Ronnie O’Sullivan Makes ‘Very Gracious’ Gesture after Beating Women’s No1 Mink Nutcharut

RONNIE O'SULLIVAN honored women’s No1 Mink Nutcharut with a classy gesture after their match at the International Championship.

O'Sullivan, 48, defeated Nutcharut, 24, 6-3 in Nanjing, China on Sunday after surviving a major scare.

The Rocket had to recover from losing the opening frame and a spirited comeback from the highest-ranked women's player in the world.

The Thai star won back-to-back frames to reduce her opponent's lead to 4-3 before he closed out the match.

The Wordsley star sealed victory with a 132 break as he booked his place in round two.

The two snooker stars shook hands at the end of the match as the crowd applauded him.

And then O'Sullivan signaled to the fans to applaud his defeated opponent as well.

That led to a warm ovation for Nutcharut as well as praise for the British star.

The commentator said: "Very gracious, O'Sullivan asking the crowd to applaud Mink Nutcharut at the end. That's a nice way to finish."

O'Sullivan continued to praise Nutcharut after qualifying for the second round.

The seven-time world champion insisted it was a "privilege" to face such a talented player.

O'Sullivan said: "An absolute privilege to play such a talented opponent.