Ronnie O'Sullivan out of Players Championship as event suffers huge blow amid mass cull of top snooker stars

ByEurosport

Published 18/02/2023 at 10:44 GMT

Eight of the world's top 16 players will not be playing at the Players Championship in Wolverhampton next week with world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan, defending champion Neil Robertson, 2021 winner John Higgins and Masters finalist Mark Williams all absent from the elite ranking event. Stream top snooker action, including the Welsh Open, live on discovery+, the Eurosport app and at eurosport.co.uk

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The standing of the Players Championship suffered a huge pre-tournament blow on Friday when it was confirmed the sport's biggest draw Ronnie O'Sullivan, world champion and world No. 1, would not be participating.

Only the top 16 on the sport's one-year ranking list qualify for the Players Championship which breaks off at Aldersley Leisure Village in Wolverhampton on Monday (February 20-26) after the conclusion of the Welsh Open on Sunday evening.

O'Sullivan – troubled by problems with his cue tip all week in Llandudno – needed to reach the final of the Welsh Open to qualify for the Players, but a shock 5-0 defeat to world No. 49 Tian Pengfei in the quarter-finals ended his hopes of playing at a competition he won in 2018 and 2019.

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The snooker GOAT is in good company with half of the world's top 16 astonishingly missing from the 12th ranking event of the campaign, and five of the top 10 not in attendance amid the mass cue cull.

The absentees are:

1. Ronnie O'Sullivan (Eng)
4. Neil Robertson (Aus)
6. John Higgins (Sco)
7. Mark Williams (Wal)
9. Zhao Xintong (Chn)
13. Barry Hawkins (Eng)
15. Stuart Bingham (Eng)
16. Yan Binghtao (Chn)

The casualty list is a promoter's nightmare and is likely to prompt serious debate over the qualification process for the Players Championship and Tour Championship, which is contested next month (27 March-2 April) by the top eight on the one-year list.

Neil Robertson is the defending Players champion, but has not done enough to secure his spot in this year's tournament as a result of his 4-0 whitewash loss to Dominic Dale in the last 64 in Wales.

2013 world finalist Barry Hawkins – beaten by Robertson in last year's Players Championship final – is also out alongside the 2021 winner John Higgins.

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Three-time world champion Mark Williams – who suffered a surprise 4-3 loss to Jak Jones in the second round of the Welsh Open – had occupied 15th spot in the one-year list, but was finally knocked out of the running on Friday.

Robert Milkins' 5-1 win against Mark Allen in the last eight on Friday night guarantees his spot at the Players Championship ahead of his semi-final with Tian at Venue Cymru on Saturday afternoon.

"When I lost 6-5 to Ali Carter in the semi-finals in Germany that was such a disappointment because if I had won that I would have been in the Players Championship," said Milkins.

"Coming here, I knew I had to get to another semi-final, which is a difficult thing to do. I am proud of myself."

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Joe O'Connor – who lost 5-4 to Pang Junxu in the quarter-finals – holds the 16th and final place but the Scottish Open finalist could be overtaken if Tian or Pang claim the Ray Reardon trophy and £80,000 top prize in Wales.

Pang meets Shaun Murphy in the second semi-final on Saturday evening.

Allen made a highest break of only 33 in a dismal outing against Milkins, but has already secured top seeding at the Players Championship after winning the Northern Ireland Open, UK Championship and World Grand Prix.