Ronnie O'Sullivan once let 'pitch invader' finish off his century break

Pitch invasions are most common in football games but we have previously seen one in Snooker when Ronnie O'Sullivan made light work of Zhang Yong in the English Open in Barnsley back in 2019.

The then 43-year-old, quite the character in the sport, beat his opponent 4-1 in a routine victory, to secure his spot in the fourth round of the tournament.

And as he finished up the game to progress to the round of 16, a woman somehow got past security and onto the table.

The lady, wearing a big red handbag, made her way to the table, with the referee trying to usher her away. She was defiant though and started jogging around as 'Rocket Ronnie' potted the pink.

Then, much to the surprise of the woman and all of the fans in attendance, O'Sullivan handed her his cue and let her attempt to pot the black.

However, her skills weren't up to standard and she fluffed her lines the first time around, as Ronnie watched on with a big grin on his face.

Not content with one shot, she followed it up by trying to pot again with a second effort but was again unsuccessful.

What a way to end the tie... 😂@ronnieo147 gets a helping hand as he books his place in the last 16 of the #EnglishOpen pic.twitter.com/KCNGh7z5fw

— Eurosport (@eurosport) October 19, 2017

Commenting on the incident towards the end of the game, O'Sullivan said the following to RTE: "I didn't know what she was doing first. But she said to me I'm just having a jog. I said to her 'well go on then have a jog then'.

"'And you might as well have a shot while you're at it'. I really wanted her to pot it."

Now at the age of 47, O’Sullivan has recently warned that he could quit the World Snooker Tour if he is stopped from playing events in China.

He said to BBC Sport: “If I can't go and do what I need to do, which is play a lot in China, I won't ever play again. So, we're at a kind of crossroads now.

“If that gets to the point where I'm not able to do that, I'm not allowed to do that, I probably won't play. I'll probably go and play Chinese 8-Ball because I still want to play snooker, I still want a cue in my hand.”

He continued: “There's just not enough here in the UK for me to justify the effort that I put in. If someone's going to respect me and value me more, why would I not go there?

“It's like being in an unhealthy relationship with someone, why would you be in that?”