Ronnie O'Sullivan survives big scare against amateur player at Snooker 900 Global Championship

O’Sullivan ousted former English amateur snooker champion Billy Castle in a deciding frame thriller to set up a semi-final meeting with Kyren Wilson on Saturday in the unique £100,000 tournament held at the Crucible Sports and Social Club in Reading.

It has been a busy playing period for O’Sullivan over these past few weeks; last month he won the John Virgo Trophy at Goffs in Ireland before taking part in his record-extending 34th Crucible campaign at the 2026 World Snooker Championship where he was ousted by fellow ‘Class of 92’ graduate John Higgins in the last 16.

Last week, the 50-year-old Englishman returned to the sport’s grandest stage to make his debut in the World Seniors Snooker Championship where he defeated Ken Doherty, Peter Lines, Robert Milkins, and then Joe Perry in the final to add a new accolade to his bulging career CV.

As one of the top four seeds in his latest tournament outing, O’Sullivan didn’t begin his title tilt until the quarter-finals in Berkshire. Twenty players were initially in the main draw for the 2026 Snooker 900 Global Championship, with the opening three rounds having been contested across Tuesday to Thursday.

In Castle, O’Sullivan faced an opponent who has previously been on the professional circuit and someone he has lost to on the top tier - and under timed conditions like the ‘900’ rules they’re using for this event - during the 2020 Snooker Shoot Out.

Castle may not currently have a professional tour card - something he will try to change at UK Q School in Leicester later this month - but he is a very capable player against anyone, something he would prove again on Friday night.

Granted a place in the draw for this competition by virtue of winning the ‘fans’ favourite’ poll, the 33-year-old - whose home club is this Crucible venue - had already navigated three rounds to reach the last eight stage, defeating junior qualifier Kaylan Patel, former German Masters winner Anthony Hamilton, and former Masters and UK champion Jimmy White.

Everything was going according to the form book as breaks of 42 and 79 helped O'Sullivan to a 2-0 advantage, but Castle got on the board with frame three before levelling up the contest with a speedy effort of 102.

O'Sullivan retook the lead after a 76 in frame five, and was on course to counter and reach the hill in the sixth before missing the brown whilst on a run of 42. In what was a dramatic finish to the frame, Castle laid a snooker on the blue which paved the way for him to sink the final three colours and restore parity at 3-3.

The underdog then went in front for the first time following a break of 87.

After a shirt foul from O'Sullivan - all fouls in this format result in cueball in hand for the oncoming cueist - Castle got himself into a match-winning situation, but fell out of ideal position whilst on a 35 and missed a tricky plant into a corner pocket.

With his back firmly against the wall, O'Sullivan stepped up to produce one of his signature salvos and keep his title hopes alive, developing two reds on cushions en route to a fantastic 78 clearance.

There was further tension in the deciding frame that saw O'Sullivan gift his opponent an opportunity after failing to make contact with a cushion during a safety shot - another stipulation under these rules that equals a foul. But again, Castle could not convert the chance, and later in the frame a relieved O'Sullivan fashioned a 79 clearance to record an exhausting 5-4 win.

O’Sullivan plays 2024 World Champion Wilson in the final four. Wilson himself was also on the cusp of elimination earlier in the day before squeezing past India’s Pankaj Advani, 5-4.

Elsewhere during the afternoon session, Joe Perry caused a mini upset in defeating recent world championship runner-up Shaun Murphy, 5-3. A report on the victories for Wilson and Murphy can be read here.

Perry will meet Luca Brecel in the semis after the 2023 World Champion pipped Florian Nuessle, 5-4, in a continental European encounter.