Ronnie O’Sullivan will perform in Finland for two days.
Seven-time snooker world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan will arrive in Finland in June.
The English superstar will play two exhibition matches at Tampere Hall on the 5th and 6th. June. The organizer of the matches is the only professional player in Finnish snooker history Robin Hull.
– I can say that this is the last bet as far as exhibition matches are concerned. The coverage can no longer go higher than this. With O’Sullivan and Tampere-talo, the names are on paper. The opponent will find out in the near future, Hull tells Urheilu.
The 48-year-old O’Sullivan is the number one player in the snooker world rankings. He has won the sport’s most coveted World Championship title seven times (2001, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2020 and 2022) just like the currently ongoing The Masters (1995, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2014, 2016 and 2017). In addition, he has celebrated the UK Championship no less than eight times.
In terms of the number of world championships, O’Sullivan is not yet in his own category, as the one who dominated the 1990s With Stephen Hendry there are also seven World Cup verticals.
O’Sullivan, who debuted as a professional in 1992, has, among other things, won the most ranking tournaments (40), made the most maximum breaks (15) and hit streaks exceeding one hundred points (1232) in professional tournaments, and earned the most prize money (almost 20 million euros).
He is especially remembered for the 1997 World Championships, where O’Sullivan, known by the nickname The Rocket, scored the fastest maximum break of 147 points in five minutes and 20 seconds.
According to Hull, O’Sullivan’s opponent in the matches in Tampere will be chosen from a small group of world snooker stars in the coming weeks.
– At this point, I’m still only talking about the opponent as a special guest, says Hull.
The stars have an attraction
Several exhibition matches have been organized in Finland during the year, in which world champions have performed Mark Selby, Mark Williams, Neil Robertson and Stuart Bingham. In May, Helsinki Kulttuuritalo will host a weekend-long invitational competition for eight top professionals.
In December, Hull organized an exhibition match in the 1,900-seat Tampere Hall, where Robertson and the reigning world champion met on a quick visit By Luca Brecel replaced by Selby. The match was sold out in a few days.
– That match was the first stage of the plan, which succeeded. This is the second and last part.
In June, O’Sullivan will play two matches in which the game system is best out of 11 – so six won sets are required to win. The packed 1,900-seat Tampere hall has attracted interest not only from the stars of the sport but also from snooker’s umbrella organization World Snooker, which aims to expand the professional tour to new countries.
– There is a big attraction to Finland, says Hull.
– I raise my hand in favor of being ready to help bring a professional tournament to Finland.
An expensive investment
O’Sullivan plays dozens of exhibition matches every year, the price range of which varies greatly. His fees are not public information, but according to Urheilu’s information, the amount for two-day events in Europe is well over 100,000 euros. In China, the size category can be doubles.
To the question whether O’Sullivan charges more than 100,000 euros for his Tampere gigs, Hull answers briefly.
– Yes. It’s over.
O’Sullivan will be fighting for even bigger money at the end of the week when The Masters invitational tournament culminates in London. O’Sullivan will meet his compatriot in the quarterfinals on Thursday Barry Hawkins.
The match starts at 15:00 Finnish time. The winner of the tournament, which ends on Sunday, will receive a good 290,000 euros.