O'Sullivan faces battle to stay inside snooker’s world top 16
Ronnie O'Sullivan, 50, was beaten in the first round of the Northern Ireland Open on Monday and now faces a battle to retain his place among the world top 16 who receive automatic entry to the World Championship.
A seven-time winner at the Crucible and a near ever-present in the top 16 since turning professional in 1992, O'Sullivan last won the World Snooker Championship in 2022 and remains in pursuit of an eighth title to overtake Stephen Hendry. He has previously said he would prefer to retire rather than enter World Championship qualifying events, raising the stakes on his current form and ranking position.
O'Sullivan has had a muted start to the 2026-27 season, with a run to the semi-finals of the Wuhan Open the only notable result across five tournaments to date; that run was preceded by two last-16 finishes and followed by first-round defeats in Shenzhen and Belfast. His appearance in Belfast this week was his first ranking event in the United Kingdom outside the Triple Crown events since the English Open in September 2024.
Over the two-year ranking period O'Sullivan has earned £513,750, which leaves him £99,350 ahead of Ali Carter in 16th position and £154,650 clear of Zhou Yuelong in 17th, with Zhou on £359,100. On paper this gap appears comfortable, but the composition of that total creates vulnerability to significant runs from his rivals.
More than a third of O'Sullivan's two-year earnings derive from his run to the final of the Saudi Arabia Masters in August 2025, when he won £200,000 in Jeddah; that sum will continue to count towards his ranking after the 2027 World Championship but will fall out of the eligibility period soon after the start of the 2027-28 season. The Saudi Arabia Masters was abolished in April, removing an opportunity for him to replace that money at the same event, and making strong performances over the next 18 months more necessary to protect his automatic place for the 2028 World Championship.
O'Sullivan has competed on a reduced schedule in recent seasons and has cited medical reasons or the need to prioritise his mental health for withdrawals from several tournaments. He played predominantly in Asia in 2025-26, entering only two tournaments in Britain that season — the UK Championship and the World Championship — and his most recent ranking title came at the World Grand Prix in January of the same year.
After his defeat in the semi-finals of the Wuhan Open in August, O'Sullivan said he did not "want to throw in the towel just yet". Speaking to World Snooker Tour in July, he added: "I'd love to win another World Championship. I've got two attempts at it. If I don't do it this season or the next season, then it'll definitely never happen. I'm not going to play qualifiers. You won't be seeing me go down to Barnsley trying to win qualifying matches and all that sort of stuff. I have to be realistic. If that happens, then obviously that's the end of my career. But hopefully, I can keep going for at least another two seasons."
There are 16 places available for the World Championship through the qualifying rounds, and past players including Hendry, Mark Williams, Ding Junhui and Steve Davis have taken that route after slipping out of the elite 16; O'Sullivan has stated he would retire rather than contest qualifiers, so he will likely need strong results over the next 18 months to remain an automatic entrant for the 2028 World Championship.