Category: Snooker

• Scot recovers to deny Zhao Xintong 6-5 in the last eight

• Judd Trump beats Mark Allen 6-2 to set up Higgins clash

John Higgins benefited from an outrageous fluke as he came from 5-3 down to beat world champion Zhao Xintong 6-5 on the final ball and reach the semi-finals of the Masters at Alexandra Palace.

Higgins made a horrible mess of a plant, only for one of the reds to fly into the opposite pocket and the cue ball to somehow land on the black, en route to squaring the match at 5-5. The 50-year-old Scot then took a tight decider, clearing the table from the final red to move one step closer to a third Masters title.

• Trump defeats Ding Junhui, Robertson sinks Wakelin

• All eight first-round games ended in same scoreline

The world No 1 Judd Trump made three centuries as he saw off Ding Junhui 6-2 to move into the quarter-finals of the Masters, before Neil Robertson defeated Chris Wakelin by the same score – meaning that all eight first-round matches at London’s Alexandra Palace finished 6-2.

After edging a lengthy first frame, Trump – who was not able to lift any silverware in 2025 – crafted a fine break of 116 which was followed with a break of 69 to open up an early 3-0 lead.

• Wilson defeats Si Jiahui, Higgins sees off Barry Hawkins

• All six matches at Alexandra Palace have ended 6-2

Kyren Wilson, the 2024 world champion, defeated Si Jiahui in impressive fashion to reach the Masters quarter-finals with the 6-2 result continuing a curious statistic: every match at Alexandra Palace this week had finished with the same scoreline. That record extended in the evening session as John Higgins saw off Barry Hawkins, 6-2, to reach the last eight.

After edging the first frame following a run of snookers, Wilson – yet to win a tournament this season having broken his cue at the start of the campaign – looked set to build a maximum in the next, but just missed the 11th red into the bottom corner pocket as he moved 2-0 ahead.

• Allen wins five frames in a row against Mark Williams

• Zhao Xintong cruises to 6-2 win over Gary Wilson

Mark Allen shrugged off a bout of food poisoning to beat Mark Williams 6-2, winning five successive frames, and book a quarter-final with Judd Trump or Ding Junhui, who play on Wednesday.

Speaking to the BBC, Allen, the 2018 champion, said: “I prepare properly for these events, but I couldn’t prepare for this at all as I’ve been lying in bed all week with food poisoning. I just thought: ‘Go out there and give my best.’ I wouldn’t have had much left if it had got much closer.”

• Murphy beaten 6-2 by China’s Wu Yize

• UK champion Mark Selby also knocked out

Defending champion Shaun Murphy is out of the Masters after a shock 6-2 loss to China’s Wu Yize on the opening day of this year’s tournament at Alexandra Palace.

Wu, the world number 13, dominated from the outset and won the opening three frames, recording a superb break of 137 in the second.

• Eight-time champion withdraws two days before event

• O’Sullivan also pulled out 12 months ago

Ronnie O’Sullivan has pulled out of the Masters two days before the tournament starts on medical grounds.

O’Sullivan claimed a record-extending eighth win at the tournament in 2024 but opted against defending his crown 12 months ago, giving the same reason as he has for his latest withdrawal.

• Mark Selby beats Judd Trump 10-8 in UK Championship

• Leicester player savours first triple crown title since 2021

Mark Selby withstood a brave fightback from the world No 1 Judd Trump to clinch the third UK Championship title of his career at the Barbican Centre in York.

Selby had zoomed into a 5-0 lead in the opening session before Trump twice chiselled his way back to a single-frame deficit and threatened to dash his rival’s dream of a first “triple crown” title since 2021.

Halifax youngster has entered world’s top 64 and is spark the sport needs to find mainstream attention in the UK

It is commonly known these days as the Luke Littler effect. A teenage phenomenon bursting on to the scene and almost becoming a bigger force of nature than the sport he or she was born to succeed in. But while darts is only experiencing that boom now, snooker has tasted this sensation before.

In the 1990s, it was Ronnie O’Sullivan’s arrival on the baize as a teenager that revitalised snooker’s fortunes in the UK. In the mid-2000s, Ding Junhui’s emergence led to the explosion of the game in China – which has just produced its first world champion in the shape of Zhao Xintong, one of millions who was inspired to pick up a cue by Ding.

• Trial set for next August in Glasgow

• The 48-year-old denies both charges

The former world snooker champion Graeme Dott is to stand trial next year over allegations of child sexual abuse. The 48-year-old is accused of two charges relating to primary school age children.

The allegations span between 1993 and 1996 involving a girl, and 2006 to 2010 involving a boy, both in the Glasgow region. A virtual hearing at the high court in Glasgow on Thursday was told Dott, who was not present, denies the charges.