Category: Snooker

A world championship move away from its storied home would have implications in south Yorkshire beyond snooker

Picture the scene. There is live sport on a big screen, and on the artificial grass deckchairs are laid out, with pints of lager flowing. It sounds like a scene from continental Europe during a major football tournament: but this is Sheffield city centre on a grey, murky Friday morning.

It is perhaps fitting that Tudor Square, the part of Sheffield where the Crucible Theatre is situated, is dubbed the “Heart of the City” on the tourist information around town. Because for two weeks every year, snooker and its most iconic venue is at the beating heart of Sheffield – for now, at least.

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• Bingham takes 3-0 lead but Welshman hits back to make it 4-4
• Kyren Wilson calls himself ‘a wally’ after missing chance of 147

There was little to pick between the last four in the World Snooker Championship, with Jak Jones fighting back to 4-4 in his semi-final against Stuart Bingham after Kyren Wilson and David Gilbert also battled to stalemate at the Crucible.

Wilson, the only seed left in the tournament, came from 3-2 and 4-3 down to go in level after the first session in Sheffield. But Jones produced an even braver comeback against the 2015 champion, recovering after a nervy and error-strewn start to turn a 3-0 deficit into parity by the end of the evening.

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An act of decency is being hailed as the greatest sporting gesture ever. Politicians, business folk, celebrities – please take note

You may not be into snooker, dear reader. You may not be into sport at all. But really, this is not about sport. In losing yesterday to Stuart Bingham in the quarter-final of the World Snooker Championship, Ronnie O’Sullivan proved himself a contender for the world’s most sporting sports star. He may have lost, but in doing so he showed there are still standards in public life, and some people do care about doing the right thing. Not something we see often these days.

Here’s what happened. Yesterday afternoon, with Ronnie leading by six frames to five, he potted a black ball. When it was returned to its spot, it should have obstructed his next red ball, making it trickier for him to progress. But there was a tiny divot on the table, and the black ball wobbled ever so slightly from its spot, making access to the red simple. Ronnie wasn’t having any of it. He asked the ref time and again to replace the black to make it more difficult for him. But the black wasn’t having any of it either, and kept bobbling away.

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White lost four finals to Stephen Hendry at the Crucible. Their meeting 30 years ago was the one that really got away

By Steven Pye for That 1980s Sports Blog

Monday, 2 May 1994. Stephen Hendry and Jimmy White are locked in a final-frame decider in the World Championship final. With White leading 37-24 and the table open, even the usually stoic Hendry is showing signs of concern. White bends down to tackle a black he would normally pot with his eyes closed.

It should have been his crowning glory, the moment White conquered his Everest. Instead it was the day the music died. A gasp echoed around the Crucible as White’s attempt at the black failed to threaten the pocket. All he could do was sit, wait and hope that Hendry would give him one more shot.

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