Ronnie O'Sullivan wins on competitive heyball debut to stay on course for bumper jackpot prize

O'Sullivan defeated Ivan Kakovskiy, 15-9, on Wednesday evening in the Far East to progress in the lucrative heyball tournament that carries a top prize in excess of £500,000 (5 million Chinese Yuan).

The 12-day 'World Finals' spectacular - running between May 28 to June 8 and sanctioned by the World Pool Association - features cueists from across the globe. O'Sullivan entered the fray in stage three (last 64) of the competition, and now has two chances in the double elimination format to qualify for stage four when the event becomes a straight knockout affair.

Heyball pool is essentially a hybrid cuesport, bringing together elements from several different baize disciplines. It is played on a small-sized snooker table with a napped cloth, and with 'American Pool' balls (which are bigger and heavier than snooker balls) consisting of spots and stripes. The pockets and its sizes are cut similar to what you associate with professional matchplay snooker.

There are nuances to the rules, but in simple terms, the aim of the game is for a player to pot all the balls in their set (either spots or stripes) and then the black 8-ball to win the frame.

In recent times, O'Sullivan - who has not won a title on the professional snooker circuit in over two years - has expressed his desire to play on the heyball (sometimes also referred to as Chinese 8-ball pool) scene in the future. Last December, the 50-year-old was involved in a big exhibition event in Hangzhou where he defeated two of the sport’s biggest stars, although those results should be taken with a pinch of salt given the non-competitive nature.

But this latest heyball outing for O'Sullivan is the real deal, as he competes alongside some of the sport's very best.

Although O'Sullivan - who has apparently been practicing hard for this new venture - did not play properly until today, he was at the venue on Friday night for a glitzy opening ceremony and to take part in an exhibition doubles match. Newly-crowned World Snooker Champion Wu Yize was also in attendance to receive a special prize from a sponsor.

In the main event itself, 'The Rocket' randomly drew 27-year-old Kakovskiy, who is from Russia but competing under a neutral athletes flag for this tournament.

Kakovskiy will be a familiar name to some snooker fans; he is multiple-time national champion, and was only one frame away from qualifying for the professional circuit in 2021 when he lost 5-4 to Oliver Brown in the final of the European Amateur Championship. He has also twice played in the World Snooker Championship qualifiers; on debut in 2020, he lost 6-3 to Jimmy White.

Early on in the match, it was pretty much all about O'Sullivan who adapted to the new challenge impressively.

The Englishman opened up an early lead and kept his opponent at arms' length throughout the contest. Kakovskiy rallied a little bit towards the end, but O'Sullivan completed a 15-9 win to set up a reported clash with women's star Chen Siming on Thursday.

Several weeks' ago, O'Sullivan spoke about his upcoming debut in the heyball world and was modest about his chances.

"I think it's a bit unrealistic to think about winning the title but if I can win a few matches, I'd be happy with that” said O’Sullivan, who in the 1990s played for Team Europe in the Mosconi Cup - one of 9-ball pool’s flagship events.

“I'm just going to enjoy playing against the best players in China and watching and learning. Just to watch them play and pick up some tips.

“I know there's no expectation on me. I think everyone really knows that you can't just go from snooker to pool, or pool to snooker - you have to really practice one to get good at it.”

It has been a busy few weeks for record 23-time snooker Triple Crown event winner O’Sullivan. After being pipped by John Higgins in an epic last 16 encounter at the 2026 World Snooker Championship, he returned to the Crucible the next week to win the World Seniors Snooker Championship on his debut at that level.

The week after, in Reading, he lifted another trophy at the inaugural Global Snooker 900 Championship.