Ronnie O’Sullivan and Stephen Hendry among snooker legends to play John Virgo Trophy

A stellar line-up featuring Ronnie O’Sullivan and Stephen Hendry will contest the John Virgo Trophy in April, in honour of the late great snooker star.

Virgo sadly passed away at the age of 79 last week, with the snooker world mourning the iconic player, commentator and entertainer.

In honour of JV, four of the greatest players of all time will compete in a tournament in his honour.

The John Virgo Trophy will be held at the popular Goffs in Kildare, Ireland, the former home of the Irish Masters.

It will feature the two seven-time world champions O’Sullivan and Hendry playing each other, while fellow legendary cuemen John Higgins and Mark Williams will face off in the other semi-final, before the winners meet in the final.

It will be the first competitive meeting between the Rocket and Hendry for nearly 15 years, last playing each other in a 2011 PTC in Gloucester.

The two-day event will be played on April 11-12 and be shown live on Pluto TV, featuring some other attractions outside of the four headliners.

The event organisers state: ‘In what promises to be the biggest snooker event in Ireland for 20 years, the event will also showcase some of Ireland’s top Juniors, some of Ireland’s former legends and a trick shot cabaret from 1985 World Champion Dennis Taylor.’

Snooker 900 Creator Jason Francis said: ‘The line-up speaks for itself, all
four probably sit within the top five or six of the greatest ever to play this
game, but this is not an exhibition, they are playing for prize money and
competing hard, just the way our great friend John Virgo would have
wanted.

‘It will be a wonderful tribute to him and a great treat for our fans in
Ireland.

‘With this event being just a week before the World Professional
Championship I expect the players to be very sharp.’

Snooker 900 is short-format 15-minute frames (900 seconds), with a 20-second shot clock, ball-in-hand for fouls, and a sudden-death blue-ball
shootout for ties.

The John Virgo Trophy will see the four former world champions play while the World Championship qualifiers are being contested in Sheffield.

The main stages of the World Championship begin on April 18 at the Crucible, where O’Sullivan, Higgins and Williams will be involved.

Tickets for the John Virgo Trophy go on sale on February 27 and will be available here.

Hendry spoke movingly about the passing of his colleague in the commentary box and great friend last week.

‘It’s utterly devastating,’ Hendry told WST. ‘Ken (Doherty) phoned me the other day and I am in China. Unfortunately, I’ll be traveling home the day of his funeral. I’m devastated about that as well.

‘At the moment, I’m not even looking forward to the World Championship because I know he’s not going to be there.

‘It’s going to be horrible. A huge, huge gap he’s going to leave in snooker.’

The Scot added: ‘No one could sort of translate the excitement of a match into the commentary box as well as John. He could make dull matches seem exciting because he had that enthusiasm.

‘He just loved the game and he could sort of make you almost enjoy a match that you weren’t enjoying.

‘He was my favourite to be in the box with. As I’m sure that’s the same for a lot of commentators and his knowledge of the game.

‘A lot of the young players sort of criticise old school commentators, saying that they don’t have a clue what’s going on. But he knew the game as well as being an unbelievable character.’

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