Barry Hearn is hoping Ronnie O’Sullivan continues playing until he reaches 60, insisting snooker’s doors will remain permanently open for The Rocket. The seven-time world champion exited the World Championship at the last 16 stage and spoke afterwards about the impact of insufficient big-match practice as a result of his selective participation in tournaments over the past two years.
O’Sullivan also cautioned that, following confirmation the £2.3million Saudi Arabia Masters has been axed two years into a 10-year contract, he will not be attending events anywhere unless the financial terms are satisfactory. He said: “Any tournament I go to, they all know they have to get the chequebook out. If that stops, then I stop. Whenever it is – Saudi, Qatar, China, here, whatever it is – I always make sure I’ve got some sort of fee coming because otherwise people know that I won’t turn up.”
Snooker chief Hearn is convinced the sport has a promising future regardless of the superstar’s involvement, but is keen for O’Sullivan to continue appearing for another decade and has no objections to him being selective about events.
He said: “Ronnie is a legend. How important was Tiger Woods in golf? Very few players ever brought about the commercial advantages that Tiger did, but their time comes and I’m just hoping that Ronnie’s this enigma that will be playing when he’s 60. Occasionally. When he feels like it. And good luck to him.
“Let him play when he wants, and the day he wants to play, the doors will always be open. I want him to do that because I want him to be happy. If he’s not happy, he’s not the same person, he’s not the same player.
“He’s quite happy, I think, I hope. But the game has to be strong enough to survive big names, as any sport has over the years, and we will adjust, and we will create other big names.
“Will they get to the stature of Ronnie O’Sullivan? I personally doubt it, but who knows? I don’t know what the future is there. If I knew what the future was, I’d be backing every horse in yesterday’s race.
“Mark Williams is still there, John Higgins is still there. Ronnie, the great Ronnie. These people are legends.
“I mean, what other sport’s got 50-year-olds playing at the standard they’re playing, taking on the teenagers and coming through strong?
“It’s just nice [when he plays]. It’s not important, it just nice because if it’s important, it means you can’t deal without him and that’s not the case. We have so much talent in this game.”
Craig Swan is covering the 2026 World Snooker Championship from the Crucible for the Daily Record