"I'd rather be docked a frame" Ronnie O'Sullivan explains why he is excited about new snooker format
Ronnie O’Sullivan is backing a new form of snooker which he believes is more fun to play, and wants to see the format rolled out to academies and leagues across the country in a bid to encourage more junior players to the green baize.
Created by O’Sullivan’s manager and World Seniors Snooker Tour Chairman Jason Francis, ‘Snooker 900’ is a modern-day twist on traditional matchplay snooker that has been going places in recent times.
With the launch of a dedicated 24/7 Pluto TV Snooker 900 channel last autumn, the new format has been given an international platform to thrive on. New competitions are regularly held, and across its opening 12 months, cueists have been playing for a slice of over £600,000 in prize money.
Looking at a Snooker 900 event, all the equipment is pretty much the same to what we are used to seeing on the professional circuit - the same sized table, same colour cloth, normal amount of balls and colours; ascetically the only difference is that a spotted cueball is used.
The main contrast is a few tweaks to the playing rules, and the use of a match-clock, and a shot-clock. Frames in Snooker 900 can last no longer than 15 minutes - 900 seconds, hence the name.
Should the frame not be completed when the 15-minute frame-clock expires, whoever is leading in points wins that frame. Because of the timed element, the methodology can be different to normal snooker for players when the time is nearly up. The player in front may slow things down and defend as they protect their lead, whilst the player behind needs to chase the game and accrue points before the timer runs out. There is also a 15-second shot-clock throughout the frame - a period within when the player must strike the cueball for their shot.
The scoring of points and break-building is the same, although for every shot, players must either make contact with a cushion or pot a ball, otherwise this is classed as a foul.
All fouls in Snooker 900 result in ‘cueball-in-hand’ for the incoming player, meaning they can place the cueball anywhere they like on the table for the start of their visit.
Widely acknowledged as snooker’s greatest player of all-time, seven-time world champion O’Sullivan has been an integral part of the new Pluto TV Snooker 900 project - coverage is also available online and through an app - since its inauguration.
Having endorsed and promoted the new variation across the several months before, back in the spring O’Sullivan - whose competitive appearances on UK soil have been few and far between in recent seasons - competed under the new format, and enjoyed fantastic success.
The 50-year-old won the John Virgo Trophy at Goffs in Ireland in April after whitewashing John Higgins 6-0 in the final, and towards the end of May he defeated Luca Brecel in the title match to win the Global Championship and collect a £25,000 winner’s purse.
Snooker 900 is not part of the official professional circuit, but several of the sport’s star names lined up for the aforementioned Global Championship in Reading, and last autumn’s Crucible Cup that saw Neil Robertson get the better of Higgins in the final.
There are regular weekly tournaments shown live on the platform - won by players such as Jimmy White and Stuart Bingham - featuring current and ex-professionals, and top amateur, women, and junior cueists. There has also been a week dedicated to showcasing some of the best disability players.
Our first century of the final, as Ronnie levels things out at 2-2! pic.twitter.com/uOmAmceXSq
— Snooker Legends (@Snookerlegends) May 17, 2026
O’Sullivan says Snooker 900 is more fun than the Crucible
Whilst competing at the inaugural Global Championship, O’Sullivan sat down alongside Francis for an interview that has recently been uploaded online.
A child prodigy, and still snooker’s youngest-ever ranking event champion when he won the 1993 UK Championship as a 17-year-old, O’Sullivan is encouraging youngsters to take up Snooker 900, and believes that his peers would have more fun playing this new, short-format version.
"You can see that the players are actually enjoying it” said the Englishman when referencing the Crucible Cup final between Robertson and Higgins. “They looked like they were having more fun playing the 900 than they were at the Crucible (in Sheffield).
“We all want to win the World Championship but at some point we just say 'we want to enjoy the game', so I believe in 900...it's enjoyable snooker.
“If you want painful snooker, go and play the World Snooker Tour...that's the F1, that's the hard one, you're going to have to really grind it out. If you want to be a touring car racing driver...you want to have some fun, go and play 900.
“I believe in it. I would encourage juniors to play. We want to encourage everyone; it's a level playing field, anyone can do it.”
The ruleset for the 900 is the most fun I’ve had playing snooker. It forces players to play their natural game and you don’t even notice the shot clock for the most part. The rules in snooker haven’t changed for over 50 years and they need to evolve now. I’m not saying every rule…
— Neil Robertson OAM (@nr147) November 25, 2025
“Everyone's happy. Happy wife, happy life”
One of the biggest attractions for O’Sullivan to the 900 format is having a better idea of how long he will be engaged for in matches.
The 900 is different to the Snooker Shoot Out (an annual ranking event on the World Snooker Tour) as players still play ‘best of’ matches, it just means that all frames are played under 900 rules. However, players know that they can’t be involved in contests that could last several hours as frames can only be a maximum of 15 minutes.
Having such assurances is a big positive for O’Sullivan: "I think for me that's the biggest thing, that it kind of gives you structure.
“If I play at 12, I know I'm done by 2.30, have a nice lunch, get time to have a sleep, get time to have a shower, get warmed up for the evening session, I've already planned what I'm doing tonight.
“If I was playing in a normal tournament, I'm going 'listen, I don't know what's going to happen later, you'll have to wait home for me' and the wife ain't happy about that...everyone's happy. Happy wife, Happy life. 900 brings a happy life.
“You see it at Wimbledon sometimes, the rain starts, the players are in there for like six, seven hours, must be awful for them. We do that on the main tour.
“I mean, I always just sit in a restaurant and go 'look, I'm prepared to be docked a frame but I'm getting on with my day because that's the only way round it’.
“I'd rather be docked a frame, and get on with my day than think I'm waiting around two, three hours and getting the hump.”
The King of the Crucible.... century break!!!! @SHendry775 pic.twitter.com/nGUtZiTdZJ
— Snooker Legends (@Snookerlegends) November 24, 2025
Snooker 900 - a way of introducing new players to the sport?
Francis, who initially created the new format earlier this decade when events were held on SportyStuffTV, was keen to explain how Snooker 900 could entice new, young players to the sport, and provide a bridge to the traditional version of it.
"I think Ronnie makes a really good point; you talk about Formula One - even they brought in the Sprint.
“A lot of sports now, you look at cricket - a lot of people look at this now (Snooker 900) and say this is the 20/20 version of cricket.
“You look at children playing football, they play 5-a-side, 6-a-side, they play for 15 minutes, not 90 minutes, so it's not like we're reinventing a short-form, quickfire, but kids of today, by playing 900 - even Ronnie, he's got a structure to his day, he can work it out.”
There is live Snooker 900 action this week with former top 16 stars and ranking event winners Joe Perry, Robert Milkins, and Anthony Hamilton all part of the schedule.