Category: Snooker

• Chinese sensation wins 17-7 after breathtaking display
• Williams hits back to level at 8-8 with Trump

Zhao Xintong produced an amazing display of attacking snooker to knock out his hero, the seven-time world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan, with a session to spare and reach the final. O’Sullivan was left helpless to respond to the brilliance of the Chinese sensation who had come through four rounds of qualifying to reach the final stages at the Crucible.

Zhao said: “I can’t believe it. Thank you to Ronnie, he helped me a lot before. He’s my idol.”

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• Trump gains 5-3 advantage after error-strewn session
• Seven-time champion and Zhao Xintong level at 4-4

Judd Trump punished a series of costly errors from Mark Williams to build a 5-3 lead while Ronnie O’Sullivan and Zhao Xintong are level at 4-4, as the World Snooker Championship semi-finals got under way at the Crucible.

After an intriguing afternoon session between the seven-time champion and the young Chinese pretender, things started slowly in the evening. A tense opening to the match was filled with mistakes and a missed routine black by Williams in the eighth frame enabled Trump to establish a healthy overnight advantage.

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• Trump blasts past Brecel 13-8 to set up Williams clash
• O’Sullivan beats Si 13-9 and now faces Zhao Xintong

Judd Trump charged into the semi-finals, beating Luca Brecel in a high-quality match, while Ronnie O’Sullivan repelled a stirring fightback from Si Jiahui at the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield.

Trump will face Mark Williams in the last four after the Welshman’s epic 13-12 victory over John Higgins, which went to the final black. O’Sullivan will meet the Chinese sensation Zhao Xintong in what promises to be a mouthwatering clash.

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• John Higgins leads Mark Williams 5-3 after first session
• Zhao Xintong in control with 6-2 lead over Chris Wakelin

Hard competition and enduring happiness are the reasons why snooker’s “Class of 92” have continued to hold the sport’s new generations at bay, according to the seven-times world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan. The 49-year-old eased into a 6-2 lead after the first session of his Crucible quarter-final against Si Jiahui on Tuesday while John Higgins slugged out a 5-3 advantage over Mark Williams.

The trio have 14 world titles between them and few would dare bet against that number increasing as they continue to cut a swathe through the draw in Sheffield. “There was a big element of [competition] in the early part of our careers,” said O’Sullivan. “If one did well the others wanted to do better.

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• Both players needed one frame to reach last eight
• Judd Trump holds off Shaun Murphy fightback

Ronnie O’Sullivan and Luca Brecel wrapped up one of the quickest Crucible sessions in history as they took just over a quarter of an hour to seal their respective places in the World Snooker Championship quarter-finals.

The two former champions returned on Monday evening, each requiring a single frame to complete wins over Pang Junxu and Ding Junhui respectively. Brecel won the sprint to the dressing room as he summoned a break of 71 to see off the 2016 finalist 13-4, and he was swiftly followed by O’Sullivan, who rifled in a break of 95 to complete his victory over Pang by the same score.

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• O’Sullivan leads Pang Junxu 12-4
• Judd Trump wins £100,000 for 100th century of season

Ronnie O’Sullivan eased to the verge of a record-extending 23rd World Snooker Championship quarter-final after making short work of opponent Pang Junxu in the second session of their second-round match at the Crucible. O’Sullivan was seldom required to reach top gear as he turned a 6-2 overnight lead into a 12-4 advantage, which leaves him requiring just one more frame on Monday evening to confirm his return to the last eight.

Playing in his first tournament since January, the seven-time champion often looked far from happy with his form, but still fired back-to-back centuries en route to establishing a seemingly unassailable lead over his outclassed 25-year-old opponent.

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• Higgins to face Williams after beating Xiao 13-12
• O’Sullivan cruises into 6-2 lead over Pang Junxu

Amid all the talk of Chinese domination, the Class of 92 show no sign of giving way just yet. On the eighth day of the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Mark Williams and John Higgins all rolled back the years.

There have been plenty of shocks so far, but the three legends of the game are made of tough stuff. Williams is 50, the other two 49, but the class remains. They have won 14 world titles between them and who would bet against that figure rising to 15 a week on Monday?

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• 2023 champion recovers from 5-1 down to win 10-7
• Chris Wakelin leads Mark Allen 6-2 in second round

Luca Brecel completed an impressive comeback to beat Ryan Day 10-7 and avoid becoming the latest former champion to exit the World Snooker Championship at the first-round stage.

The 2023 winner looked in danger of joining the defending champion, Kyren Wilson, and Neil Robertson in crashing out when he was 5-1 down to Day during the first session. But Brecel won the final three frames on Wednesday to make it 5-4 and get himself right back in the match.

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• Seven-time champion rockets to 10-4 victory at Crucible
• Pang Junxu next up after getting better of Zhang Anda

Ronnie O’Sullivan made a ­mockery of his recent period of inactivity by ­reeling off three centuries in five frames as he completed a 10-4 victory against Ali Carter in the first round of the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield.

The seven-time champion, who has not played on the professional tour since he crashed out of the Championship League in January, looked close to his best as he swiftly set up a last-16 clash against Pang Junxu, but revealed he was still ravaged by self-doubt despite completing a stunning demolition job.

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• O’Sullivan leads 5-4 on his return to competition
• Former champion Judd Trump makes positive start

Ronnie O’Sullivan had to settle for a single-frame overnight advantage as the opening session of his world championship first-round encounter with his old foe Ali Carter failed to live up to its pre-match hype.

The seven-time champion, returning to the tour for the first time since dumping his cue after losing a Championship League match in January, appeared to have scraped out a 6-3 lead to take into Wednesday afternoon’s scheduled conclusion. However, Carter dug deep after O’Sullivan missed a long red to the top corner in the final frame of the day, gradually reeling in a 51-point deficit and nervelessly clearing the colours to cut his deficit to 5-4.

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• Veteran breaks down after beating Joe O’Connor 10-7
• Mark Allen looks to past after seeing off Fan Zhengyi

The tearful four-time world champion John Higgins overcame overwhelming emotions to beat Joe O’Connor 10-7 at the Crucible.

The 49-year-old was out of sorts in losing the morning session 5-4 but returned later in the day to turn things around and admitted afterwards he was battling strong feelings.

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• Welshman comes from behind for 10-8 victory
• Xiao Guodong completes 10-4 win over Matthew Selt

Mark Williams was forced to dredge up every inch of his Crucible experience to sink rising Chinese star Wu Yize 10-8 and book his place in the last 16 of the World Snooker Championship for the 22nd time in his career.

Williams, who turned 50 last month, delivered two near-faultless final frames to hold off his opponent, who had missed a golden chance to seize a 9-7 advantage when he missed a frame-ball red with the rest.

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The 2024 winner reflects on the emotional backstory to Crucible triumph amid major health concerns for his family

“‘I still believed in myself but it was quite soul-destroying out there,” Kyren Wilson says in a back room at Barratts Snooker Club in Northampton. The world champion once worked here as a barman because he had lost his place on tour after his first season as a professional in 2011. He was still only 19 and he had little idea that an avalanche of adversity would engulf him in the years ahead.

Wilson begins the defence of his world title, with a first-round match against Lei Peifan, in the venerable Crucible in Sheffield on Saturday morning. But it seems fitting that we should meet here, in the unpromising surroundings which once defined Wilson’s life, as he describes his extraordinary world championship backstory.

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A record 10 Chinese players are in the main draw at the Crucible, where picking a winner is tougher than ever

It has been fairly common in recent years to discuss the winds of change blowing through the World Snooker Championship. But this year, with talk of the Crucible’s future being quieter than usual, it is on the baize where a significant shift might be poised to take place.

The usual suspects – for the most part – are still assembling in Sheffield for snooker’s most prestigious event. Some of them in quite imperious form, too. But whereas a case can often be made for no more than three or four players to take home the £500,000 top prize and world champion crown, this year there is a much more open field.

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