Ronnie O’Sullivan faces flying Jack Lisowski who has new plan for the Rocket

Ronnie O’Sullivan and Jack Lisowski meet in a blockbuster last 32 clash at the International Championship, with Jackpot quelling his excitement to face the Rocket more than he has done before.

Lisowski is full of confidence after finally landing his first ranking title at the Northern Ireland Open last month, beating world number one Judd Trump 9-8 in the Belfast final.

The 34-year-old has rolled into Nanjing, China and continued his fine form from Northern Ireland as he knocked in four centuries in a 6-4 win over Louis Heathcote on Monday.

He now takes on seven-time world champion O’Sullivan in the last 32 on Tuesday and knows he will have to repeat that kind of performance.

Jackpot admits that he has looked forward to the occasion of facing the Rocket too much in the past and is now trying to treat it more as a serious business of finding a way to win.

‘Fantastic to pick up where I left off in Belfast. I didn’t want to lose this game, I wanted to keep it up,’ Lisowski told WST after beating Heathcote.

‘I’ve got Ronnie now so it’ll be a big ask to keep it up against him. My game’s in great shape and he’s the biggest test there is in the game.

‘I’m not going to say I’m looking forward to it. I’ve looked forward to playing him before and I don’t think that’s how you can look at it.

‘I know I’ve got a really tough game so I want to go back now, get a good night’s sleep and try and be at my best tomorrow.’

Lisowski has never beaten O’Sullivan before, with the head-to-head standing at 4-0 in the Rocket’s favour.

He is as confident as ever to improve that record, but knows full well that the sport’s GOAT can beat anyone no matter how good they feel.

‘I’ve played him before when I was pretty confident and he bashed me up so it’s just one of those games, I’ve got to be on red alert from the first ball,’ he said. ‘It’s just a fantastic test of my game and where I’m at.

‘You look forward to play him since you were a kid so to be here playing him is fantastic, but I can’t get too involved with it. It’s just another player I’ve got to play, at the end of the day, and try and beat him somehow but I’m sure he’ll make it very, very difficult for me.’

O’Sullivan has already played twice in Nanjing, making four centuries himself in his opener, but only edging past Allan Taylor 6-5.

He then beat Sanderson Lam 6-2 on Monday after losing the first two frames.

Lisowski will be trying to stop the Rocket and he will do so with an entirely different feeling about his game after ending a 15-year wait for a title in Belfast.

On how life has been since lifting the Alex Higgins Trophy, he said: ‘Amazing. Completely different with winning.

‘The fine margins in snooker. I only beat Judd by one frame, but the world’s changed for me now. It’s been a dream, it’s been fantastic, it’s been everything I hoped it would be and more. The level of satisfaction.

‘But I literally had Monday off and was back practicing Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday so, I think I’m one of those players who can be a bit patchy so I need to keep it up.’

The International Championship is being shown live on TNT Sports and Discovery+ in the UK.