When is Ronnie O'Sullivan playing his next snooker match? Details on the tournament, opponent, how to watch

O'Sullivan - who will turn 50 in December - starts the new snooker term as the world number five, although he will require a successful season to maintain that position.

Last season (2024/25) was a largely fragmented and frustrating one for O'Sullivan, as he withdrew from a plethora of events and did not appear in a single final, yet alone lift a trophy. That was in stark contrast to the campaign before when he won five titles, including record-extending Triple Crown triumphs at the UK Championship and Masters.

The start of last season was far from disastrous for O'Sullivan, though, as he made the semi-finals of both the Shanghai Masters and Xi'an Grand Prix, and the last eight of the inaugural Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters.

However, the end of 2024 proved difficult for the 41-time ranking event champion as he lost his opening matches from being in front in the Champion of Champions and the UK Championship - two of his favourite tournaments which he has won more than anyone else.

After being unable to retain the Riyadh Season Championship title just before Christmas, O'Sullivan began his 2025 by playing in the behind-closed-doors Championship League Invitational - primarily in an attempt to get match fit for his upcoming Masters title defence.

Those planned preparations went horribly wrong. O'Sullivan struggled in the round robin competition, and following a loss to Robert Milkins, he deliberately snapped his cue, chucked it away, and exited the event despite still having one more league fixture to play.

That infamous incident led to a spate of withdrawals - including pulling out of the Masters at the Ally Pally - and a three-month-plus hiatus for O'Sullivan competing on the sport's top flight.

After much speculation, 'The Rocket' did return for the 2025 World Championship. Using a new cue, the seven-time winner managed to reach the semi-finals where he was defeated by eventual champion Zhao Xintong.

Looking ahead, because of the dynamic two-year rolling system used for the world rankings, O'Sullivan has big chunks of ranking points to defend over the coming months. In fact, in the 'Race to the Crucible' provisional ranking list, he is currently projected 17th. If he were to stay in that position, it would mean having to qualify for the Crucible.

Details on Ronnie O'Sullivan's next match on the World Snooker Tour

Ronnie O'Sullivan's next match on the professional snooker circuit will be on Wednesday 30th July when he plays a last 16 tie at the 2025 Shanghai Masters in China.

The match will be the best of 11 frames, and his opponent will be either Barry Hawkins or Wu Yize; those two face each other in the preliminary round.

O'Sullivan's match is scheduled to start at 12:30BST. During the same session, Zhao is set to make his debut as the World Champion on the other table.

The £825,000 invitational event is expected to be televised on TNT Sports and Eurosport in the UK and Europe. Confirmed details will be published here in due course, including information on broadcasters elsewhere across the world.

The Shanghai Masters is one of O’Sullivan’s most enjoyable competitions having won it a record five times (2009, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022). Last year, O’Sullivan’s 21-match winning streak was ended by eventual champion Judd Trump in the semi-finals.

Ronnie O’Sullivan’s latest snooker results and seasonal form guide

Details on Ronnie O’Sullivan’s latest results will appear here when he gets his 2025/26 season underway at the end of July in the 2025 Shanghai Masters.