Who are the new faces on the World Snooker Tour as Sean O'Sullivan returns to the main professional circuit after two-year absence?
By Desmond Kane
Published 25/05/2026 at 18:01 GMT+1
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There will be another O'Sullivan on the main snooker tour next season after Sean O'Sullivan, no relation to Rocket Ronnie, completed a 4-2 win over Joshua Thomond at the Q School finals on Monday.
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The Londoner was ranked as high as world No. 73 in 2016 but has struggled to keep his tour card over the past decade.
O'Sullivan produced a maximum when losing 5-2 to Barry Hawkins in the 2023 European Masters, a tournament 'The Hawk' progressed to win with a 9-6 victory over world No. 1 Judd Trump.
The 32-year-old from Whitechapel was made to sweat in the searing heat of Leicester as he got the snooker he needed in the penultimate frame against Thomond to avoid a pressure-cooker decider.
"It was even more relief after needing to pot match ball twice," said O'Sullivan on World Snooker Tour.
"I am proud to be able to get back on the tour. It has been a tough couple of years, so to get back and give it another go, I'm really proud of myself."
Meanwhile, 19-year-old Welsh player Liam Davies showed his qualities by hitting a brilliant 134 break in a 4-2 win over Scotland's Dean Young to avoid losing his tour card after finishing outside of the top 64 at the end of the 2025/26 campaign.
Davies had been the youngest player to win a World Championship match at the age of 15 and 277 days in 2022 until Polish potter Michal Szubarczyk set a new record aged 15, two months and 25 days last month.
"It feels unbelievable," Davies said. "Some of the games this week, the way I was playing, I thought snooker might not be for me. I managed to scrape through and I played pretty well in the last two games.
"I never want to come back here. I will be honest with you. I managed to come through, so hopefully I can do a bit better over the next two seasons."
Like Davies, Hong Kong's Cheung Ka Wai ensured a quickfire return to the tour with a 4-1 win over Jack Bradford, while Phil O'Kane, the practice partner of O'Sullivan, secured the first professional card of his career at the age of 33 with a 4-1 victory over Jamie O'Neill.
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With four tour cards finalised from event one at the city's Mattioli Arena, another four cards will be on the line at event two which begins on Tuesday before concluding on Sunday.
Elsewhere, Huang Jiahao enjoyed a 4-2 win over Liang Xiaolong at event two of Asia Oceania Q School in Bangkok, with Liu Yang registering 4-2 victory over Chen Ruifu to claim his spot among the elite.
Thai player Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon and Deng Haohui were both successful in event one.
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