Monday in China.
The seven-time world champion encounters Wang Yuchen in his held-over round-of-128 fixture in the competition.
O’Sullivan openly admits to loving playing in China, enjoying the prestige and glamour that comes with participating in most tournaments there.
Sharing videos and images of his pre-tournament routine, including getting massages and enjoying the fine dining on offer, O’Sullivan wrote: “This is [how] they do it in China.”
“What an amazing country China is. Don’t believe what you hear about China in the Western media.”
Despite his fondness for the country, it has been several years since O’Sullivan last triumphed at a Chinese ranking event.
Obviously, there were the leans years during the pandemic when no events were being staged in the area.
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Xi’an Grand Prix info
But you have to go back to 2017 for the Englishman’s most recent success at this level, when the Shanghai Masters was staged as a ranking tournament for the final time.
He of course went on to win three more Shanghai Masters crowns after that when the event transitioned to invitational status.
During the 2023/24 snooker season, O’Sullivan won two ranking titles but his best display in China came at the International Championship when he was beaten in the semi-finals.
The Xi’an Grand Prix carries a lucrative top prize worth £177,000.
2024 Xi’an Grand Prix draw
Round of 128 (bo9)
Top Half
Kyren Wilson vs Haris Tahir (Aug 19)
He Guoqiang 5-4 Ashley Carty
Anthony McGill 5-0 Xing Zihao
Ricky Walden 5-3 Liam Davies
John Higgins 5-2 Alexander Ursenbacher
Sunny Akani 5-2 Fan Zhengyi
Dean Young 5-3 Robert Milkins
Jimmy Robertson 5-1 Huang Jiahao
Elliot Slessor 5-0 Manasawin Phetmalaikul
Chris Wakelin 5-4 Rory Thor
Mark Davis 5-3 Ishpreet Singh Chadha
Mark Williams 5-0 Liam Graham
Jamie Jones 5-2 Mostafa Dorgham
Stuart Bingham vs Zhou Jinhao (Aug 19)
Xu Si 5-4 Jiang Jun
Ding Junhui vs Alfie Burden (Aug 19)
Ronnie O’Sullivan vs Wang Yuchen (Aug 19)
Révész Bulcsú 5-0 David Grace
Neil Robertson 5-2 Allan Taylor
Yuan Sijun 5-1 Bai Yulu
Zhang Anda vs Oliver Lines (Aug 19)
Graeme Dott vs Ma Shaojun(Aug 19)
Hossein Vafaei 5-1 Ahmed Aly Elsayed
Dylan Emery 5-2 Jackson Page
Amir Sarkhosh 5-3 Joshua Thomond
Si Jiahui 5-4 Jimmy White
Gong Chenzhi 5-4 Anthony Hamilton
Tom Ford 5-3 Stan Moody
Matthew Selt 5-2 Ian Burns
Joe O’Connor 5-3 Duane Jones
Zak Surety 5-2 Sanderson Lam
Hammad Miah w/o Luca Brecel
Bottom Half
Judd Trump 5-2 Antony Kowalski
Ma Hailong 5-3 Martin O’Donnell
Lyu Haotian 5-2 Baipat Siripaporn
Artemijs Zizins 5-3 Robbie Williams
Jak Jones 5-4 Robbie McGuigan
Tian Pengfei 5-0 Farakh Ajaib
Jack Lisowski 5-1 Ross Muir
Joe Perry 5-0 Mink Nutcharut
Jordan Brown 5-2 Liam Pullen
David Gilbert 5-1 Reanne Evans
Ben Mertens 5-4 Simon Blackwell
Gary Wilson 5-4 Long Zehuang
Paul Deaville 5-3 Wu Yize
Pang Junxu 5-2 Michael Holt
Aaron Hill 5-2 Chris Totten
Mark Selby vs Wang Xinbo (Aug 19)
Shaun Murphy 5-1 Mitchell Mann
Jamie Clarke vs Cao Jin (Aug 19)
Noppon Saengkham 5-3 Andrew Pagett
Dominic Dale 5-4 Mohammed Shehab
Daniel Wells 5-4 Ali Carter
Julien Leclercq 5-4 Ben Woollaston
Zhou Yuelong 5-1 Haydon Pinhey
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 5-3 Lei Peifan
Matthew Stevens 5-0 Andrew Higginson
Ryan Day 5-4 Cheung Ka Wai
Scott Donaldson w/o Lim Kok Leong
Barry Hawkins 5-1 Kreishh Gurbaxani
Xiao Guodong 5-2 Iulian Boiko
Stephen Maguire 5-1 Ken Doherty
David Lilley 5-3 Louis Heathcote
Mark Allen vs Liu Hongyu (Aug 19)
Round of 64 (bo9)
Matches to be played on Monday, August 19th and Tuesday, August 20th
Top Half
K. Wilson/Tahir vs He Guoqiang
Anthony McGill vs Ricky Walden
John Higgins vs Sunny Akani
Dean Young vs Jimmy Robertson
Elliot Slessor vs Chris Wakelin
Mark Davis vs Mark Williams
Jamie Jones vs Bingham/Zhou J.
Xu Si vs Ding/Burden
O’Sullivan/Wang Y. vs Bulcsú Révész
Neil Robertson vs Yuan Sijun
Zhang/O. Lines vs Dott/Ma S.
Hossein Vafaei vs Dylan Emery
Amir Sarkhosh vs Si Jiahui
Gong Chenzhi vs Tom Ford
Matthew Selt vs Joe O’Connor
Zak Surety vs Hammad Miah
Bottom Half
Judd Trump vs Ma Hailong
Lyu Haotian vs Artemijs Zizins
Jak Jones vs Tian Pengfei
Jack Lisowski vs Joe Perry
Jordan Brown vs David Gilbert
Ben Mertens vs Gary Wilson
Paul Deaville vs Pang Junxu
Aaron Hill vs Selby/Wang X.
Shaun Murphy vs Clarke/Cao
Noppon Saengkham vs Dominic Dale
Daniel Wells vs Julien Leclercq
Zhou Yuelong vs Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Matthew Stevens vs Ryan Day
Barry Hawkins w/o Scott Donaldson
Xiao Guodong vs Stephen Maguire
David Lilley vs Allen/Liu
Round of 32 (bo9)
Matches to be played on Wednesday, August 21st
Top Half
TBC vs TBC
TBC vs TBC
TBC vs TBC
TBC vs TBC
TBC vs TBC
TBC vs TBC
TBC vs TBC
TBC vs TBC
Bottom Half
TBC vs TBC
TBC vs TBC
TBC vs TBC
TBC vs TBC
TBC vs TBC
TBC vs TBC
TBC vs Barry Hawkins
TBC vs TBC
Round of 16 (bo9)
Matches to be played on Thursday, August 22nd
TBC vs TBC
TBC vs TBC
TBC vs TBC
TBC vs TBC
TBC vs TBC
TBC vs TBC
TBC vs TBC
TBC vs TBC
Quarter-Finals (bo9)
Matches to be played on Friday, August 23rd
TBC vs TBC
TBC vs TBC
TBC vs TBC
TBC vs TBC
Semi-Finals (bo11)
Matches to be played on Saturday, August 24th
TBC vs TBC
TBC vs TBC
Final (bo19)
Match to be played on Sunday, August 25th
TBC vs TBC
Featured photo credit: WST
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Publish date : 2024-08-18 08:30:57
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