Seven-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan pulls out of Northern Ireland Open due to medical reasons

It marks the third straight tournament O’Sullivan has missed after withdrawing from the British Open and the Wuhan Open.

O’Sullivan was runner-up at the Northern Ireland Open in three successive years between 2018 to 2020 – losing to Judd Trump on every occasion.

The tournament continues today (Monday) with Tom Ford vs Thor Chuan Leong, Joe O’Connor taking on Elliot Slessor and Si Jiahui facing fellow Chinese native Tian Pengfei in the morning session.

In the afternoon, there is a battle of two former world champions as Neil Robertson and Graeme Dott collide, with recent Wuhan Open champion Xiao Guodong up against Jimmy Robertson and Zhang Anda vs Martin O’Donnell.

When the Robertson vs Dott match finishes, the crowd are set for a treat as the ‘whirlwind’ Jimmy White will entertain the Waterfront Hall crowd as he takes on Hossein Vafaei. A heldover round two match between Oliver Lines and Ricky Walden will also take place in the afternoon.

Home favourite Mark Allen gets his campaign under way this evening against Liu Hongyu, Barry Hawkins takes on Matthew Stevens and there’s an all-Scottish affair between Stephen Maguire and Anthony McGill.

John Higgins vs Fan Zhengyi and Jack Lisowksi vs Wang Yuchen completes tonight’s line-up.