Rookie potter Elliott Slessor will be hoping for an encounter with Ronnie O’Sullivan at the upcoming China Open. O’Sullivan faces Ross Muir for the right to face the North East player in Beijing when the ranking tournament gets underway next month, one which is now the second most lucrative in snooker behind the World Championships at the Crucible in Sheffield.
Slessor has faced O’Sullivan once already this season, with the world number 71 claiming a surprise 4-1 win, and the 23-year-old says he is not intimidated by the prospect of another meeting with ‘The Rocket’. “It is going to be a packed crowd and that is what I like to play in front of. With the prospect of facing Ronnie, I’ve found this tournament a lot easier to practise for. I enjoy the big games and it is natural to be able to get up for them,” Slessor said. “Just to play against him is a huge honour. He is the greatest player that has ever lived and facing him was one of my ambitions setting out. Win or lose that is a dream in itself.”
It is the last ranking tournament of the season before the World Championships and Slessor will be hoping to reach the final stages for the first time. Slessor is 500/1 to win World Championship outright, while O’Sullivan is 3/1.
He added: “It is the ultimate ambition growing up as a child. You watch everyone play at the Crucible. It is just something you always want to do. If you don’t ever qualify then I think it is a crying shame. “You see some of the people on tour who have given their lives to snooker and haven’t made it there. I think that will always be in the back of their heads and it becomes a chip on the shoulder. I want to get it done as soon as possible so you feel more comfortable qualifying there in the future.”