"The ego has been parked" Snooker pundit Foulds adamant on Ronnie O'Sullivan's world seniors inclusion

Less than a fortnight on from losing to fellow ‘Class of 92’ graduate John Higgins in the last 16 of the 2026 World Professional Snooker Championship, O’Sullivan returned to the Crucible Theatre to take part in the annual flagship event on the World Seniors Snooker Tour.

Widely regarded as snooker’s greatest player of all-time, O’Sullivan - who turned 50-years-old last December - was making his debut at seniors level.

Eligibility rules on who can enter world seniors events changed last year, with anyone aged 40 or over - regardless of whether they have a professional tour card, or their world ranking position - now permitted to enter.

Due to his world ranking, O’Sullivan was one of the top eight seeds for this year’s tournament, meaning he avoided the preliminary round and entered the fray at the last 16.

Whilst some fans online suggested that the seven-times world professional champion would coast to the title, several other current professional exponents were also in the draw, such as Stuart Bingham - who has twice defeated O’Sullivan at the Crucible before - and Ali Carter - who got the better of O’Sullivan at the German Masters only a couple of months before.

Mark Williams - who won the seniors crown in 2015 - was also initially in the draw before withdrawing.

O’Sullivan dispatched Ken Doherty in his opening assignment before having to battle hard against Peter Lines in the quarter-finals, and then Robert Milkins in the last four. In the final, the Englishman compiled five century breaks in a 10-4 victory over ex-professional Joe Perry to win the world seniors title at the first time of asking.

Foulds says O’Sullivan was perfectly intitled to enter the world seniors

O’Sullivan’s participation in the competition sparked online debate as to whether the record 41-time ranking event winner - who hasn’t claimed a professional title for over two years - should have been allowed in it, and if it went against the ‘spirit’ of what the World Seniors Snooker Championship was initially set up to be about.

The history of the world seniors championship is an inconsistent one with changes in criteria and organisers, but under the current stewardship of Jason Francis and the sport’s governing body the WPBSA over recent years, the product is now considerably more stable and a far bigger deal than it once was.

The recent relaxation of eligibility criteria has represented another big change, and resulted in one of the very best players on the current professional circuit - yet alone the seniors scene - lifting the trophy.

Speaking exclusively to the Totally Snookered Vodcast, former ranking event winner, now punditry and commentary star Neal Foulds reiterated his belief that O’Sullivan’s inclusion was correct.

“What would be the real reason he shouldn’t be in it - that he’s too good?” asked Foulds. “Well, that’s an odd one isn’t it because Steve Davis wouldn’t have been allowed in any of the tournaments in the 80s, or Stephen Hendry in the ones in the 90s.

“Ronnie is coming up to 51 this December...I have no problem with him being in it because he qualifies because he’s old enough, and that’s basically surely the only thing that can disqualify you if you’re not old enough to be in, then you shouldn’t be in it.”

“It wasn’t beneath him” Does O’Sullivan have a fresh perspective?

Whilst O’Sullivan is enduring a wait for a trophy on the professional scene, away from snooker’s top-flight he has claimed a hat-trick of accolades in recent months at the John Virgo Trophy, Global Snooker 900 Championship, and the world seniors.

Again talking on the Totally Snookered Vodcast, Foulds believes that O’Sullivan playing in such tournaments might mean that he has a different outlook on competition these days.

“I think with Ronnie coming and winning it...you could say he’s parked his ego a little bit and decided to play in some of the other events.

“It wasn’t beneath him (world seniors championship) to do so and he won it. He made five centuries in the final and looked like he wanted to be there.

“So the ego has been parked, he’s happy to play in whatever he can. Maybe, what he’s always said is that he just likes playing; maybe he wants to be a big fish in a smaller pond - I don’t know, I’m not saying that’s true, but that could be it.

“You can’t deny the commitment he put in at the Crucible, a lot of people were there and they saw a terrific final between him and Joe Perry.

O’Sullivan’s next cuesports outing is in China where he is making his competitive heyball debut at the 2026 Huacai Billiards World Open.

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