Ronnie O'Sullivan excited for new snooker format that could encourage youngsters and new fans to the sport

Pluto Snooker 900, the ‘world’s first’ dedicated, 24/7 snooker channel, will go live on the afternoon of Monday 6th October.

Most weeks, the station will show 18 hours of live action from the latest 900 series, a unique concept featuring the world’s top amateur cueists and young rising stars competing for a slice of the £600,000 prize money on offer across the next 12 months - a whopping fund for the secondary tier of snooker.

The launch week will star several of snooker’s iconic figures taking part in a ‘Legends League’ consisting of Joe Johnson, John Parrott, Tony Knowles and Tony Drago.

Ken Doherty and Jimmy White will also be there on the opening day for special challenge matches.

O'Sullivan says 900 format “will bring out an exciting brand of snooker”

The rules for Snooker 900 are still largely the same as traditional matchplay snooker - accumulating points, potting red then colour etc. - but with several tweaks to the format.

The biggest difference is the timed element. As well as a 20-second shot-clock, frames cannot last longer than 15 minutes - 900 seconds, hence the name.

A spotted cueball is used for the 900, and players must either pot a ball or hit a cushion after contact on every shot - meaning they can’t just roll up to a ball directly.

All fouls are ‘cueball in hand’ meaning the incoming player can place the white wherever they like on the table.

Seven-time world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan, who is involved with the new Pluto Snooker 900 brand, thinks the format will produce attractive snooker and force contestants to play in a certain way.

Asked whether the 900 could bring young players to the green baize, O’Sullivan said: “Yeah, I always think faster formats is very attractive for anybody really. I think it's more exciting.

“You look at 20/20 cricket; I think most people will be able to sit there and watch that because it's a slog fest.

“I think most people playing the game, they'll want to play like Jimmy White, Alex Higgins, Judd Trump, myself, but this format actually forces you to play like that.

“I think it will bring out an exciting brand of snooker”.

Because of the short format and clock pressure, outcomes on the Snooker 900 series are more unpredictable. ‘The Rocket’ believes that closely contested encounters adds to the excitement of it all: “I think for new audiences that are just coming along, maybe watching snooker for the first time, they'll get to see an end to a game.

“Some games can go on for two, three hours and people probably haven't got that amount of time to sit through a whole game. But with frames being only 15 minutes, you'll be able to see start to finish, and I think it's exciting because obviously anything can happen, anyone can beat whoever they play.”

O’Sullivan’s long, illustrious professional snooker career has spanned over three decades. His big breakthrough came when he won the 1993 UK Championship as a 17-year-old; the youngest-ever winner of a world ranking event - a record that still stands today.

But his first television appearance came as a 14-year-old at the 1990 Cockney Classic - a tournament that has parallels with the 900.

Reflecting on those days as a junior player and the potential that the 900 has for unearthing new prodigies, O’Sullivan said: "I think what excites me, it just takes me back to when I was a young kid and I had played in a lot of amateur events. I remember playing in a competition called the Cockney Classic, and for any amateur playing in any event with the opportunity to play on TV was like the pinnacle of your snooker career at that point.

“It just takes me back to when I was a young kid playing in that event and I know how much it meant to me and I know how much it meant to everybody. So to actually have Pluto TV have its own TV channel that's going to give an opportunity to juniors, women players, disabled players and professionals, it's exciting.