Ronnie O’Sullivan isn’t getting too excited by talk of a potential £1m bonus payout despite winning his opening game at the Dafabet Northern Ireland Open in Belfast. ‘The Rocket’ emerged with a 4-2 win in an intriguing clash with Germany’s Lukas Kleckers on day two at the Waterfront Hall to keep his hopes of landing the mega-payout alive. O’Sullivan is the only man left in the running for the jackpot which comes with winning all four Home Nations events.
He pocketed the English Open last month after he demolished Kyren Wilson 9-2 in the final to lift the title. Since then the five-time world champion has lost out to Shaun Murphy in the Champion of Champions final in Coventry while he demolished Judd Trump 10-3 to win the Shanghai Masters. That was the 30th ranking title of his professional career and O’Sullivan’s bid for 31 is up and running in Belfast. World number one Mark Selby is not in Northern Ireland while Trump and Murphy have made early exits already.
However, O’Sullivan isn’t getting carried away, with another 20 wins still needed. “I don’t really want to engage in a conversation that’s quite ridiculous,” he told Eurosport. “It’s a ridiculous thing, 28 matches in four certain tournaments, there’s no point me talking about that. You [the media] can talk about it but I’m gonna refuse to talk about it. “[World Snooker chairman] Barry Hearn has got short arms and deep pockets, he wouldn’t be putting up that prize if he thought he had to part with any cash!” O’Sullivan is 17/10 to beat Duane Jones 4-0 in his second-round clash on Wednesday afternoon while he is now 2/1 favourite to win the Northern Ireland Open title.
Dafabet Northern Ireland Open odds available at Dafabet.