Ronnie O'Sullivan set for snooker UK Championship bid

Crowd favourite Ronnie O'Sullivan has hailed the passion of Shropshire snooker fans as he prepares to bid for a fifth UK Championship title in the county next month.

O'Sullivan will be one of the star attractions when the sport's second biggest ranking event gets under way at the Telford International Centre a week on Saturday.

The Rocket has enjoyed some memorable moments in the tournament, not least at Telford in 2007 when he made a 147 in the deciding frame of the semi-finals to beat Mark Selby 9-8 and then hammered Stephen Maguire 10-2 in the final.

"It's one of the biggest tournaments of the season and one I always want to do well in," said O'Sullivan, who became the youngest ever winner of a ranking event when he took the UK crown at the age of 17 in 1993.

"I've got a decent record in it having won it four times and I'd love to make it five this year.

"The crowds are always good in Telford, the fans there have a lot of passion for snooker and I'm sure it will be the same this time."

Tickets are still on sale for O'Sullivan's first match in Telford, with the first session on Sunday, December 5 at 7pm, with the match concluding the following afternoon.

Meanwhile, the qualifying event for the UK Championship - from which 16 players will join the 16 seeds - begins in Sheffield today.