As snooker GOAT learns key lesson, how much did Ronnie O'Sullivan earn from pool debut in China? - 'Like asking Roger Federer to play table tennis'
Published 08/06/2026 at 12:15 GMT+1
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Ronnie O'Sullivan has again intimated he would be willing to walk away from snooker to focus on pool, but would such a decision make sense for the seven-time Crucible winner?
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O'Sullivan made his competitive debut in the Huacai Billiards World Open, a lucrative Heyball event (Chinese billiards) which is being held between May 28 and June 8 at the Deqing International Conference Center.
He enjoyed wins over Ivan Kakovskiy (15-9) and Suung Kim (15-12), but found specialist pool potter Zheng Xiaohuai, a multiple Heyball champion, too strong in a 17-6 defeat on Friday morning at the last-32 stage of the lucrative ÂŁ1.2m tournament.
Heyball pool is played on a smaller sized snooker table using standard eight-ball pool balls, with pocket sizes more closely resembling snooker pockets than the wider pool variety.
Despite the defeat, O'Sullivan enjoyed the experience and has suggested he might turn his back on snooker to focus on the smaller table with one eye on the future.
"At the moment, I'm still playing snooker, I'm enjoying my snooker," O'Sullivan told reporters in China.
"So maybe I'll do another three or four years of that then, maybe when I'm 54 or 55, maybe a little bit too old to play snooker, I can come here and play some Chinese pool.
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"So that was my thinking, more something I would do full-time, maybe in four or five years' time."
Rocket Ronnie is keen to improve his tactics on the smaller nine-foot table, which has rounded pockets and 57mm balls.
"You know, it's such a very different sport," he said. "It's like asking Roger Federer to try and play one of the top Chinese table tennis players and expecting him to win.
"It's a very different game, but I'm enjoying it. It is just something new, something fresh. So, yeah, it's good.
"You can't play snooker and try to play pool. Impossible. If I decide to play pool full-time, I can never play snooker again.
"You can't do both. You can only be very good at one. At the moment, it's just like a little bit of, 'let me come here and see what it is like.'"
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The Huacai Billiards World Open, with over 500 players from 27 countries, carried a total prize fund of 10,784,000 yuan, which equates to around ÂŁ1.195m.
The champion of the event earned a whopping 5m yuan, which is around ÂŁ550,000 - more than the ÂŁ500,000 Wu Yize earned as China's second world champion at the Crucible last month - and the runner-up picked up 1.5m yuan (ÂŁ166,480).
But the drop-off in financial incentives from the latter stages of the competition carries a marked difference.
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Finishing third was worth 600,000 yuan (ÂŁ66,500) and fourth 300,000 yuan (around ÂŁ33,300).
While O’Sullivan will likely earn appearance money from sponsors for promoting the event, it is worth noting that the prize money for finishing in the top 32 was fixed at 40,000 yuan.
That equates to only ÂŁ4,400 - meaning you have to challenge for the big prizes in pool to make serious money.
Compare this to snooker, where O'Sullivan earned ÂŁ30,000 for losing 13-12 to John Higgins in the last 16 of the World Championship in April.
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He pocketed another ÂŁ30,000 for winning the World Seniors with a 10-4 victory over Joe Perry and ÂŁ25,000 for defeating Luca Brecel 10-5 in the final of the Snooker 900 Global Championship in Reading.
Meanwhile, the 41-time ranking event winner is set to return to action on the main circuit when he chases a record-extending sixth Shanghai Masters title next month (Jul 27-Aug 2).
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