Category: Snooker

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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• O’Sullivan returns to face grudge match in first round
• Kyren Wilson begins title defence against debutant

Seven-time champion Ronnie O’Sullivan has been drawn to face long-term rival Ali Carter in the first round of the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield. The 49-year-old, who is seeded fifth, defeated Carter in the 2008 and 2012 finals at the Crucible.

O’Sullivan has not played competitively since snapping his cue after withdrawing from the Championship League in January. He pulled out of five of the last six World Snooker Tour events on medical grounds but confirmed on Thursday that he will play in this year’s tournament.

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• Welshman stars in World Championship qualifying win
• In line for £147,000 bonus and edges closer to Crucible

Jackson Page has received a £147,000 bonus after becoming the first snooker player to compile two 147 breaks in the same match in Sheffield on Monday. The 23-year-old from Ebbw Vale achieved the unique feat in the eighth and 12th frames of his 10-2 win over Allan Taylor in the third round of world championship qualifying.

The prize fund was available for any player who made two 147 breaks across the three “triple crown” events and the Saudi Arabian Masters this season – and will rise further if he holds on to the tournament’s £15,000 high break prize.

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• The 47-year-old is charged with abuse of a boy and a girl
• He defeated Peter Ebdon to win 2006 world title

The former world snooker champion Graeme Dott has been accused of sexually abusing children. The 47-year-old is facing charges of sexual abuse against a boy and a girl.

Court papers allege he abused the girl in Glasgow between 1993 and 1996.

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• White has not been at world championships since 2006
• Scores break of 126 against 20-year-old Anton Kazakov

Jimmy White kept alive his hopes of qualifying for the World Snooker Championship for the first time since 2006 with a nail-biting, final-frame win over the Ukrainian Anton Kazakov.

The veteran six-time runner-up, who turns 63 next month, was 7-3 down just after the resumption of the evening session but reeled off six frames in a row – including a break of 126 – to put him on the brink of victory.

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• Shaun Murphy beats Kyren Wilson 10-7
• Murphy credits coach Peter Ebdon for triumph

Shaun Murphy claimed Masters success for a second time after a superb 10-7 victory over Kyren Wilson in a thrilling final at Alexandra Palace.

Murphy had been irresistible all week and produced only the sixth maximum break in the tournament’s history in his semi-final win over Mark Allen.

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• Murphy beats Mark Allen 6-3 in last four
• Wilson wins by same score against Judd Trump

Shaun Murphy crafted a magnificent 147 break as he came from behind to beat Mark Allen 6-3 and secure his place in the Masters final at Alexandra Palace.

He will now play Kyren Wilson for the title after the reigning world champion beat the current world No 1 Judd Trump by the same score in Saturday’s second semi-final.

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• Wilson hurt his ankle after sleeping awkwardly
• Judd Trump fights back to beat Ding Junhui 6-3

Kyren Wilson edged out Luca Brecel 6-4 in an enthralling encounter at the Masters to set up a semi-final meeting with Judd Trump.

Wilson kept his nose in front after opening up an early 2-0 lead and outlasted Brecel in a see-saw contest, which had a scrappy, dogged ending. Shaun Murphy, tournament winner in 2015, will play the 2018 champion, Mark Allen, in the other last-four tie.

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• Murphy snookers himself behind the blue when on 120
• Mark Allen into semis after 6-2 win over Mark Selby

Shaun Murphy fell just short of a 147 break as he defeated Neil Robertson to move into the Masters semi-finals at Alexandra Palace.

In the eighth frame, in which he completed a 6-2 victory, Murphy was on course for a maximum until he misjudged his shot as he potted the black to take his break to 120 and snookered himself on the yellow behind the blue.

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• Wilson survived Zhang Anda fightback to win 6-4
• World No 1 Judd Trump faces Ding Junhui on Friday

A relieved Kyren Wilson completed the quarter-final lineup of the Masters when he beat Zhang Anda 6-4 at Alexandra Palace.

Wilson had led 3-1 at the interval but failed to score a point in the next two frames as Zhang made breaks of 65 and 83 to get back on level terms. A break of 69 edged Wilson back in front and although Zhang responded with a clearance of 141 – the highest in the tournament so far – Wilson took the next two frames to get over the line.

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• O’Sullivan rues ‘nightmare decision’ not to take part
• World No 3 snapped his cue after defeats last week

Ronnie O’Sullivan has called his withdrawal from this year’s Masters event “a nightmare decision”, adding that he “lost the plot” and broke his cue in half before dropping out of last week’s Championship League.

Speaking in his role as a pundit on Eurosport, O’Sullivan said: “It was a nightmare decision, really, to make. If you’d asked me Sunday if I was ready to play, I probably would have been OK to play, but it’s such a massive tournament.”

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• Australian wins 6-5 having been 5-1 down
• Robertson a late call up to replace O’Sullivan

Neil Robertson made the most of his late call up to the Masters with a stunning fightback from 5-1 down to beat John Higgins 6-5.

Robertson, who won the prestigious top-16 event in 2012 and 2022, was gifted the chance to face Higgins in the opening match after reigning champion Ronnie O’Sullivan’s withdrawal.

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• Neil Robertson replaces 2024 winner at Alexandra Palace
• O’Sullivan had withdrawn from Championship League

Reigning champion Ronnie O’Sullivan has withdrawn from the upcoming Masters snooker event on medical grounds.

The world No 3, who has won the competition eight times, was due to face John Higgins in the opening match on Sunday afternoon. Neil Robertson has replaced O’Sullivan in the draw for the tournament, which runs until 19 January at Alexandra Palace in London.

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