Ronnie O'Sullivan, who was notified on April 21st that he had tested positive for cannabis during the Irish Masters snooker tournament, which he won on March 29th, will have his fail-safe B sample tested today. Since the same urine specimen is divided between A and B bottles, it is extremely rare for the results of the B test to be at variance with the original one.

Cannabis is not considered performance-enhancing in snooker but it is nevertheless an illegal drug. Paul Hunter, the world number 24, and Stephen Ormerod, the world number 280, both tested positive for it last October and appeared before a disciplinary committee on April 14th. Both were fined and Hunter was docked the world ranking points he had amassed at the tournament he was playing in. If the Hunter precedent were to be followed in O'Sullivan's case, it would cost him £61,000 but no ranking points since the Irish Masters is an invitation event.

In April 1996, O'Sullivan was banned for two years (the sentence itself suspended for two years) for an assault on a WPBSA press officer. Precedent suggests this is unlikely to be taken account of in relation to a drug case.