An ‘especially dangerous’ Ronnie O’Sullivan, Mark Selby in relegation danger & can Judd Trump wrestle back limelight?

The snooker season will soon be fully awake after a few months in which it’s opened its eyes only to close them again. The British Open, which gets underway later this month, is only the third event since the new campaign began in June.

The calendar has been difficult to plan because of ongoing uncertainty over Covid in China, which means the five lucrative competitions previously staged there remain in cold storage for now. Ad But suggestions of crisis have been overstated.

There are 15 ranking events on this season’s schedule, 12 of which are open to the whole tour, plus the usual elite invitation tournaments and the new World Mixed Doubles Championship. SnookerO'Sullivan to face On Yee in opening match at Hong Kong Masters5 HOURS AGO So players at the top end of the game will soon have plenty to play in while those lower down the rankings have recently been offered a £20,000 earnings’ guarantee by World Snooker Tour to ease some of the financial burden.

Discussions are meanwhile ongoing for new events in Europe, with the potential for these to be added to the calendar this season. But which players will come good when the action finally restarts? Ronnie O’Sullivan begins the season in a stronger position than ever.

World champion for a record equalling seventh time and world no.1, this sporting colossus has never enjoyed a higher profile and it will grow even further when the documentary filmed about him over the last 12 months is aired later this year. O'Sullivan to face On Yee in opening match at Hong Kong Masters How the Queen honoured snooker's greatest icons 'That’s the energy bills paid' – Robertson on what £20,000 boost means to struggling snooker stars Snooker players to earn minimum £20,000 prize money in