Ronnie O'Sullivan set for snooker's English title defence in Sussex

The Rocket will take to the stage on the opening day of the tournament at K2 Crawley at 1pm on Monday October 15.

O’Sullivan won the title in Barnsley last season, thrashing Kyren Wilson 9-2 in the final with an astonishing 98% pot success rate.

SEE ALSO Your chance for free travel to Harlequins v Saracens | Crawley to host snooker's English Open | VIDEO PREVIEW: World Snooker's top stars at English Open in CrawleyMatches for the top eight seeds in Crawley have already been scheduled as follows:

Monday October 15 1pm

Ronnie O’Sullivan v opponent

Mark Williams v opponent

Not before 7pm

Mark Selby v opponent

Shaun Murphy v opponent

Tuesday October 16 1pm

John Higgins v opponent

Kyren Wilson v opponent

Not before 7pm

Judd Trump v opponent

Barry Hawkins v opponent

The world ranking event runs from October 15 to 21, with 128 of the world’s leading players competing for the Steve Davis Trophy and a top prize of £70,000. The full draw and format will be released early next week.

Televised by Eurosport and Quest, it is the first of the season’s Home Nations series, to be followed by tournaments in Belfast, Glasgow and Cardiff. Any player winning all four trophies will bank a massive £1 million bonus.

Tickets are on sale now and start at just £10 – and with up to eight tables in play during the early rounds, it’s tremendous value for the chance to see many of the best cuemen on the planet show their skills.

All-day tickets start at just £20, and there are still a limited number of tickets available for the showpiece final on Sunday October 21st, with all-day tickets at £55. There are also a limited number of Event Passes which give access to every session of the tournament for just £160!

For ticket details visit www.worldsnooker.com/tickets or call 0871 620 7052