Ronnie O’Sullivan withdraws from WST Classic snooker with injury, Jimmy White marches on, Neil Robertson exit

Ronnie O’Sullivan will miss the elite Tour Championship event later this month after withdrawing from the inaugural WST Classic on Sunday due to an elbow injury.

He will be joined on the sidelines by Neil Robertson and Mark Williams, who both suffered surprise defeats at the last-64 stage, but Jimmy ‘Whirlwind’ White edged Joe Perry 4-3 to continue his progression with some evergreen scoring on the green baize.

Robertson will be denied the chance to defend the Tour title following his shock 4-3 loss to world No. 65 Oliver Lines with Masters finalist Williams later going out by the same scoreline to friend and compatriot Jackson Page.

World champion O’Sullivan was scheduled to meet world No. 69 David Grace in the last 64 at 6pm UK time in Leicester, but has pulled out of the event with fellow Englishman Grace advancing to the last 32.

“Ronnie O’Sullivan has withdrawn from the WST Classic in Leicester for medical reasons,” said World Snooker Tour in a statement.

“He was due to meet David Grace at 6pm on Sunday evening in the second round, but Grace now receives a bye into the last 32.”

The withdrawal means O’Sullivan can no longer qualify for the eight-man Tour Championship in Hull (March 27-April 2).

“Really disappointed but have had to pull out because of an elbow injury and hope to be back asap,” said O’Sullivan on Twitter.

He had to claim the £80,000 WST Classic first prize and hope for favourable results to have any chance of making it into an event he won in 2019, but has been forced to miss out on the penultimate ranking competition of the 2022/23 campaign.

Robertson will also miss the chance to chase a third straight Tour title after losing 4-3 to Lines.

The Australian won the event in 2021 and 2022, but needed to claim the WST Classic trophy to remain in the hunt for qualification.

He made breaks of 53 and 67 to force the decider against Lines, who contributed 64 and 67 before winning the decider to secure a last-32 match with Lyu Haotian, who buried Joe O’Connor’s faint hopes with a 4-1 win.

Like O’Sullivan, 2010 world champion Robertson will have the next few weeks to focus on his latest Crucible campaign with Williams also out of the race to Hull.

Williams recovered a 2-0 deficit after Page opened with 75, nudging 3-2 ahead with 76 and 58 before Page finished with 97 and 51 to set up a meeting with Zhou Yuelong.

Judd Trump had no such issues as he dropped the first frame to Wu Yize’s 65, but won the next four boosted by three half-centuries.

“So I’m relaxed because I know I need a break, it has been a tough season for everyone. A lot of top players have struggled, but when we get to Sheffield the best players will come alive.”

Trump will meet White in the last 32 after the in-form Whirlwind completed an impressive win against Perry.

White followed up his 4-2 win over Graeme Dott in the first round with some more vintage scoring. He lost the first frame despite rolling in 51 before contributing delightful breaks of 63, 132 and 63 to secure a 3-2 advantage.

Perry edged the sixth frame to force the decider, but White showed his experience to largely dominate the seventh frame to advance.

After qualifying for the UK Championship last 32 and German Masters last 16 this season, the timeless six-time world finalist continues to enjoy some wonderful break-building form on the main circuit.

Barry Hawkins needed the winner’s cheque in Leicester to remain in Tour contention, but the 2013 world finalist slumped to a 4-0 defeat to Scotsman Scott Donaldson, who eased through to the last 32 courtesy of a 58, 50 and a closing 84.

Jack Lisowski watched Si Jiahui close with a 123 break to end his Tour Championship aspirations in a 4-2 win, but Gary Wilson retains interest after a 4-3 victory over Yuan Siujn that saw the Scottish Open champion produce 75, 135 and a closing 95. He will meet Cao Yupeng in the last 32.

Mark Allen, Shaun Murphy, Ali Carter, Kyren Wilson and Ryan Day have already secured their respective spots at the Tour event with Robert Milkins taking a step closer to qualification with a 4-2 win against former women’s world champion Mink Nutcharut earlier on Sunday.

The Welsh Open champion needs one more win against Robbie Williams to overtake Day into fifth place on the one-year ranking list.

Latest Tour Championship qualifiers

(players in bold still competing at WST Classic)

• 1 Mark Allen £529,000
• 2 Shaun Murphy £240,000
• 3 Ali Carter £189,000
• 4 Kyren Wilson £174,500
• 5 Ryan Day £159,000
• 6 Robert Milkins £157,500
• 7 Ding Junhui £140,500
• 8 Mark Selby £138,500
• ——————————————-
• 9 Luca Brecel £131,000
• 10 Jack Lisowski £128,000
• 11 Gary Wilson £125,500
• 12 Judd Trump £118,500

Latest WST Classic results

First round

• Jamie Clarke 4-0 Rebecca Kenna
• Robert Milkins 4-2 Mink Nutcharut
• Xiao Guodong 3-4 Daniel Wells
• Zhang Anda 4-3 Peter Devlin

Second round

• Steven Hallworth 2-4 Cao Yupeng
• Liam Highfield 2-4 Zhou Yuelong
• Scott Donaldson 4-0 Barry Hawkins
• Oliver Lines 4-3 Neil Robertson
• Hammad Miah 3-4 Jamie Jones
• Ben Mertens 0-4 Pang Junxu
• Lyu Haotian 4-1 Joe O’Connor
• Allan Taylor 0-4 Lukas Kleckers
• Judd Trump 4-1 Wu Yize
• Ben Woollaston 1-4 Hossein Vafaei
• Ronnie O’Sullivan v w/o David Grace
• Elliott Slessor 1-4 Haydon Pinhey
• Gary Wilson 4-3 Yuan Sijun
• Jackson Page 4-3 Mark Williams
• Jack Lisowski 2-4 Si Jiahui
• Joe Perry 3-4 Jimmy White

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