Steven Hallworth has put an end to a frustrating three years away from the professional circuit, but he is back and cannot wait to test himself against the best again.

The 29-year-old has already had two stints on the World Snooker Tour, most recently from 2020-22, but has been scrapping it out in the amateur ranks since losing pro status three years ago.

It didn’t necessarily look likely that his amateur run would come to an end at the recent Q Tour Global Play-offs as Hallworth rocked up in Turkey after an epic honeymoon trip to Asia.

However, he arrived fresh, hungry and motivated and three wins later he was back on tour thanks to fine victories over Luo Honghao, Ryan Davies and Mark Joyce.

‘It’s sunk in now. I’m just so pleased, I can’t tell you how pleased I am,’ Hallworth told Metro.

‘It’s never how I would prepare for an event, but it was taken out of my hands. We’d had that honeymoon booked for so long, in a way I just need to be thankful that the play-offs didn’t clash with the holiday.

‘I felt so fresh, I’d never wanted to play snooker more than when I came back. Two days’ practice on my own then a good workout with Anthony Hamilton at his place which sharpened me up. I’m buzzing, really pleased.’

Joyce had looked very strong in his previous matches, including a 147 in his semi-final win, but Hallworth was fantastic in the final in Turkey.

‘I felt unbelievable in the last game against Mark,’ he said. ‘That’s what was so pleasing, to play to that level in a match of that importance. I played great, I was so pleased.’

Obviously Hallworth is looking to add to his one ranking semi-final so far and go further than that, but he is also delighted to be back on tour with his good mates and fellow pros like Oliver Lines, Sanderson Lam and Louis Heathcote.

‘Now the dust has settled it’s just more relief,’ he said. ‘Fresh start, back on tour, get to play all the events again and mix it with all my mates.

‘It’s been difficult because most of my closest friends are on the tour, apart from Oliver Brown who’s fallen off. It’s just nice to be back, get the band back together.’

Three years away from the professional circuit is tough on your wallet and your confidence and Hallworth is very grateful to his loved ones and sponsors for helping him through it.

‘It’s difficult to keep that belief high,’ he said. ‘There’s nothing wrong with the Q Tour, it’s a great platform for players to get back through, but when you’re travelling around playing in clubs it’s very hard to get up for those events even though you know you’ve got a long-term goal.

‘I’ve got a good team around me though, even the moments when I stopped believing in myself, they kept believing in me and carried me through. Glyn and Claire, my sponsors from T R Weston & Son, they’ve been to every event they possibly can, backed me non-stop.’

Hallworth has not been idle during his time away from the pro ranks, becoming a regular voice on television as a commentator, which he hopes to continue as much as possible.

‘I think that’s helped grow my profile. People know me as a commentator and now hopefully I can back up the talking and play some decent stuff,’ he said.

‘I’d like to keep up with the media side. I need to manage it and the playing takes priority, but it’s been good.

‘Being around pro events, I’ve been watching professionals and how they operate and their mindset, I think it certainly helped, even just as a commentator.

‘The amateur circuit is not always a great place to be, just how negative some of those guys are. There’s a lot of moaning and if you’re around those types of people you start to believe it yourself.’

Hallworth is commentating at the Tour Championship this week, then heading to Landywood this weekend to defend the English Amateur Championship he won last year, before taking on World Championship qualifying next week.

He meets Hungarian teenager Bulcsu Revesz in Sheffield qualifying, who he has watched play and likes the look of.

‘I’ve watched a bit of him. He’s got some swag hasn’t he?’ Hallworth said. ‘He bounces around the venues, he’s a good character, a nice kid and I think he’ll be good for the game, but hopefully not good for the Worlds this year!

‘Two or three weeks ago I wasn’t even in the event so it’s a good opportunity to have a stab at it, hopefully take the confidence from the play-offs and have a good run.’

Ben Woollaston was a late call-up to the World Grand Prix last month, so late that he barely made it to the tournament in Hong Kong in time.

Woollaston was next in line on the rankings for the 32-man event when Stephen Maguire pulled out due to a back problem on the eve of the tournament.

The 37-year-old was very keen to play, but faced a race against time to get from his home in Leicester to the Kai Tak Arena in Hong Kong, a race he very nearly did not win.

‘That was a crazy story, to be honest. Stephen Maguire pulled out and I got a message at 7.15am on the Monday,’ Woollaston told the Talking Snooker podcast.

‘They asked if I could get there in time, I asked when the match was and they said 2pm tomorrow. With the time difference we’re already less than 24 hours away.

‘I’m at home. I looked at a flight and the only flight that got me there on time was 11am. I had to get there at 10am so I had 2hr 45mins to get from Leicester to Heathrow. I arrived at 9.57am so three minutes later and I didn’t even get the flight!

‘A few players said I must have been delighted to get the call, but I wasn’t until I actually checked in because I was panicking that there was no way I’d make it, but I just made it.’

Woollaston faced the tough task of taking on Masters champion Shaun Murphy after his late arrival and was only edged out 4-3, nearly pulling off an incredible result.

‘I arrived about 11am, three hours before playing,’ he said. ‘When I checked in they told me my cue probably wouldn’t make it but I wasn’t bothered. As long as I had my waistcoat I’ll borrow a cue to play.

‘So I was expecting to play really poorly. I did actually play quite well which surprised me, but when you don’t expect a lot you sometimes play quite well.

‘I didn’t sleep at all [during the flight]. My eyes were stinging when I arrived, but I didn’t feel too bad in the match.’

There was no time to enjoy the surroundings after the unexpected trip to Hong Kong as Woollaston had to jet straight home to look after his children who he had left with his mother.

Ben’s wife Tatiana was refereeing at the World Grand Prix so it was straight back on a plane after the 4-3 loss.

‘I was in Hong Kong for 22 hours and I flew for 26 hours!’ Woollaston said. ‘When I lost Tatiana said: “You better get back to the kids.”

‘She was there an extra two days so I thought maybe I could stay, but it wasn’t fair on my mum because I just left her within 15 minutes, just said “I’m off!” So I thought I better get back.’

The world number 44 heads to World Championship qualifying this month looking to return to the Crucible for the first time since his debut at the Sheffield theatre back in 2013.

It is a long time for a player who has been a solid performer in the top 64 in the world since then and a record he is not delighted about.

‘I find it a bit embarrassing really,’ he said of his long stretch without World Championship qualification. ‘Some years I’ve only been one match away and I’ve never really been more than two matches away

‘If you told me in 2013 that I wouldn’t have qualified since. I’d have expected to have played there maybe half a dozen times to be honest.

‘I don’t know why that is. I can’t understand why I’ve not got there again. Hopefully this year.’

Stephen Hendry feels Shaun Murphy will not find it easy to forget about back-to-back heavy defeats ahead of his World Championship challenge this month.

The Magician has had a fine season, winning the Masters in January being the highlight, while he has been impressive enough in ranking events to make it to the 12-man Tour Championship this week in Manchester.

However, his campaign ended unceremoniously as Barry Hawkins hammered him 10-1 on Monday at Manchester Central.

It was a stunning performance from the Hawk in the first session as he opened up a 7-1 lead with five centuries along the way.

Hawkins was sensational and would likely have beaten anybody in that form, although Murphy did make some errors and could have closed the gap at least a little.

Former world champion Ken Doherty suggested it was just a day to eliminate from the memory for Murphy, but Hendry is not so sure it is that easy.

The Magician came up against another stunning display at last month’s Players Championship when he was whitewashed 6-0 by Judd Trump and Hendry believes the back-to-back wallopings will be a big blow to his confidence.

Doherty said: ‘It’s just one of those days to chalk off, forget about it and just look forward to the next one.’

However, the seven-time world champ replied: ‘Ken says forget about it, but the last two tournaments we’ve seen Shaun he’s been beat 6-0 and 10-1.

‘It’s hard to forget about those. He’s got the World Championship coming up, he’s got to really regroup and get that confidence back somehow.’

Murphy was full of praise for his opponent and he certainly has a point when he says he has regularly come up against players hitting peak form in recent months.

‘It’s not the first time this season, when I have come off a match having lost and not felt I have done that much wrong,’ he said. ‘I have known Barry for 35 years and that’s one of the best sessions of snooker I have seen him play.

‘He would have been ahead of anyone this afternoon. I made some mistakes, but he was unplayable.’

Murphy actually went into the game as favourite after beating Hawkins at the recent World Grand Prix and Players Championhip, with the winner admitting his surprise by the result.

‘I wasn’t expecting the scoreline after the first session but I didn’t put a foot wrong in the first session,’ said Hawkins. ‘Tonight was a bit of a comedy of errors and things just went from bad to worse for Shaun.

‘It’s horrible when you’re that far behind and whatever he did went wrong. I managed to fall over the line in the end but I played really well in the first session.

‘Little bit of revenge I suppose. Shaun’s been playing brilliantly well all season and he’s such a great player. To beat him 10-1 is an unreal scoreline, really.’

Next up for the Hawk is a meeting with world number one Judd Trump in the quarter-finals, in a repeat of their UK Championship final earlier this season, which the world number one won.

‘I’ve just got to have the same mindset and if I can get into that zone again I can do the same to Judd,’ said the Hawk.

‘He has been doing it to everyone, it feels like ten years he has been number one, bashing everyone up. I know what I’ve got to do and hopefully we can have another good game like we did in the UK.’

Mark Williams woke up on his 50th birthday and checked the world rankings, feeling rightfully proud of the number next to his name.

The Welshman reached his half-century last week and sits at number five in the world, which is all the more impressive given he has barely been able to see what he is doing lately.

At the recent Players Championship the three-time world champion admitted that his eyesight has deteriorated to the point that his game is really suffering, so contact lenses are being trialled for the first time at the upcoming Tour Championship, where he is the defending champ.

‘The last week I’ve been using contacts to try and play,’ Williams told Metro. ‘We’ll see, it’s not easy, it’s totally different. I can see everything clearly from the cue ball onwards.

‘It’s pretty weird. The balls look bigger than they ever have. The pockets are all clear, I can see everything. The balls look bigger but the cue ball is still blurry because contacts are for distance.

‘The eyes seem to have got worse in the last three to four months. I could read alright before but now I need reading glasses as well.

‘The best way to describe it is a red is blurry but it’s also three times the size, it’s like having three balls there. With contacts in it’s just one ball and clear as a bell, but it’s looking a lot bigger than normal so it’s a different angle. I’ve not seen it that clear for donkey’s years.’

Williams is renowned for letting almost nothing faze him and he has not allowed blurry balls and foggy, distant pockets stop him achieve remarkable things in the lead-up to his 50th birthday.

A final at the big-money Saudi Arabia Masters did wonders for his ranking, but he has also won the Champion of Champions this season, a non-ranking event but considered one of the most prestigious on the calendar.

He returns to Manchester for the Tour Championship which he won in serious style a year ago and there is no doubt he remains one of the best on the planet.

‘Even if the eyes were perfect I’d still be happy with what I’m doing at 50, competing with players and giving them a run,’ he said.

‘When I was 50 I woke up and looked at the rankings and I think I was at five. My aim was to be in the top 16 when I was 50. I don’t know how it’s possible but that’s what it is. I’m pretty proud of that. Not many people would have thought I’d be doing this well still.

‘I didn’t think I’d still be playing now, especially not in the top echelons of the game.’

Of course Williams is not the only veteran still among the best in the business, with his fellow Class of 92 alumni also still taking the majority of opponents to school.

John Higgins won the recent World Open to climb to number six in the world, while Ronnie O’Sullivan is at number four despite not playing in a ranking event in 2025 so far.

The Rocket has withdrawn from a string of tournaments, last performing at the Championship League in January, and doubts remain over whether he will be at the Crucible next month.

Williams, like the rest of us, does not know what O’Sullivan has got in mind, but would lean towards a World Championship without the seven-time champion this time around.

‘Look, I don’t know what the situation is, but if I was to have a guess now I’d probably say he’s not going to play,’ he said. ‘I don’t know, I’m just guessing.

‘He’s pulled out of the last tournaments so obviously he’s not ready or doesn’t want to play and he’s not going to play in the Worlds for £500,000 to the winner or to take over [Stephen] Hendry’s mantle.

‘I don’t really think he’s worried about that stuff. I know you boys [the media] put it on him that he wants to be past Hendry [on eight world titles] but I honestly don’t think he’s worried about stuff like that.’

O’Sullivan has skipped many events in the past but never the World Championship, not since he made his Crucible debut in 1993 and Williams hopes that the Rocket will land in Sheffield once again.

‘It would be huge and it would be disappointing for our game,’ he said of the 49-year-old possibly withdrawing from the Worlds.

‘All the tournaments that anyone is winning, they’re brilliant and you’ve done well to win it, but when he’s in a tournament it’s different class.

‘You get more crowd in. There’s more buzz. The sponsors are happy. All the other players are fantastic but the crowd only want to come and see him, there’s no one else. He packs it out whether it’s the first round or the final and he’s the only one that can do it. For me and for the game I look forward to when he’s back playing, it will be fantastic.

‘He’s the one that everyone wants to see and that includes myself. If I had to pay 20-30 quid to go and watch any snooker player it would be him, I wouldn’t want to watch anyone else.

‘He’s the draw. Everything about him. Shots he goes for, breaks, charisma, he walks out of matches, he knocks in 147s, then he doesn’t go for them because the prize money isn’t enough. Everything about him is why everyone wants to watch him play. There’s no one in our game that’s even close to pulling the crowds like him. The money we play for now is down to the likes of him.’

Williams returns next week to the scene of one of his most enjoyable triumphs, when he beat O’Sullivan 10-5 in the final of the Tour Championship in Manchester last year.

‘I don’t beat him that often, he’s one of the ones that absolutely destroys me all the time really,’ he said. ‘But to win one in a final quite convincingly was obviously nice.’

The Tour Championship gets underway in Manchester on Monday, with only the 12 best-performing players of the season involved.

It is the penultimate event of the season, with the World Championship at the Crucible now right around the corner.

The top 12 on the one-year ranking list are in the field at Manchester Central, so you may well expect these to be the leading contenders when they get to Sheffield.

Strange things happen on the table, though, as reigning world champion Kyren Wilson didn’t qualify for the Tour Championship last year before conquering the Crucible, while Sheffield runner-up Jak Jones wasn’t in Manchester either.

There has also been little success at the Crucible for those who have gone well at the Tour Championship.

The long-frame matches in Manchester would seem like the perfect warm-up for Sheffield, but no one who has reached a Tour final has done the same at the Worlds so far.

Anyway, the Crucible is still to come but there is a fascinating week ahead at the Tour Championship before then.

Tour Championship Draw and Schedule

Monday March 31
Round One
1pm
Shaun Murphy 1-10 Barry Hawkins
Xiao Guodong vs Wu Yize
7pm
Shaun Murphy 1-10 Barry Hawkins
Mark Williams vs Ding Junhui

Tuesday April 1
1pm
Xiao Guodong vs Wu Yize
Mark Selby vs Si Jiahui
7pm
Mark Williams vs Ding Junhui
Mark Selby vs Si Jiahui

Wednesday April 2
Quarter-finals
1pm
Judd Trump vs Barry Hawkins
John Higgins vs Xiao/Wu
7pm
Judd Trump vs Murphy/Hawkins
Neil Robertson vs Selby/Si

Thursday April 3
1pm
John Higgins vs Xiao/Wu
Kyren Wilson vs Williams/Ding
7pm
Neil Robertson vs Selby/Si
Kyren Wilson vs Williams/Ding

How to watch the Tour Championship

The tournament will be shown live on ITV 4 and ITVX in the UK.

Tour Championship prize money

Winner: £150,000
Runner-up: £60,000
Semi-final: £40,000
Quarter-final: £30,000
First round: £20,000
Highest break: £10,000

Tour Championship odds

Judd Trump 13/8
Kyren Wilson 7/2
Neil Robertson 11/2
Mark Selby 7/1
John Higgins 15/2
Shaun Murphy 16/1
Mark Williams 25/1
Xiao Guodong 25/1
Ding Junhui 25/1
Wu Yize 33/1
Barry Hawkins 33/1
Si Jiahui 50/1

Odds courtesy of Betfair

Mark Williams has watched 14-year-old star Michal Szubarczyk in action and feels he is one of the very best he has ever seen at that age, including Ronnie O’Sullivan.

The Polish teenager took the recent European Championships in Turkey by storm, winning the Under-16s and Under-18s event before reaching the final of the open age event.

That run to the final, which saw him beaten by Liam Highfield, saw him earn a two-year card for the World Snooker Tour, becoming the youngest ever professional in the process.

Szubarczyk will have a huge amount to learn on the professional tour, but Williams was blown away by the talent he showed for his age.

‘I was in Turkey watching the Europeans, I watched a young boy there and came back and told everyone in the club that this is one of the best 14-year-olds I’ve ever seen in my life,’ Williams told Metro. ‘Up there with O’Sullivan. Maybe not as good, but not far away.

‘Every time I watched him he was knocking in 80s, 90s, 100s. It was frightening.

‘I was speaking to John Higgins up in Telford and said: “Watch out for this kid, it’s something I haven’t seen for donkey’s!”‘

The step up to the professional game is a big one, and Williams is not saying the youngster will immediately take it by storm, but would expect him to win some matches against current pros.

‘I didn’t think he’d get on the tour this quick, but he’s unbelievable,’ said the three-time world champion. ‘I think he’ll definitely win games.

‘Obviously he’s going to struggle, he’s a 14-year-old boy, but I would have been calling to get him on even if he hadn’t got on. That’s the kind of people you want on.

‘If he drops off he’s got two years’ experience, then if he gets back on at 16-17 he’s ready to beat some people.

‘I’d seen him play the year before in Albania as well. He looked good then but Jesus Christ he’s improved.’

Former Masters champion Alan McManus has taken a different stance and would like to see the wildly talented youngster given the chance to differ his tour card for a year or two, finish school, then take on the pro circuit.

‘He’s 14 years of age and not actually 15 until January 12 of next year. He’s just not long turned 14. He has his schooling and plenty of other stuff, he’s literally just a kid,’ McManus said on his Snooker Breakfast podcast.

‘I would have absolutely no objection, and I don’t think anyone else would either, I think it would be a nice thing to offer him and his family the chance to put back his tour card by a season. Or maybe even two seasons until he’s actually 16, by which time he may have finished school.’

Szubarczyk and his family may indeed decide not to go full steam ahead into a professional career as early as this year, but it will certainly be tempting for the youngster to have a crack at the big time.

Williams was in Antalya to support his son Joel who is at an even earlier stage of his snooker life, but is keen on pursuing a career in the sport.

‘He loves it. He doesn’t win many games. He’s only 12 but he loves it. He loves the Welsh tournaments,’ said the 50-year-old, who is still riding high at number five in the world rankings.

Asked if he is behind his son’s interest in pro snooker, he said: ‘Not really. I’d rather him pick a golf club up or a tennis racket, but unfortunately he’s picked a snooker cue up.

‘He loves it at the minute, a bit like I did at that age. I can’t see him picking up a different sport now, but we’ll see.

‘He’s got tough shoes to fill! I’d like to see him do well, but I know how tough it is, it’ll be difficult for him. I’ll give him all the help I can, that’s all I can do, and see what happens.’

The wait goes on to see whether Ronnie O’Sullivan will play at the World Snooker Championship this year but Stephen Hendry reckons the Rocket will land at the Crucible.

Very little has been seen of O’Sullivan in 2025 so far, with his only competitive snooker coming at the behind-closed-doors Championship League in January.

A visibly frustrated Rocket ended up smashing his cue at the Leicester event and pulled out of the Masters later that week, opting not to defend his title at Alexandra Palace.

While the 49-year-old confirmed during the event in London that he intends to keep playing, he has not played in a tournament since.

He has not qualified for next week’s Tour Championship, meaning the next time we could see O’Sullivan with a cue in his hand will be at the Crucible next month, but whether he will be there or not is yet to be seen.

The seven-time world champion has never missed a trip to the Crucible since his debut in 1993 and Hendry does not think he will be breaking that record this year.

‘I’ve got a sneaky suspicion he is going to [play],’ Hendry said on the Snooker Club podcast.

Then Hendry could not quite make his mind up on whether the Rocket would be able to soar back into the big time and come away with the greatest prize in the sport.

The Scot’s initial thoughts were that it would be too much to ask, even of the legendary Englishman who took the whole 2012/13 season off before returning to win the World Championship.

‘He obviously did it before, had a year off but he was a much younger man and there weren’t the players around that are in such form,’ said Hendry.

‘There were still great players but I think there’s more great players capable of winning it. There’s six or seven easily you could count and maybe more that are capable of winning it.’

However, the romance of that picture he painted seemed attractive to Hendry, who felt it would be a stunning story for the Rocket to return and oust a string of players who have all lifted trophies this season while he has largely sat on the sidelines.

‘What a story it would be,’ he said. ‘All these players: [Kyren] Wilson, [Judd] Trump winning all these tournaments. [Neil] Robertson back, [John] Higgins back, [Mark] Selby.

‘Ronnie just decides he’s going to turn up at the Worlds and wins it. It would be an unbelievable story and he’s that good.’

Now having fully talked himself into O’Sullivan being able to pull off this stunning achievement, Hendry recalled the advice he gave to the Rocket 12 years ago when he claimed the 2013 title.

‘I remember when he did it before and had a year out. He messaged me and said, “Do you think I can still came back and do it?”‘ Hendry recalled.

‘I said, “Of course you can. All you need is a month’s solid practice.”

‘It’s the same this time. I don’t know what his cue situation is because he smashed his last one, but if he had a month behind closed doors, practicing, putting the work in, getting himself sharp then of course he can. He’d be one of the top two or three favourites to win it.’

The bookmakers still have O’Sullivan among the favourites to win the World Championship for an eighth time this year.

Betfair have the Rocket, world number one Judd Trump and defending champ Kyren Wilson all joint-leaders in the betting at 7/1.

The partnership between World Snooker Tour (WST) and World Seniors Snooker (WSS) has been terminated, which could see some of the sport’s biggest names appear in the Seniors events for the first time.

Professional players on the WST over 40 years old have been able to compete in Seniors events, but only if they were outside the top 64 in the world rankings, as part of the agreement between the organisations.

However, WSS have been pushing for a change to this arrangement, hoping for any players over 45 years old to be able to play in their tournaments.

There are plenty of high profile players over 45 years old in the top 64 of the world rankings, notably Ronnie O’Sullivan, John Higgins and Mark Williams.

An agreement has not been reached and the partnership between the two organisations will come to an end after the upcoming World Seniors Championship in May.

This means that any professional players over 45 will now be able to compete in Seniors events as long as it does not clash with a WST tournament.

A statement from WSS read: ‘Following a request from World Seniors Snooker to include players currently inside the top 64 on the World Rankings, and attempts to negotiate these changes to allow WST and WSS to continue in partnership, a compromise was unable to be met.

‘WSS is aware some tour players within the top 64, and over the age of 45, have approached WST to request permission to play in WSS Events. Also the WPBSA Players Board were supportive of the changes in the WST Tour players contract, which allow any third party promoter to invite any tour player irrespective of their ranking position, should also apply to WSS.

‘WST extended the option to terminate the agreement which WSS have chosen to exercise. As a result, both parties have mutually agreed to an early termination of the Sanctioning Agreement, which will take effect on May 12, following the conclusion of the 2025 World Seniors Snooker Championship.

‘WST and WSS remain committed to the sport of snooker and recognise the contributions of players at all levels. Both organisations sincerely appreciate the support of players, fans, and stakeholders and look forward to continuing to celebrate the rich history and future of the game.’

A World Snooker Tour statement read: ‘WST have worked with WSS for several years to support the running and promotion of their events to benefit senior players who have dropped off the tour. The original purpose of WSS was to enable senior players to continue to benefit from earning opportunities and allows fans to see them in action. On this basis WST offered a broad range of assistance, from promotion to logistical support.

‘Recently however, WSS have fundamentally changed their objectives. A request was made to include players currently inside the top 64 on the World Rankings. This is clearly contrary to the intended purpose of the senior’s tour as originally supported by WST.

‘After attempts to negotiate these changes to allow WST and WSS to continue in partnership, a compromise was unable to be met. WST extended the option to terminate the agreement which WSS have chosen to exercise.

‘WST continues to be focused on the global development of the sport for the benefit of the 128 players on the tour.’

WSS chairman Jason Francis aimed to clarify the situation, writing on X: ‘The announcement of today’s agreement with World Snooker, which I signed a week ago, means from next season any pro player over 45 can accept an invitation or enter a qualifier for TV seniors event provided it is staged on a day of no World Snooker event. Hope that explains all the messages.

‘Seniors now has the chance to use the bigger names to stage more events with more players and more prize money and more opportunities for amateur players… dare to dream.’

Francis is already at odds with WST as a director of NST Worldwide, which launched legal proceedings earlier this year against WST.

NST Worldwide claimed in January that ‘unlawful and anti-competitive practices’ have been used to prevent snooker players ‘playing in tournaments, events, or matches organised by competitor promoters.’

A brief statement from World Snooker Tour at the time read: ‘WST rejects the claims and will defend them.’

The World Snooker Championship has signed up a new ‘title partner’ as IT services company Halo sponsors the event for the first time.

The biggest tournament in the sport was sponsored by Cazoo in 2022 and ’23 after the online car retailer signed a ‘multi-year’ deal in 2022.

The company fell into administration last year and Halo have now become the title partner of the event that has been held at the Crucible since 1977.

Sponsorship of the World Snooker Championship had long been associated with tobacco, with Embassy the lead sponsor when it arrived at the Sheffield venue until 2005, when tobacco advertising had been legislated against.

Then came a period of bookmakers leading the way, with 888.com, Betfair, Dafabet and for the longest period Betfred sponsoring the tournament.

The sport has made an effort to diversify away from the gambling industry and now is partnering with Halo, which is described as ‘workflow automation, done differently.’

A World Snooker Tour press release says Halo is: ‘A privately owned, founder-led team, Halo builds ITSM, PSA and CRM software products which go far beyond providing a quick fix, with a people-first approach. Within the industry, Halo has built a reputation as a pioneer of efficiency and performance. ‘

It’s a bit more complicated to understand than bookies, cigarettes or selling used cars online, but Halo does have some standing in sporting sponsorship already, with the McLaren Formula 1 Team and Premier League club Ipswich Town.

Peter Wright, Chief Commercial Officer of WST, said: ‘We are excited to work with Halo for the first time as they are one of the UK’s fastest growing companies in recent years with an incredible development rate.

‘As one of the fastest growing sports worldwide, we share many of their values, particularly the drive to innovate in the digital sphere and to build products which people love. We are both on a highly ambitious journey.

‘The World Championship is such an incredible event which reaches so many people and always creates amazing storylines. I am sure Halo will enjoy learning about our sport and its power to inspire fans, while we look forward to learning more about the Halo way.’

Paul Hamilton, Owner/CEO of Halo Service Solutions, said: ‘’Halo is thrilled to be the Title Partner of the 2025 Snooker World Championship, joining forces with a tournament renowned for its incredible drama and the extraordinary skill of its players.

‘As a brand that thrives on innovation and excellence with ITSM (Enterprise Service Management), PSA (Professional Services Automation) and CRM (Customer Relationship Management) solutions, Halo is excited to support an event with such a rich history and massive appeal to fans of all ages around the world.

‘The 2025 World Championship promises to be an unforgettable spectacle, and Halo is proud to be a part of bringing this iconic event to life for a global audience.’

The qualifiers for the Halo World Snooker Championship run from April 7-16, with the main event at the Crucible from April 19 to May 5.

Kyren Wilson heads there as the defending champion after beating Jak Jones in last year’s surprise final.

Shaun Murphy is blown away by Ronnie O’Sullivan’s Triple Crown record, labelling his total of 23 as ‘ridiculous’ and ‘obscene’.

The Rocket has won more of snooker’s majors than any other player in history, with seven World Championships, eight Masters and and eight UK Championships to his name.

He has long since broken Stephen Hendry’s previous record of 18, with the Scot having landed seven World Championships, six Masters and five UK Championships.

The only other player to make it into double figures was Steve Davis, who won 15 Triple Crowns, with the next in line being John Higgins and Mark Selby on nine each.

Murphy himself has completed the Triple Crown and won his fourth major title at the Masters this season, an amazing achievement, but one that has been dwarfed by the Rocket.

The Magician was asked on his onefourseven podcast what is more likely, for him to reach two of each Triple Crowns, or O’Sullivan to make it to eight of each and he took a moment to consider how mammoth the Rocket’s achievement is.

‘When you just look at the numbers in that question. He needs a world title to make it 8-8-8, it’s ridiculous,’ said Murphy.

‘I’ve worked my nuts off to win my four and he’s got 23. It’s obscene.’

O’Sullivan has said in the past that he is not sure anyone will beat his tally of Triple Crown titles.

‘Someone’s going to have to do phenomenally well to get my records,’ he said ahead of last year’s World Championship. ‘It’s going to be hard to catch those records now. My ranking events is beatable. But the major titles – UKs, Masters and Worlds – that will be hard to get to.

‘I’m pretty cool with what I’ve done, but I’d like to win more though.’

On the question of whether O’Sullivan will make it to 8-8-8 or Murphy reach 2-2-2, the Magician sounded like he was leaning towards the Rocket, but ultimately plumped for himself.

‘I suppose the fact that Ronnie only needs one to complete the set. And will I win anything else? Let’s not assume anything,’ he said.

‘It took me 10 years to win a second Masters, I’ve never won a second World Championship and I haven’t won a second UK Championship.’

He added: ‘I’m going to back myself, I think me getting 2-2-2 is possibly more likely. I was going to say “with what we’ve seen from Ronnie in the last few months” but we haven’t seen him have we. Will we see him?’

Murphy is referring to O’Sullivan’s prolonged absence from professional competition, which has seen him out of action since January when he smashed his cue at the Championship League.

He has pulled out of a string of events including the Masters at Alexandra Palace and World Grand Prix in Hong Kong, with doubts over whether he will now play at the World Championship.

The 49-year-old has never missed a trip to the Crucible since his debut in 1993, but there is a possibility that could change next month.

Murphy said of the situation: ‘I don’t want to stray into the mental health and what he’s got going on in his personal life. What he may or may not have going on, I don’t want to go into that, it’s none of my business.

‘But from a technical point of view, last time out he smashed his cue up, you don’t get another cue and you don’t get used to another cue overnight. I’m sure he’ll only play if he’s ready to play, on and off the table.’

Judd Trump will look to land a second World Championship title in a few weeks and the world number one has some positives and negatives on his mind before his latest Crucible challenge.

The 35-year-old has had another great season on the table, winning huge titles at the UK Championship, Saudi Arabia Masters and Shanghai Masters.

With his expectations and standards so high, though, he only considers this campaign to be an average one and wants to land another trophy before he heads to Sheffield to make sure his confidence is as bulletproof as possible.

That leaves him just the Players Championship this week in Telford and the upcoming Tour Championship in Manchester, putting a bit of pressure on himself to win one of the two big events.

‘Every season I think you know from March onwards you’ve got three or four massive events,’ he told ITV after beating Lei Peifan in the opening round of the Players Championship on Tuesday.

‘I think you want to win one leading up to the World Championships, if I want to go in full of confidence.

‘Even though it’s been a brilliant season for probably everyone else, it’s quite an average season for me for what I’ve done over the last few years.

‘I’ve been able to raise my standard to a certain standard and I’m able to keep that up every single tournament. When I am able to get that little bit of extra confidence then most of the time I’m able to win.’

Trump could perhaps have won more this season but chose to take a couple of tournaments off, not playing at the Scottish or Welsh Opens.

While that may cost him the confidence of lifting a trophy, he says he is already feeling the benefit of being fresher, whereas in seasons gone by he has arrived at the Crucible in less than peak condition.

‘There’s some venues on tour that I love going to and there’s some I don’t love going to. Before I used to play in everything and was able to win a lot but I wasn’t enjoying it,’ he said.

‘Now the venues that I like a bit more, where I find the tables play better, I want to go in future. From next season I might even skip some of the bigger events where I don’t feel like I’m able to play my best and then really concentrate and give it my all when I do turn up.

‘I’ve been doing it for 18-19 years as a professional, played in every event. I think a lot of the times I’ve come into the World Championship maybe not at my best at the end of the season.

‘I do feel a lot fresher, even in the last couple of events I haven’t won, I’ve scored a lot of centuries and even in that game now [against Lei], I felt fresh and looked forward to playing.’

Perhaps a blessing and a curse for Trump heading into the final few weeks of the campaign is that he is on 88 centuries for the season, with a huge £100,000 bonus on offer if he can reach 100 tons.

He is in a good position to make that total and land the brilliant prize, but admits that he does not want that lingering on his mind at the Crucible when he is concentrating on landing a second world title.

‘I know I’m quite close, but it’s going to take a lot more games so I’m going to have to have some deep runs and make two or three centuries every game if I’m going to have a chance, so it’s going to be difficult,’ he said.

‘I think I’d have to do extremely well in both these next two if I was to get it. Obviously if I lost in the next game [at the Players] and then first game [at the Tour] I’d have it all to do.

‘I don’t really want it in the back of my mind [in Sheffield]. On the other hand, when I’m going for a century every frame I kind of forget what I’m doing and it kind of makes it a bit easier. It would be nice to do it at the Worlds and nick £600k!’

Up next for Trump is a mouth-watering quarter-final of the Players Championship against Masters champion Shaun Murphy on Thursday night.

‘It is always enjoyable against Shaun,’ said the world number one. ‘He goes for his shots and you know you have to score well.

‘I think he has become a bit more ruthless in the last season, since starting working with Peter Ebdon. It will be a tough game to play and I will need to play well to beat him.’

Mark Selby remembers one of his many epic clashes with Ronnie O’Sullivan as the best match he has ever played in.

The Jester and the Rocket have developed one of the greatest rivalries in the history of snooker, having met in the finals of the World Championship, Masters and UK Championship along with many other high profile battles.

In total they have played 35 times in all competitions, with the first coming at the China Open in 2002 when the young Selby laid down a marker with a 5-3 win over O’Sullivan.

The Rocket now has a winning record over his old foe, but he has lost some huge matches to him over the years, including a Crucible final in 2014.

Of all their battles on the baize, the one that Selby remembers as the best came in the final of the UK Championship at the Barbican in York in 2016.

Selby won the match 10-7, picking up his second UK Championship title in the process, and he did so in some style, making centuries in each of the last two frames.

‘The best match I’ve ever played in standard-wise would probably be against O’Sullivan in the UK Championship final in 2016,’ Selby told ITV.

The game began with a break of 124 from O’Sullivan, but it was Selby who finished it with immense scoring prowess.

In the last five frames of the game the Leicester man made breaks of 137, 134 and 107.

He needed to as well, because O’Sullivan won three of the last six frames with efforts of 134, 130 and 82.

After winning the classic contest, Selby said: ‘To play Ronnie in any game is always a great atmosphere and gives you a buzz.

‘I had to be on the top of my game, and if I had only played at 60 per cent then I wouldn’t have won. It’s a great feeling.’

The respect Selby has for the seven-time world champion is clear, as he is in no doubt of the answer when asked for the toughest opponent of his career.

‘Toughest opponent would have to be O’Sullivan,’ he said. ‘He’s the greatest player to play our game, so I’d have to say Ronnie.’

The 41-year-old had a more surprising answer for his best achievement in snooker, though, given that he has won pretty much everything worth winning in the game.

A four-time world champion, three-time Masters champ and two-time UK champion, Selby has won 24 ranking titles and once spent over four years as world number one.

However, it is not any of these monumental achievements he regards as his finest, instead it was making it onto the professional tour at just 16 years old and keeping hold of his spot among the elite since arriving in 1999.

‘I’d probably have to say turning professional at 16,’ he said of his best achievement. ‘I was such a young lad, it was my first time on the Challenge Tour to try to turn professional.

‘I got on first time and have stayed on ever since. So that would probably be it.’

The Players Championship is underway in Telford, with 16 players scrapping it out to lift the prestigious trophy on Sunday night.

Mark Williams and Kyren Wilson were the first winners on Monday evening as they beat Ding Junhui and Mark Allen respectively to set up a quarter-final clash.

Only the top 16 on the one-year ranking list qualified for the big event this week, meaning there are some high profile absentees, none more so than Ronnie O’Sullivan.

However, plenty of big hitters have been in good form this season and arrive in Telford confident of more success, including the likes of Judd Trump, Neil Robertson, Shaun Murphy and Mark Selby.

There is much to play for this week, chiefly the £150,000 top prize, but also a place in the upcoming Tour Championship in Manchester, which features just the top 12 on the one-year ranking list.

The likes of Lei Peifan, Chris Wakelin and Stuart Bingham are not currently in that elite group but can win their way into it with victories at the Telford International Centre.

We are now firmly in the business end of the season, with the World Championship starting next month and there is plenty of jockeying for position to do before Sheffield.

Players Championship results and schedule

Monday 17 March

Mark Williams 6-2 Ding Junhui
Kyren Wilson 6-3 Mark Allen

Tuesday 18 March
1pm
Mark Selby 6-3 Si Jiahui
Neil Robertson 6-4 Stuart Bingham
7pm
Judd Trump 6-2 Lei Peifan
Barry Hawkins 4-6 Shaun Murphy

Wednesday 19 March
1pm
Xiao Guodong 6-5 Wu Yize
John Higgins 6-5 Chris Wakelin

7pm – Quarter-finals
Mark Williams 3-6 Kyren Wilson

Thursday 20 March

1pm
Neil Robertson 6-3 Mark Selby
7pm
Judd Trump 6-0 Shaun Murphy

Friday 21 March

1pm
Xiao Guodong vs John Higgins

7pm – Semi-final
Neil Robertson vs Kyren Wilson

Saturday 22 March

7pm
Judd Trump vs Xiao/Higgins

How to watch the Players Championship

The tournament is being shown live on ITV4, with table two being streamed on ITVX.

For viewers outside the UK, a full schedule is available here.

Players Championship prize money

Winner: £150,000
Runner-up: £70,000
Semi-final: £35,000
Quarter-final: £20,000
Last 16: £15,000
Highest break: £10,000

Players Championship previous winners

2024: Mark Allen 10-8 Zhang Anda
2023: Shaun Murphy 10-4 Ali Carter
2022: Neil Robertson 10-5 Barry Hawkins
2021: John Higgins 10-3 Ronnie O’Sullivan
2020: Judd Trump 10-4 Yan Bingtao
2019: Ronnie O’Sullivan 10-4 Neil Robertson
2018: Ronnie O’Sullivan 10-4 Shaun Murphy
2017: Judd Trump 10-8 Marco Fu

Mark Williams says his ‘eyes have gone’ and he will have to look into ‘get something done’ as blurred vision leaves him guessing on shots.

The three-time world champion turns 50 this week and has admitted that his eyes have been deteriorating for some time.

The Welshman says his eyesight has now gone severely downhill in the last six months, leaving him guessing on where he is aiming, heavily relying on experience rather than what he can actually see.

It has not stopped him winning, having won the Champion of Champions earlier this season and started his Players Championship campaign with a victory on Monday.

Williams beat Ding Junhui 6-2 in Telford, but said after the win: ‘It was tough. Not great. Ding struggled as well, but I’m over the moon with the win.

‘My eyes have gone. In the last six months they have deteriorated rapidly. Every single shot is blurry to me now, whether it is a straight black off the spot or an easy blue. I’m guessing.

‘I’ll have to look into it after the World Championship and see if I can get something done. How I won that game I don’t know. The lights magnify it a lot more. I can’t see anything.’

While things have got more difficult for him recently, Williams has long been considering laser surgery on his eyes, although he has been worried about an operation going wrong and entirely ruining his eyesight.

Speaking to Metro back in October 2023, he said: ‘My eyesight is nowhere near as good as it used to be. that’s declined over the last 18 months and is getting worse every six months or so.

‘I’ve got glasses now and when I put them on it’s unbelievable, I can see everything and that’s when I realise how bad my eyes actually are.

‘I was thinking about getting my eyes lasered this year and the only reason I haven’t is because I’m still playing to a decent standard.

‘Not everything is successful when you do things with your eyes. It’s just in case something didn’t go well and then that’s the end of your career, really. I’ll keep evaluating it every year and maybe get it done at some point.

‘When I put my glasses on and look at the table it’s unbelievable. The balls looks like footballs, the cloth is lovely green, I can see the pockets clearly. When I take them off I can’t even see the nets of the pockets.

‘If two balls are close together, I can’t see if one goes past the other. On long shots I’m pretty much guessing, but I’m guessing alright at the minute so I don’t want to do anything about it yet.’

Williams’ eyesight will be put to the test again when he takes on world champion Kyren Wilson in the next round of the Players Championship.

The Warrior knocked in breaks of 87, 72, 61, 66 and 74 on his way to a 6-3 win over Mark Allen and is in confident mood having won three titles this season since his Crucible glory.

‘I’ve thrived from being World Champion and I’ve enjoyed all of this season. It has just given me so much confidence and it hasn’t been a burden on me,’ he said.

‘When you carry that confidence, you can transfer it onto the table and you can almost transfer it into your opponent’s minds. I feel like I’ve done that a lot this season. If you cower away in events against these top players then they will eat you alive. I’m pleased with how I managed to handle it.’

Williams is not sounding nearly as confident, telling SportsBoom: ‘I expected Ding to beat me, to be totally honest with you. And I expect Kyren to beat me if I’m totally honest.’

The 49-year-old will not only be trying to deal with the reigning world champion but also the curse of Ding Junhui.

In a remarkable run of results, every player who has beaten Ding in a tournament this season has lost in the next round.

Can the Welsh Potting Machine break the curse on the week of his 50th birthday? We will find out.

Beating Ding Junhui this season has proved to be a blessing and a curse, with a victory over the Chinese legend leading to immediate defeat next time out.

Remarkably, in all 12 events Ding has lost in this season, the player who beat him has gone no further than the next round.

In fact, the run goes back into last season, with the last person to knock Ding out of an event (before the final) and win their next round being Robbie Williams at the 2024 Welsh Open in February last year.

This has happened as early as Ding losing in qualifying rounds, all the way to big quarter-finals.

It has struck down names as renowned as Ronnie O’Sullivan, Judd Trump and Shaun Murphy so no one appears to be immune from the curse.

The only time this season that the curse’s terrible power has not been felt was when nobody beat Ding and he won the International Championship in November.

Murphy addressed the hex on the onefourseven podcast, considering whether there is something to it or just a matter of coincidence and deciding on the latter.

The Ding Junhui Curse

How the curse has struck in the 2024/25 season so far.

Shanghai Masters
QF: Ronnie O’Sullivan 6-3 Ding Junhui
SF: Judd Trump 10-3 Ronnie O’Sullivan

Xi’an Grand Prix
Rd 1: Alfie Burden 5-4 Ding Junhui
Rd 2: Xu Si 5-4 Alfie Burden

Saudi Arabia Masters
Rd 5: Stuart Bingham 5-4 Ding Junhui
Rd 6: Mark Williams 6-2 Stuart Bingham

British Open
Rd 1: Aaron Hill 4-3 Ding Junhui
Rd 2: Mark Allen 4-1 Aaron Hill

Wuhan Open
Rd 4: Chris Wakelin 5-3 Ding Junhui
Rd 5: Judd Trump 5-4 Chris Wakelin

Champion of Champions
Rd 1: Judd Trump 4-0 Ding Junhui
QF: Neil Robertson 6-4 Judd Trump

UK Championship
Rd 2: Shaun Murphy 6-5 Ding Junhui
QF: Barry Hawkins 6-2 Shaun Murphy

Scottish Open
Rd 3: Luca Brecel 4-3 Ding Junhui
QF: Xiao Guodong 5-1 Luca Brecel

Riyadh Season Snooker Championship
QF: Ronnie O’Sullivan 4-0 Ding Junhui
SF: Mark Allen 4-2 Ronnie O’Sullivan

Masters
QF: Judd Trump 6-3 Ding Junhui
SF: Kyren Wilson 6-3 Judd Trump

World Open
Rd 4: Shaun Murphy 5-2 Ding Junhui
QF: Joe O’Connor 5-1 Shaun Murphy

World Grand Prix
Rd 1: Xu Si 4-3 Ding Junhui
Rd 2: Hossein Vafaei 4-3 Xu Si

‘That’s incredible isn’t it. Now there are two possibilities. One, it’s a total coincidence and it means absolutely nothing. Which is the favourite,’ said the Magician.

‘Or there’s something in it. If there is something in it, it’s that beating somebody like Ding requires such an effort that you go into the next match just not quite at the same level.

‘It takes such an effort to beat someone as good as Ding Junhui, somebody as classy, so decorated in snooker, who has every shot in the book, been there and done it in every event, one of the greats, it leaves you weary on your feet. You’ve had such a battle that you go into the next match just a bit lower on your energy levels.

‘I think it means nothing. It’s just a massive coincidence.’

Next in line to try and beat Ding and then survive the curse will be Mark Williams at the Players Championship in Telford next week.

The three-time world champion takes on the Dragon on Monday night in the opening round of the 16-man event.

Unfortunately for the Welsh Potting Machine, it appears that victory would only mean a loss in the quarter-finals to Kyren Wilson or Mark Allen.

Can the curse be lifted and will the Telford International Centre be the location of snooker’s salvation? We shall see.

The Players Championship begins on Monday in Telford with the usual trophy and prize money on the line, but plenty more for some of those in the field.

Just 16 players make it into the elite event, those who have done well enough this season to be in the top 16 of the one-year ranking list.

If you’re playing in Telford next week then you have at least had one extremely good run this campaign, or more likely been consistently good since the start of the season.

However, with the Tour Championship to follow, which only features the top 12 on the one-year list, and then the World Championship there is much beyond Telford to play for at the International Centre.

The top 16 in the world rankings (based on two years of prize money) head straight to the Crucible and avoid the dreaded qualifiers beforehand in Sheffield.

It is hugely preferable to dodge the nerve-shredding qualification process and save yourself the task of winning at least two matches just to get to the Crucible.

There are plenty of storylines to look out for at the Players Championship, with some losses meaning more than just being out of this tournament.

Shaun Murphy

There has been plenty of chat about Masters champion Shaun Murphy having to qualify for the Crucible and it has been a very real possibility in recent months.

It remains a possibility now, but far from a probability as he has picked up some good results recently and is currently 15th on the provisional Crucible seedings.

His top 16 slot is not yet secure, though, and a first round loss to Barry Hawkins would have him nervously checking on the results of players who could overtake him.

Jak Jones

Jak Jones has not qualified for the Players Championship, but the results there will have a big impact on the rest of his season.

Last year’s World finalist is currently 16th on the provisional Crucible seedings and as he is not at the Players or the Tour, he is vulnerable to be knocked out of that elite group by those behind him who are in those events.

Stuart Bingham, Chris Wakelin, Wu Yize and Lei Peifan

These four are all in similar situations and rather than trying to hold onto positions, they are trying to climb the rankings.

Bingham, Wakelin, Wu and Lei are all outside the top 16 in the world rankings, but could still make it there by Sheffield with good runs at the Players and Tour Championships.

Lei is a long way behind and would need some pretty wild results, but Bingham (19), Wakelin (20) and Wu (22) are all within striking distance on the provisional Crucible seedings.

Murphy would lose his Crucible place if two of this quartet can overtake him by the World Championship. Jones faces qualifying if one leapfrogs him.

Wu is currently 12th on the one-year ranking list, which would take him to the Tour Championship as things stand. Bingham, Wakelin and Lei are trying to break into that group at the Players. First round defeats in Telford and it’s next-stop World Championship qualifying.

Mark Allen

Mark Allen is in no danger of missing the Crucible, but he is not currently on his way to the Tour Championship and has admitted that his confidence is ‘on the floor’ after disappointing recent results.

The Pistol even said on social media of the players Championship ‘I honestly hope I don’t qualify,’ given how he feels about his game at the moment.

The defending champion has world champion Kyren Wilson in the opening round and defeat there would mean missing the Tour Championship for only the second time since it was first held in 2019.

In fact, Allen must reach the Telford final to have a chance of heading to Manchester.

If he doesn’t manage that then it would be the Crucible with only the practice table the only place where he could drag that confidence off the floor.

The rest of the field in Telford will be scrapping it out for the £150,000 top prize and the prestige of lifting the trophy, but there are few worries among the rest of the field when it comes to rankings.

What may be more of a concern for those big names hoping to fight for the title is that no one who has won the Players Championship in its current guise has gone on to win the World Championship in the same season.

Since 2017 the winners have been a stellar cast of Judd Trump, Ronnie O’Sullivan, John Higgins, Neil Robertson, Shaun Murphy and Mark Allen, all lifting this trophy in the second half of the season with Sheffield on the horizon.

However, that form has never translated to Crucible glory in the same season. It might not be enough to condemn the Players Championship as cursed, but don’t get too excited about anointing a World Championship winner when the trophy is lifted in Telford.

Players Championship Prize Money

Winner: £150,000
Runner-up: £70,000
Semi-finals: £35,000
Quarter-finals: £20,000
Last 16: £15,000
High break: £10,000

If Ronnie O’Sullivan decides to play at the World Snooker Championship this year he will still be the favourite to win it, despite barely competing in 2025, reckons former Crucible champ Dennis Taylor.

The Rocket has withdrawn from a string of events this year, starting in high profile fashion at the Masters in January.

The 49-year-old did play at the very low-key Championship League in Leicester just before the Masters but, as he put it, ‘lost the plot’ and smashed his cue to pieces after showing serious frustration with how he was playing.

He then withdrew from the big event at Alexandra Palace, but did work for Eurosport in his punditry role, saying that he intended to be back playing again, just felt like he couldn’t at that time.

Since then he has pulled out of the German Masters, Welsh Open, World Open and World Grand Prix, which meant he has not been able to qualify for the upcoming Players Championship and Tour Championship.

The next tournament for him is now the World Championship in April, although it is not yet clear if he will play in Sheffield or not.

If he does choose to play at the Crucible then he will be bidding for a record eighth world title having barely played this year. He won the 2013 world title having had a whole season off and Taylor reckons he could very well pull off a stunning achievement again, if he wants to.

‘He’s done so much in the game, it would be a hell of a thing to do but the talent he has, you can’t put past him,’ Taylor told Betway.

‘If you look at this year, there are so many different winners so there is no reason why Ronnie can’t come back and win the world title. I wouldn’t be surprised but what an achievement it would be. Maybe that is a motivation in the back of his mind.

‘I believe there are still a lot of years left in Ronnie, it’s whether he can sort his problems away from the table out, that’s the thing. People are just guessing as to what the problem is, but I wouldn’t put it past him with the talent he has.

‘He’s head and shoulders above anyone who has played the game. The only thing is he won’t be match fit. He proved it the last time when he came back and won it so you can’t count it out.’

O’Sullivan did play a number of events in the first half of the season, but has not won a ranking title since January 2024 at the World Grand Prix.

Since then there have been some fine wins for the likes of Kyren Wilson (World Championship), Judd Trump (UK Championship) and Shaun Murphy (Masters), but Taylor still feels that O’Sullivan would be the frontrunner if he turns up in Shffield.

‘I would like to see Ronnie come back and win it,’ said the 1985 world champion. ‘Shaun Murphy has played unbelievable to win the Masters. Shaun is playing some of the best snooker he has ever played since winning the world title so I wouldn’t write his chances off.

‘It’s difficult to pick but if Ronnie plays, I’m still going to have him as favourite to win an eighth world title.’

Whether he will play remains the big question and it does not seem to be one that we will have an answer to imminently.

The Rocket announced this week that he will be on a snooker table in April, with fans in Riyadh able to watch him practice at his Saudi Arabian academy from 8-10 of that month.

The main stages of the World Championship begin on April 19, but whether he will be there is yet to be seen.

His fellow Eurosport pundit Neal Foulds told Sporting Life: ‘The truth is, nobody knows for sure, not even those closest to Ronnie, but I just can’t see him retiring yet.

‘The hope is that Ronnie is gearing up for one big push at the Crucible. He’s got himself a new cue, which was needed to after he smashed the last one to pieces, so fingers crossed he’ll play.’

O’Sullivan has opted against playing in events a number of times over his career, so his current break from competitive play is not new.

He has pulled out of Masters and UK Championships before, but he has never chosen not to play the World Championship, appearing in every single edition of the event since his debut in 1993.

It would be a huge decision to turn down the Crucible for the first time, but if he does play then he will be a contender, as ever.

John Higgins think a reduced schedule could be the way forward after his recent win at the World Open has done wonders for his position in the world rankings.

The Wizard of Wishaw got back to ranking event winning ways in Yushan earlier this month, beating Joe O’Connor in the final to land the World Open title.

Along with the trophy came the substantial top prize of £175,000 which saw him make leaps up the world rankings.

Having also made the quarter-finals of the World Grand Prix in Hong Kong last week, the 49-year-old is now back up to number seven in the world and will have no worries about dropping out of the top 16 for some time to come.

Higgins has not been one to skip events, generally turning up to play in every tournament he is qualified for, but he reckons this might change now he has put himself in a strong ranking position.

‘I don’t think I’ve ever been in the right space to pick and choose my events like some of the other boys,’ Higgins told Lancaster and Crowther.

‘The past few years I’ve been chasing ranking points because I’ve been on the cusp of things ranking-wise and getting into tournaments.

‘But I now have the scope to not play in as many tournaments.
Before I’ve always said, “What else would I do?” But I have that cushion now that you can be guaranteed being in everything next year, it would perhaps do me well to pick and choose.

‘The travelling does get harder as you get older. But you are a lucky boy to be playing this great sport and going to these places.’

Higgins did indeed ask ‘what would I do?’ in the past, in fact he did so as recently as last month when asked about tailoring his schedule more.

‘What would I do? What would I do apart from just get on my wife’s nerves? It’s all I’ve ever known. I don’t know what else I’d do!’ Higgins said with a smile at the recent Welsh Open.

The four-time world champion will look to continue his impressive recent results at the Players Championship next week, where he takes on Chris Wakelin in the opening round in Telford.

With Higgins rising to number four on the one-year ranking list (as opposed to the world rankings based on a two-year cycle) he will also be in the upcoming Tour Championship in Manchester.

Then comes the World Championship in Sheffield next month, so given the high status of the events to come, there is no way he will be trimming his schedule before the end of this season.

Instead, he is looking ahead to the next campaign, which he will take on in his sixth decade, with his 50th birthday coming up on May 18.

Higgins’ first title since his stunning 2021 victory at the Players Championship has helped him regain confidence after a number of high profile, painful defeats in the years since.

He has not hidden the fact that he felt the pain of some of those losses and it was a struggle mentally at times, but he kept fighting to get back into the winners’ circle.

‘You go through some dark times, drives home and flights home and you’re talking to yourself asking if you need to do it, if you need to put yourself through it,’ he said.

‘As I’ve always said, the competitive nature within yourself that has got you to a certain level within the sport probably wouldn’t allow you to back down and drift away meekly.

‘That’s what’s kept me driving on to try and taste the winning feeling again.’

The draw and schedule for the Players Championship has been confirmed, with Stuart Bingham handed the chance for revenge on Neil Robertson that he wanted.

In a remarkable ending to last week’s World Grand Prix, Robertson demolished Bingham 10-0 in the Hong Kong final, picking up the £180,000 top prize in some style.

It was a day to forget for Ballrun, although it had been by far the best week of his season until that match, having downed Mark Williams, Wu Yize, Mark Selby and Judd Trump to reach the showpiece.

The 2015 world champ was already thinking about revenge straight after the defeat, though, eyeing up a clash with Robertson in Telford after securing qualification for the Players Championship thanks to his Grand Prix run.

‘My goal was to get to the final. My final really was yesterday against Judd, it was a big match for me to get in the Players,’ Bingham said on Sunday.

‘I’ll take the positives and I’m in Telford in a week, I’ve got that to look forward to now. I’ll be after Neil, I want Neil in the draw, he ain’t going to beat me 10-0 then!’

Robertson was extremely ruthless in his Hong Kong whitewash, but did admit to feeling bad for his opponent after the game.

‘Really happy to win 10-0 but also I feel for Stuart,’ said the Australian. ‘He’s a great guy and we get along so well. Not like I feel sorry for him, but I feel bad for him. Obviously he could have played better because he’s beaten some great players this week.’

The Players Championship features just the top 16 on the one-year ranking list, so there was always going to be some top quality contests from the off.

World champion Kyren Wilson taking on Mark Allen catches the eye, as does Mark Williams facing Ding Junhui.

Just three tournaments remain this season, with the Tour Championship to follow in Manchester, featuring the top 12 on the one-year list. Then attention turns to Sheffield and the World Championship.

All the action in Telford will be shown on ITV4 and the second table streamed on ITVX.

Players Championship draw and schedule

Monday March 17
7pm
Mark Allen v Kyren Wilson
Mark Williams v Ding Junhui

Tuesday March 18
1pm
Neil Robertson v Stuart Bingham
Mark Selby v Si Jiahui

7pm
Judd Trump v Lei Peifan
Shaun Murphy v Barry Hawkins

Wednesday March 19
1pm
John Higgins v Chris Wakelin
Xiao Guodong v Wu Yize

As per WST: ‘The quarter-finals will start on Wednesday evening, with two more on Thursday and the last on Friday afternoon. Then it’s one semi-final on Friday evening and one on Saturday evening, followed by the final on Sunday. All matches are best of 11 frames, up until the final which is best of 19.’

Players Championship Prize Money

Winner: £150,000
Runner-up: £70,000
Semi-finals: £35,000
Quarter-finals: £20,000
Last 16: £15,000
High break: £10,000

Ronnie O’Sullivan is a notable name not in the Players Championship draw as the Rocket has not qualified for the 16-man event.

The seven-time world champion has withdrawn from a string of tournaments this season, including last week at the World Grand Prix, finding himself at number 31 on the one-year ranking list.

The next tournament O’Sullivan can play in is the World Championship, but after withdrawing from the Masters in January and every event since then, it is yet to be confirmed whether the Rocket will be in Sheffield or not.

Gary Wilson is having a crack at the European Open Pool Championship in Bosnia this week, hoping to enjoy some Nineball success during a difficult season on the snooker table.

The 39-year-old won two rankings titles last season but has struggled for form and results this campaign, with just one quarter-final appearance standing out as his best result.

He has slipped out of the top 16 and will face World Championship qualifying next month, but first has a trip to Sarajevo to see if he can boost his morale on the pool table.

Wilson has claimed some big scalps on the World Nineball Tour already, including the likes of Naoyuki Oi and Tomasz Kaplan, with a run to the last 16 of the 2023 UK Open his best to date.

It’s good stuff in a sport which is not his day job, but the Tyneside Terror feels there is more to come and is aiming to get right to the business end of a big event soon.

‘To be honest I’ve probably done roughly what I thought would happen and what is possible,’ Wilson told Metro. ‘I thought I’d be capable of beating any name because it is pool, I’m obviously going to be good at certain parts of it and you can beat anyone.

‘But at the same time I’m actually a touch disappointed, I’ve only had one last 16. I thought I’d have had a couple or maybe a quarters. I would like to push past the last 16 and go deep in one of them and see how I cope against the big, big players. It would just be fun, it would be a buzz to be in the final stages of another cue sport and see what that’s like.’

Wilson knows full well that being a top snooker player does not mean you will conquer the pool world with ease, far from it.

He says that attitude does exist among some snooker players and if he put in enough work then he would fancy his chances of lifting trophies, but that is not realistic aim at this stage.

‘We know that you can’t just swan in to a top level professional sport of any kind and start beating everybody. I never thought that,’ he said. ‘You need a fair bit of luck and a fair bit of practice, a lot more than what I’m doing.

‘There are a few on tour who think that. I do hear that. They think we can automatically beat top players and get to latter stages, but it is not that easy.

‘If I played for a month solid then I’d fancy being very competitive because I’m used to big occasions and playing on TV. I’d still be lacking years of experience but I do fancy being very competitive if I played solid for a month.’

Wilson is looking to win games in Bosnia, of course, but is keeping the pressure off on a ‘free roll’ before the very serious business of World Championship qualifying next month.

‘I’m going to try and enjoy it this week, or there’s no point going, I’m going to try me hardest to do well but I’m not putting any pressure on myself,’ he said. ‘If I get beat I come home. If I win a few games, nick a few quid and enjoy myself then great.

‘It’s a free roll, just having a stab at something. You know deep down that if everything goes your way, get a bit of luck then you can have a decent run, do something, get on Sky Sports. But mainly for me I’m going to enjoy it, it’s nice to see the lads, I’m kind of part of two tours now which is nice. It’s not a holiday, but it is some where to go that’s enjoyable. Then I’ll relax and go back to work in the snooker.’

While the pool may be a nice escape for Wilson this week, there is no avoiding that his snooker season has been frustrating and disappointing, but he is not pointing the finger at anything but his own performances.

‘A lot of the games I haven’t played up to scratch,’ he said. ‘Even though I’ve lost a lot of close games, I feel that if I’d even played somewhat of me game it’d probably have been the other way round, even if it had been a decider.

‘I’ve had periods in the past where I’ve been pretty decent and kept coming out the wrong end of them and they’re a bit more frustrating because I’m not playing bad and getting beat. But a lot of matches this season the results have not gone my way and that’s down to me not being up to standard.’

The last two seasons have seen Wilson head straight to the Crucible as a seeded player, but this time he faces the edgy, nervous nightmare of qualifying.

Asked if he will go there feeling confident of progressing, he said: ‘No, you never can. Especially not the season I’ve had.

‘I’m going into it as prepared as I can be, it’s been a bit more encouraging in recent weeks. I’ve put a bit more work in, which hasn’t paid off, but it has to at some stage, which is what you try and think to yourself. ‘

The European Open Pool Championship runs from 11-16 March at the Hills Hotel in Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina.

Snooker legend Jimmy White has touted the Chinese trio of Si Jiahui, Wu Yize and Zhao Xintong as potentially being ‘the next Ronnie O’Sullivan, John Higgins and Mark Williams.’

The Class of 92 are still going strong as 33 years after turning professional all three are still in the top eight in the world rankings.

O’Sullivan has seven world titles to his name, with Higgins boasting four and Williams three, all cementing their places among the best to ever play the sport, with the Rocket top of most all-time lists.

Higgins and Williams have both lifted big titles this season, and while O’Sullivan has not, he won five in the last campaign, including two of the three Triple Crown titles.

In summary, they are cast iron legends of snooker, so to be touted as ‘the next’ Rocket, Wizard or Welsh Potting Machine is a serious compliment.

The Whirlwind feels three Chinese talents could collectively become a similar force at the top of the game, believing Si, Wu and Zhao all have the ability to become world champions.

‘You’ve now got three top players, you’ve got Si Jiahui, Wu Yize and Zhao Xintong, who’s back playing in the World Championship,’ White told a press conference at the World Grand Prix.

‘Them three players could be the next Ronnie O’Sullivan, John Higgins and Mark Williams, the 92. You’ve got three top players.

‘The standard is so good now, there’s every chance that the Chinese player can win the World Championship, for sure, a good chance.’

Si, 22, has already been to a Crucible semi-final in 2023 when he was beaten by eventual champion Luca Brecel.

That run, coupled with two ranking finals and impressive wins over the likes of O’Sullivan and Judd Trump this season, have made him arguably the brightest prospect in the sport.

21-year-old Wu is also in that conversation. He is yet to win a game at the Crucible, but is a tremendous young talent and has been to two ranking finals this season while he continues his hunt for a first title.

Zhao is at a different stage of his career to Si and Wu, with the 27-year-old having spent time away from the professional circuit, having been banned for his part in the match-fixing scandal, which was dealt with in June 2023.

The former UK Championship and German Masters winner has earned his place back on the main tour thanks to his performances on the amateur circuit and will be back on full time next season.

He will also play at the World Championship qualifiers in April and would be considered a genuine threat to win the title if he comes through them.

Zhao has only ever won one game at the Crucible, so there is work to be done for him to go all the way to the title, but undoubtedly he showed he has the ability when he won the UK Championship in 2021.

Ding Junhui remains the only Chinese player to date to reach the Crucible final, doing so in 2016 when he was beaten by Mark Selby.

There will be plenty of Chinese representation among the top 16 seeds in Sheffield, with Ding, Si, Zhang Anda and Xiao Guodong all looking set to avoid the qualifiers.

Neil Robertson got the better of Shaun Murphy in a World Grand Prix classic on Saturday in Hong Kong, claiming a brilliant 6-5 semi-final win.

The Australian started brilliantly with breaks of 114 and 104 but Murphy responded well and got himself 5-3 ahead thanks to efforts of 52, 77, 64, 107 and 77.

The Magician was clearly in a strong position at that stage, but incredibly did not score another point as the Thunder from Down Under reeled off the next three frames, including a brilliant 114 in the decider to win it.

That century began with a stunning long red, which was a huge risk, but paid off for Robertson, who said Murphy was typically classy with his words at the end.

‘The long red I knocked in in the decider. There probably aren’t too many players in the world that would go for that, Shaun’s one of them,’ said Robertson.

‘If I pot it I’ve got a great chance to win the match, if I miss it then my opponent’s got a great chance to win the match

‘Shaun was really complimentary with that shot after the match. He said to me: “There’s nothing I can do about that, that was just an amazing shot to get in.”

‘That’s one of the things that makes him a great, great champion of our game. It’s how he talks after losing as well as winning. I think that’s really important.

‘All compliments to Shaun with the way he played the match. I thought it was a great match for everyone watching. Big breaks, bit of drama, great match.’

The 43-year-old added on X: ‘Into the final here in Hong Kong!

‘Different class the words from Shaun at the end of the match there. A big say in where you stand in the game in my book in how you handle winning and losing.’

The Magician admitted that it was a painful defeat from such a good position and with a huge ranking final on the line.

However, he added more praise for his opponent as he looked back on the game in a social media video, saying: ‘That’s a pretty tough one to take. Cruel game isn’t it, snooker, it always has been.

‘Didn’t feel like I did much wrong at all and you don’t need to at this level. I’m playing one of the game’s greats in Neil.

‘From 5-3 I didn’t score a point, I don’t remember having a chance to score a point. The last frame, the long red Neil’s knocked in is just sensational. So yeah, cruel game.’

Robertson is into his second final of the season after winning the English Open in September and will try to claim a 25th ranking title on Sunday.

He will be facing Stuart Bingham after he stunned Judd Trump in the second semi-final on Saturday in Hong Kong.

The world number one was hot favourite to beat Bingham, who has had a quiet season, but fell to a fairly comfortably defeat.

Ballrun made breaks of 104, 72 and 69 on his way to a 5-1 lead before Trump showed fight with efforts of 124 and 72, but Bingham got over the line in the ninth.

The 48-year-old’s last ranking final was the Gibraltar Open in March 2019, very nearly six years ago.

He had not been to a quarter-final all season before this week, but has beaten Mark Williams, Wu Yize, Mark Selby and now Trump on his way to the final, despite struggling with the yips. Remarkable.

Veteran snooker star Dominic Dale says Ronnie O’Sullivan is the only player he has felt intimidated by during a match, describing the Rocket as ‘very aggressive’ on and off the table.

Dale and O’Sullivan both turned professional in 1992 and have been competing on the main tour ever since.

The Rocket has obviously had the better career – the 49-year-old has had a better career than every other snooker player – but Dale’s has also been more successful than most, with two ranking titles to his name and a peak of number 19 in the world rankings.

The pair first met professionally in 1993 World Championship qualifying and it is fair to say O’Sullivan has had the better of their contests, winning 11 of the 12 they have played in total.

The Spaceman admits that he has felt intimidated by O’Sullivan when he has faced him, partly because of his dazzling play, but also down to his ‘aggressive’ demeanour.

Speaking on the Snooker Scene podcast, Dale said: ‘Ronnie’s the only player that I can ever say I found intimidating to play against.

‘Not just his style of play, because he can wipe you off the table in no time. It’s just because he’s such a character.

‘He’s a very aggressive person, Ronnie. In life generally as well as on the table and you feel that, it comes through when you’re playing him and you’re sat in your chair. If you make a mistake and he makes an 80-odd in no time at all it is frightening.

‘You think, “jeez, I can do this on the practice table, probably at half the speed, but I’m never likely to play with this much freedom in a match,” and he can really embarrass you.

‘All of a sudden he can make a difficult game look impossible. You can be 3-0 down in no time, playing Ronnie, and all of a sudden a black off the spot becomes 10 times harder. It’s very intimidating.

‘It took me a long, long time to get over the intimidatory factor that Ronnie always has. It’s only the last five or six times I’ve played Ronnie, that I’ve actually played the player and not the person.

‘I have beaten him in China and I’ve lost a couple of close matches and it’s nice to play a little bit against him because sometimes I have played Ronnie and just been completely inept because I’ve been completely overawed playing him.’

The 53-year-old has announced that he will retire from professional snooker at the end of the season, bringing to a close a 33-year career at the top.

As he prepares fore retirement, Dale has some advice for young players who have to take on the likes of O’Sullivan, and that is to enjoy it.

‘When you go out to play Ronnie O’Sullivan you’ve got to understand that it’s a privilege,’ said Dale. ‘If you look at it that way it can help you perform.

‘Instead of trying to work out a way to beat them, enjoy the experience.

‘The other thing is when you play somebody like Ronnie O’Sullivan the crowd are going to be on his side as well. They’re not going to clap you for any of the good shots you may play, but they’ll clap a black off the spot for Ronnie O’Sullivan.

‘It creates a fantastic atmosphere. Enjoy the atmosphere. For any youngsters that are going to be playing some of the game’s greats, enjoy the experience and take out from that what you can and learn from it.

‘You must enjoy playing the game’s great players, if you don’t enjoy those occasions you’re never going to be winning trophies.’

Both O’Sullivan and Dale are set to play next at the World Championship, with the Welshman in his last tournament as a professional, taking on the qualifiers.

The Rocket will go to the Crucible as a seed, if he does indeed choose to play after pulling out of a string of events this season.

Judd Trump turned in an outrageously good performance to beat Hossein Vafaei 5-0 at the World Grand Prix, but was not getting carried away by the ‘pretty steady’ display.

The world number one started the quarter-final contest with a break of 145 then added efforts of 108 and 115 before knocking in a 146 in the final frame.

A 146 is not seen very often at all, as per TNT Sports commentator Dave Hendon it was only the 37th in professional snooker history and the first Trump has made.

Even by Trump’s high standards of break-building, that display at the Kai Tak Arena in Hong Kong was something to remember, not that he was overly emotional afterwards.

‘It was pretty steady from the get-go,’ he said. ‘Hossein made a little mistake in the first frame after I made a good break-off and that was it really.

‘I got the confidence from that frame and was able to settle down straight away. He probably missed one or two balls, that was it really.

‘I just played really solid and scored really well.’

Trump is getting plenty of support this week as he has residency in Hong Kong, where his girlfriend is based, and he is enjoying being something of a local favourite.

‘It’s nice to have the crowd getting behind me and cheering for me,’ he said. ‘I’m proud to have been given the opportunity to represent them in any way possible because I have always enjoyed coming here and have been an advocate for Hong Kong and I love it here. I’m proud to try and represent them.’

Next for Trump in the semi-finals is Stuart Bingham, who picked up a fantastic result by beating Mark Selby 5-4 in his last eight contest.

Selby was leading 4-2 and looking very good, but he wilted and Bingham battled to victory, despite dealing with something akin to the yips, which has crept into his game this season.

Despite reaching a first semi-final of the campaign, and doing so in a big event, Bingham is not enjoying playing as he tries to conquer the problem with his backswing.

‘Fighting against myself there,’ he said after beating Selby. ‘It’s been creeping in the game a bit this season and I just ain’t got no pause.

‘Luckily for me the balls went in, a great win, but I’m fighting against myself. It’s just hard. But for some reason I was potting them out there when it mattered.

‘It’s hard to take anything from that game. I should be elated to get into the semis. Tough game now with Judd. But I feel like I’m fighting, my safety was good. It comes and goes.

‘Someone just asked why the long face, you should be happy? But it’s just hard at the moment. I’ll take the positives, but at the end it felt horrible really. But I’m in the semis, unbelievable.’

On the other half of the draw there is a blockbuster semi-final between Shaun Murphy and Neil Robertson after the Australian beat Xiao Guodong 5-3 and Murphy downed the in-form John Higgins by the same scoreline.

‘It’s always tough against John, especially just after he has won a massive tournament and got that renewed sense of purpose,’ said the Magician.

‘It was played in good spirits as it always is with John. It’s an honour to share the stage with him, I have always looked up to him and he has been teaching me since I was a teenager.’

Murphy and Robertson first met as professionals at the 1998 UK Championship, so it is fair to say they know each other’s games well.

The Magician meets the Thunder at 5am UK time on Saturday, followed by Trump against Bingham at 11.30am.

John Higgins reckons Kyren Wilson is like a ‘young John Parrott’ as he compares the current world champion to the man who conquered the Crucible 34 years ago.

Higgins got the better of Wilson on Thursday at the World Grand Prix, playing brilliantly to win 4-2 and book his spot in the quarter-finals.

It continues a fabulous few days for the 49-year-old after he won the World Open on Saturday in Yushan, chalking up a 32nd ranking title.

After a four-year wait for a ranking success, Higgins himself admitted that he wasn’t sure how he would fare as he flew straight to Hong Kong for the Grand Prix, but it has gone very well, with wins over Ali Carter and now Wilson.

The Wizard of Wishaw is a big fan of the Warrior’s game, and after getting the better of him, the Scot compared the Englishman to one of the stars of the past.

‘I needed to play well today to beat Kyren because he’s beginning to have an aura around the table,’ said Higgins.

‘He reminds me of a young John Parrott, he hits the ball which such authority and really believes he is going to pot everything. That’s daunting to play against so you know you have to be at your best.’

The four-time world champ certainly was at his best, making the tournament’s highest break so far of 143 along with efforts of 100, 92 and 74.

After a long wait for a trophy, Higgins is impressively back in business and has set up a quarter-final meeting with Shaun Murphy on Friday.

‘I felt great today, there’s no pressure. Winning last week was a big monkey off my back because I’d lost in some heart-breaking finals. I have proved to myself I can still do it at this age,’ he said.

‘There were some dark times. Drives home and flights home, talking to yourself asking 2do I really need to do this? Do I need to put myself through it?”

‘But the competitive nature within me had got me to a certain level, and that wouldn’t allow me to back down and drift away neatly. That’s what kept me driving on, to taste the feeling of winning again.’

It gets no easier for the World Open champion as he faces another in-form star in Murphy in the last eight.

The Magician beat Ben Woollaston in his opener and then downed Barry Hawkins 4-1 in the last 16 to continue his impressive 2025 so far, which began with his second Masters title in January.

Elsewhere in the quarter-finals, Judd Trump takes on Hossein Vafaei, Stuart Bingham plays Mark Selby and Neil Robertson faces either Lei Peifan or Xiao Guodong.

Hossein Vafaei is into the quarter-finals of the World Grand Prix despite an ongoing spinal injury causing him serious pain in his neck and shoulder.

The Iranian was not expecting to play in Hong Kong but got a spot in the 32-man draw after Ronnie O’Sullivan withdrew due to medical reasons.

Vafaei could well have done the same, but has battled through the pain and has impressively fought to victories over Si Jiahui and Xu Si.

It was a scrap for Vafaei, who is understandably not at his fluent best, as his high break of 56 was his only half-century to Xu’s five.

The wins would have been good victories for the Prince of Persia in any circumstances, but especially so given he says he cannot feel his left arm while playing shots due to a problem with a disc in his upper spine.

‘I am playing with one hand, I am in so much pain with my neck and shoulder,’ Vafaei told WST after beating Xu 4-3 on Thursday. ‘But I am always fighting for my fans and I’m delighted for them to win today.

‘If I pull out, what would I do, sit and watch the others? So I want to try. When I sit in my chair, my hand is shaking, my left arm is completely numb. I don’t have any feeling on the shot.’

The issue has been rumbling on for a while as he was clearly struggling with it while playing at the Championship League a month ago and it has still not been remedied.

‘Last week I was in Chengdu and I went to hospital there but I didn’t have time for an MRI scan. I had a CT scan,’ the 30-year-old explained. ‘I know I need physiotherapy and exercise.

‘After this event I will go to Iran, see the Olympic doctor there and he will help me. In the meantime I have had acupuncture with small electric shocks to the nerve and hopefully that will help after a few days.’

Despite the pain, Vafaei is making the most of his opportunity in Hong Kong, although he faces a huge test on Friday against world number one Judd Trump in the last eight.

‘I was very happy to have a place although I hope Ronnie is happy and healthy,’ he said. ‘I love playing in Hong Kong and China, this is the place I want to be. They treat us really well.

‘Judd is a good friend, a great champion and ambassador. It’s nice to see he has achieved his dream, he is one of my heroes. Hopefully we can put on a good show for the fans.’

Trump progressed to the quarter-finals due to Jack Lisowski withdrawing before their last 16 meeting due to personal reasons.

The world number one beat Gary Wilson in round one and has had a day off before his game with Vafaei on Friday in the last eight.

The rest of the quarter-final line-up sees John Higgins face Shaun Murphy, Mark Selby play Stuart Bingham and Neil Robertson face either Xiao Guodong or Lei Peifan.

Mark Allen says his confidence ‘is on the floor’ and he hopes not to qualify for the upcoming Players Championship after an early exit from the World Grand Prix.

The Pistol took on Jimmy Robertson in the opening round in Hong Kong on Wednesday and things were going well as he took a 2-0 lead, making two half-centuries.

However, the world number 36 bounced back with a trio of half-centuries of his own and completed a 4-2 victory to book his spot in the last 16.

Allen had a brutally honest assessment of his performance after the defeat, writing on X: ‘If I could find a safety game, a few long pots and cut out the silly easy losses I’d maybe win a game or two 😂😂.

‘Confidence is on the floor. Roll on next season. Worlds next for me.’

The suggestion that the World Championship would be his next outing was something of a surprise as there is a good chance he could still qualify for the Players Championship in Telford later this month.

Allen’s position in the next tournament is not guaranteed, but it would take some surprise results in Hong Kong for him to slip outside the top 16 on the one-year ranking list.

Asked if he would play in the event if he does make it into the 16-man event, the Northern Irishman said: ‘I honestly hope I don’t qualify.’

It is a surprise admission from a player who has had a decent season, reaching the semi-finals of the UK Championship and Masters, while he won the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship.

However, there have been some disappointing results in recent events, losing to Yuan Sijun in the second round of the Welsh Open, beaten by David Lilley early at the World Open and now out in the first round in Hong Kong.

In contrasting mood on Wednesday in Hong Kong, Neil Robertson was buoyant after a 4-0 win over Yuan to reach the last 16.

The Australian has switched to a titanium ferrule on his cue recently and he believes it will lead to more top performances.

‘Straight after the Welsh Open I had some major surgery done to my cue to get some new technology put on it,’ he told WST.

‘I needed a couple of weeks practice to get used to it, but it’s going absolutely amazing. I’m able to play shots that I haven’t been able to play for seven or eight years. Things I’m doing in practice are pretty exciting.

‘I just need to get used to it, experience what it’s like out on the main arena with the different cloth, but once I fully adapt I’m going to play some pretty fun snooker, put it that way.’

He added: ‘As soon as I wake up I’m thinking I can’t wait to practise, and it’s the first time I have felt that in over 20 years.’

There was surprise news on Wednesday as Jack Lisowski withdrew from the event due to personal reasons.

Jackpot’s last 16 opponent, Judd Trump, receives a bye to the quarter-finals where he will play either Hossein Vafaei or Xu Si.

The World Grand Prix has been eventful so far on its debut in Hong Kong, with surprises on and off the table.

Before the event began it was announced that both Ronnie O’Sullivan and Stephen Maguire pulled out due to medical reasons, replaced in the draw by Hossein Vafaei and Ben Woollaston respectively.

There has since been a withdrawal during the event as well, with Jack Lisowski winning his opening match and then pulling out due to personal reasons.

Judd Trump was due to be his opponent in the last 16 but the world number one gets a bye through to the quarter-finals.

On the baize the biggest upset so far has been a win for Jimmy Robertson over former UK Championship and Masters winner Mark Allen.

The Englishman lost the first two frames of the contest but then claimed a quartet on the spin to win 4-2 and progress to face Mark Selby in the second round.

There was also a bizarre scene on the opening night as fans were forced to leave the event before the end of Kyren Wilson’s win over Matt Selt due to a local curfew, although the issue has since been resolved.

The tournament runs until Sunday at the Kai Tak Arena in Hong Kong, when a champion will be crowned in front of a crowd which could be as big as 5,000 people.

World Grand Prix draw, schedule and results

Tuesday 4 March (UK times)

Round One
Jack Lisowski 4-2 Zhang Anda
Mark Williams 2-4 Stuart Bingham
Chris Wakelin 3-4 David Gilbert
Shaun Murphy 4-3 Ben Woollaston
Judd Trump 4-2 Gary Wilson
John Higgins 4-3 Ali Carter
Wu Yize 4-0 Pang Junxu
Kyren Wilson 4-3 Matt Selt

Wednesday 5 March

Mark Selby 4-3 Jackson Page
Xiao Guodong 4-3 Jak Jones
Lei Peifan 4-2 Elliot Slessor
Neil Robertson 4-0 Yuan Sijun
Ding Junhui 3-4 Xu Si
Barry Hawkins 4-1 Tom Ford
Si Jiahui vs Hossein Vafaei
Mark Allen 2-4 Jimmy Robertson

Thursday 06 March
Last 16 (UK times)
5am: John Higgins 4-2 Kyren Wilson
5am: Stuart Bingham 4-2 Wu Yize
6am: Dave Gilbert 1-4 Neil Robertson
11.30am: Hossein Vafaei 4-3 Xu Si
11.30am: Barry Hawkins 1-4 Shaun Murphy
12.30pm: Jimmy Robertson 2-4 Mark Selby
12.30pm: Xiao Guodong vs Lei Peifan

Friday 07 March

5am: Xiao Guodong 3-5 Neil Robertson
5am: Shaun Murphy 5-3 John Higgins
11.30am: Judd Trump 5-0 Hossein Vafaei
11.30am: Stuart Bingham 5-4 Mark Selby

Saturday 08 May

5am: Neil Robertson 6-5 Shaun Murphy
11.30am: Judd Trump vs Stuart Bingham

Sun 9 Mar: Final

How to watch the World Grand Prix

The tournament will be shown on TNT Sports and Discovery+ in the UK. Full worldwide broadcast details here.

World Grand Prix prize money

Winner: £180,000
Runner-up: £80,000
Semi-final: £35,000
Quarter-final: £20,000
Last 16: £15,000
Last 32: £10,000
Highest break: £10,000

Jack Lisowski has withdrawn from the World Grand Prix ahead of his last 16 clash with Judd Trump due to personal reasons.

The 33-year-old had beaten Zhang Anda in the opening round in Hong Kong to set up an attractive clash with the world number one in his next contest.

However, it was confirmed by World Snooker Tour on Wednesday afternoon that Lisowski has pulled out of the competition.

A brief statement from WST read: ‘Jack Lisowski has withdrawn from the ongoing World Grand Prix in Hong Kong for personal reasons.

‘Lisowski was due to face Judd Trump on Thursday afternoon, but Trump will now receive a bye. Neil Robertson vs. David Gilbert will now take place on table one.’

Withdrawing at the last 16 stage means Lisowski will not be unable to qualify for the upcoming Players Championship or Tour Championship and he will next be in action at the World Championship qualifiers in Sheffield next month.

Trump beat Gary Wilson in his opener and clearly expected to be facing his good friend Lisowski next, telling WST: ‘I would rather have avoided Jack until the final, but it’s a great setting for both of us to play in, Hong Kong.

It’s difficult, knowing that he needs to do well otherwise he can’t get in the Players, so it’s so difficult, but I’ve just got to go out there and try and forget that, just try my best.’

Jackpot also talked up his challenge to make it to the Players Championship after beating Zhang in his opener.

‘I know I have to win at least two more matches (to qualify for the Players Championship),’ he said. ‘I might play Judd Trump next so it won’t be easy.

‘I’ll try my best. My attacking game is good but my safety is still questionable and that side doesn’t come easily to me, though I did play a good safety shot to get a chance in the last frame. Hopefully I can pull it all together.’

Trump is now into the quarter-finals, where he will face Xu Si, Hossein Vafaei or Si Jiahui.

The World Grand Prix has now been hit by a trio of withdrawals as Ronnie O’Sullivan and Stephen Maguire both pulled out before the tournament began due to medical reasons.

O’Sullivan was replaced by Vafaei and Maguire by Ben Woollaston as they were next in line on the one-year ranking list.

Trump is into the quarter-finals, which will be played on Friday, with the entire last 16 still to be played on Thursday.

A surprise name in the last 16 is Jimmy Robertson after his impressive 4-2 win over Mark Allen on Wednesday evening in Hong Kong.

Robertson dell 2-0 behind to the world number seven but then reeled off four frames on the spin, with three half-centuries.

It was a fantastic win for the 38-year-old but things don’t get any easier as he faces Mark Selby in the second round.

It has been a struggle for Allen of late and he admitted as much on X, posting after the defeat: ‘If I could find a safety game, a few long pots and cut out the silly easy losses I’d maybe win a game or two 😂😂 confidence is on the floor. Roll on next season. Worlds next for me.’

Stephen Hendry says there is little point in making World Snooker Championship predictions before the nerve-jangling first round is at an end.

The showpiece of the snooker season begins next month in Sheffield, with Kyren Wilson looking to defend his title and break the Crucible Curse.

No first-time winner has retained the World Snooker Championship title in Sheffield but the Warrior will be one of the favourites to get his hands on the trophy and banish the curse forever.

Wilson will be tipped by many, as will world number one Judd Trump and plenty of other contenders will be touted as possible champions, but Hendry reckons it is hardly worth backing a runner until just 16 players remain.

Indeed last year Wilson was being tipped by almost no one before he demolished Dominic Dale 10-1 in the opening round and he never looked back from there.

Speaking on the Snooker Club podcast, the seven-time world champions said: ‘It all depends on who gets through that first round and then you really get into the bones of the tournament and think who’s going to win it.

‘You can have all your favourites and all the picks you like but you need to get that first round out of the way and then see what’s happening.’

Despite that, Hendry feels his fellow Scottish legend John Higgins has returned to the status of genuine contender in Sheffield after the 49-year-old won the World Open in Yushan last week.

The four-time world champ claimed his 32nd ranking title but his first for four years, and Hendry thinks it will do a lot for Higgins’ mindset.

‘This win will have given him tremendous belief of certainly winning again,’ said Hendry. ‘He might have thought, “am I ever going to win again?” With some of the beats he’s had to put up with the last three-four years.

‘The emotions he showed in some of his victories shows you that the fire’s still burning, he still wants to win.

‘He’s not going to be a prolific winner again, those days are behind him, but having got that win now you can certainly see him winning at least one tournament every season for however long he’s going to play.

‘The interesting thing for me is going to be Sheffield. John Higgins going to Sheffield with that belief of a win behind him, I wouldn’t like to write him off.’

While not tipping him for World Championship success just yet, Hendry was also very impressed with World Open runner-up Joe O’Connor, who beat Trump, Shaun Murphy and Ali Carter to reach the final.

He fell short against Higgins, but showed to Hendry that he has a future at the top of the sport.

‘I think he’s better than I thought he was,’ said the 56-year-old. ‘That might seem like a back-handed compliment.

‘I’ve not seen a lot of Joe O’Connor, I’ve watched him in some tournaments and think, ok he’s having a good tournament but does he look that good? But I think the performances this week tell me that he’s a future top 16 player, no doubt about it.’

O’Connor has not qualified, but Higgins is in action this week at the World Grand Prix in Hong Kong as he looks to continue the form which took him to World Open glory.