Please note that this is NOT an official website. At this point in time Ronnie O’ Sullivan does not have an official website, nor does he wish to have one.
As most of you probably know, I’m in Sheffield for the “2024 Seniors Crucible”. You can follow the action, and look at loads of pictures on my “other blog seniorsnooker.com … I’m happily snapping around.
Meanwhile WST has published the draw and format for the two UK/Europe Q-Schools … although it’s all UK as you would expect. The format is presented in a very “unpractical” way it has to be said. Fortunately, my colleagues at snooker.org have come to the rescue and you will probably want to look at the snooker.org site here for Q-School 1 and here for Q-School 2. Although the first Asia Pacific Q-School is scheduled before the Q-School 2, no info is available just yet for that one.
Ronnie O’Sullivan has been named Cazoo WST Player of the Year after winning five titles during the 2023/24 season.
O’Sullivan won the Shanghai Masters, MrQ UK Championship, MrQ Masters, Spreadex World Grand Prix and Riyadh Season World Masters of Snooker during a prolific season. He wins the main award for the first time since 2014.
The Rocket also won the Strachan Fans’ Player of the Year and Star Xingpai Journalists’ Player of the Year categories.
Kyren Wilson won the Castore Performance of the Year for his tremendous display at the Cazoo World Championship, conquering the Crucible for the first time.
Nongfu Spring Rookie of the Year is China’s He Guoqiang, who climbed to 66th in the world during a promising debut season.
Laithwaites Wine Magic Moment of the Year goes to Shaun Murphy for his fabulous 147 at the BetVictor Shoot Out, the first maximum in the history of the event.
Zhang Anda won the Verisure Breakthrough Player of the Year award for making a significant leap forward in his career, highlighted by victory at the International Championship.
Two players join the Johnstone’s Paint WST Hall of Fame, which recognises the great players from snooker history and those who have made a significant contribution to the sport.
Luca Brecel joins this elite club having won the World Championship in 2023. And Daniel Blunn enters the Hall of Fame as the most successful ever player from the World Disability Billiards and Snooker Tour with 16 titles to his name.
Yes, I’m from that generation … the ones who were teenagers at the end of the sixties, who grew up with Bob Dylan, with big hopes for changes that didn’t really come the way we hoped for. But I digress before I even started…
But, yes, this post is about “changing” times…
I have the feeling that this 2024 World Championship signals the start of a new era for the sport. In the eleven editions before this one, only once, in 2015, did we have a final that didn’t feature a member of the class of 92 or Mark Selby, and only once, in 2016, did we have a final between two players aged under-35. This year, neither Selby nor any of the Class of 92 reached the one table setup. Ronnie and John Higgins were the “last standing” of that group and they bowed out in the QFs. This time, both finalists are in their early thirties, and, surely, nobody expected Jak Jones to make it that far. The season to come will be interesting. Will we see a clear “change of guard”? I do expect this to happen and it would be good for the future of the sport … and even if I dearly wish for Ronnie to get to 8 World Championships, I’m not harbouring too much hope. He will be 49 in December …
Those are the stats on Ronnie’s career and we, his fans, can’t complain… he’s given us plenty, and will probably give us some more. I will always support him, and I’m grateful for the countless great moments he’s created on the green baize.
There has been a change of mind by Barry Hearn as well regarding the Crucible. Only a couple of years ago he was adamant the the snooker was “there to stay”. No more so as this BBC article clearly shows:
Sheffield to ‘move heaven and earth’ for World Championship
Snooker’s World Championship could leave the theatre that has been its home since 1977
Sam Drury – BBC Sport journalist
7 May 2024
Barry Hearn believes “Sheffield City Council will move heaven and earth” to keep the World Snooker Championship in the city.
The Crucible, which only holds 980 spectators, has held snooker’s biggest event every year since 1977, but the current contract expires in 2027.
Hearn, the president of Matchroom Sport and former chairman of World Snooker Tour (WST), insisted that keeping the tournament in Sheffield is “what we all want”.
“The priority is to stay in the Steel City of Sheffield because it’s been our home for a long, long time,” he told BBC 5 Live Breakfast.
“Great moments. But we have a duty to everybody to listen. We listen to the fans, listen to the local people, we also listen to the players.
“The effect on prize money. We look at the conditions, and say the game has moved on, and deserves better than the current conditions.”
How the Crucible looked during the 2024 World Championship final
While Hearn’s desire to stay in Sheffield is now clear, he anticipates that doing so would require a change of venue.
Matchroom took over the running of WST in 2010, with Hearn at the helm until he stepped down as chairman in April 2021 at the age of 72.
He remains an influential figure in the running of snooker and ideally wants a new facility to be built to house the World Championship.
“I think it’s a new-build within the city. It can’t be an expansion of the Crucible. There isn’t enough space. The building is too small,” Hearn said.
“But I think there are other buildings that could be converted… but I need a venue to stress the importance of the event, the quality of the event.
“You can’t stick it in a leisure centre, and say ‘this is our World Championships’, just for the sake of another 1,000 [or] 1,500 tickets a session.“
Moving away from the Crucible would also be popular with some of the players, who have criticised conditions at the theatre.
“If you walk around the Crucible it smells really bad,” said Iran’s Hossein Vafaei.
“The practice room? Do you see anything special about it? It feels like I’m practising in a garage and that’s not good.”
Saudi Arabia has worked closely with Matchroom Sport to bring a number of high-profile major boxing events to the country. It also staged a first WST tournament in March – the Riyadh Season World Masters of Snooker.
“Should the World Championships stay in little old England? It’s a global sport, should it go round the world?” Hearn added.
“Should it sell out and go to where the biggest money is, as have so many sports? Some that I’ve been involved in.
“That’s not wrong – that’s just the progression of how the world’s changed.
“It’s a balance – but you can’t ignore the money, that would be unrealistic and silly to say we’re ignoring the money.
“But at the same time we have a duty of care to the sport, to make sure the great traditions stay with us as well.”
‘Zero interest in a breakaway tour‘
Hearn, who managed six-time world champion Steve Davis, dismissed the notion of a recently mooted breakaway tour to challenge WST.
“There’s no breakaway tour,” he said. “I don’t know why people talk about this.
“The players have got a bit more freedom now, outside of contract, where there isn’t a World Snooker contract, to have an event themselves.
“There is absolutely zero interest in a breakaway tour from any player.“
Judd Trump is one of a number of high-profile players to have ruled out joining such a tour, which has been likened to golf’s LIV breakaway venture.
The 1997 world champion Ken Doherty is sceptical that a rival series would gain any traction.
“I don’t see how a LIV-style snooker tour can survive and if it does and players want to do that, if that is what they want their legacy to be, good luck to them,” Doherty said.
“There are people throwing money at the top players, but is that the legacy they want? Playing in an exhibition tour rather than something meaningful?
“It is not going to encourage people to get into the game by playing on an exhibition tour just to increase your bank balance.“
There is no breakaway tour, but the newly crowned World Champion, Kyren Wilson, has recently admitted on social media that if he was approached to play in high profile, highly paid, exhibitions he would consider it. And why not? They are self-employed, the players. Legacy doesn’t pay the bills, nor does it put food in the plates of family.
And then, of course, both Paul Collier and Rolf Kalb have announced their retirement. In the case of Paul, he will still work as tournament director, but not as a referee. I’m wishing them both the very best in whatever they do in the future.
And finally … to answer the question asked in comments, yes, Ronnie will do exhibitions in China.
This was posted on Weibo: “During the second half of May, Luoyang, Chengdu, Kunshan et Shanghai will organise four exhibition tournaments, and O’Sullivan will play in all four ! Ding Junhui will feature in Luoyang et Chengdu” (translated automatically and made a bit more readable by me…)
In many ways it reminded me of the 2016 final between Ding and Selby. In that final as well Ding was playing in his firs Crucible Final and a had a nightmare first session, just like Jak on Sunday. He too fought with all he had and the match ended 18-14 to Mark Selby.
Having won the first seven frames during the opening session on Sunday, Wilson was able to nurse his advantage to the winning post, and although tenacious Jones fought hard, he couldn’t narrow the gap to less than three. By coming from 17-11 to 17-14 he created an exciting finish, but it proved too little, too late. Wilson’ s scoring was impressive throughout, making four centuries and eight more breaks over 50 as he joined the exclusive group of players to have captured the sport’s biggest prize.
Soon after he first appeared at the Crucible a decade ago, Wilson stated with confidence that he would come back and win the title one day. Sheffield has not always been a happy hunting ground for the Warrior and he has suffered a few heavy defeats, notably an 18-8 reverse against Ronnie O’Sullivan in the 2020 final, and a 13-2 humbling at the hands of John Higgins a year ago. But his self-belief has never wavered and the 32-year-old from Kettering now has the ultimate reward.
The father-of-two’s success is inspiring given that his wife Sophie and younger son Bailey have suffered serious health problems within the last year. Inevitably Wilson’s form suffered and he had previously appeared in just one ranking event semi-final this season. But he has handled adversity with resolve, and will take immense pride in celebrating with his close-knit family including brother Taylor and parents Rob and Sonya who have sacrificed so much since his junior days.
During a 10-1 annihilation of Dominic Dale in the opening round, Wilson showed that he was among the form players in the field, and he went on the score comfortable wins over Joe O’Connor, Higgins and David Gilbert to reach his second Crucible final. His patchy results this season have belied the fact that his break-building is a good as ever – only Judd Trump has made more centuries. Across this event he made eight centuries and 44 more breaks over 50; such prolific scoring coupled with a strong tactical game and ability to handle any situation with a cool temperament have made him the outstanding player of this year’s Championship.
It’s a sixth ranking title for Wilson and first since the 2022 European Masters, and his first Triple Crown success. Banking the top prize of £500,000, he jumps nine places up the rankings to a career high position of third.
World number 44 Jones would have been the longest-odds ever winner of the title having started the qualifiers as a 200-1 outsider. The 30-year-old Welshman won two matches to make it to the televised stages. Enjoying his time in the spotlight, he has broken new ground in his career, highlighted by a quarter-final victory over Judd Trump, but in the end coming from 7-0 down in the final was too much to ask. Jones misses out on becoming only the second qualifier, after Terry Griffiths and Shaun Murphy, to lift the trophy. But having appeared in his first ranking final, the £200,000 prize boosts him 30 places to number 14, as he joins the elite top 16 for the first time.
Going into the final session 15-10 ahead, Wilson soon extended his lead, winning a safety battle on the last red and clearing the table in frame 26. Cwmbran’s Jones hit back with a 105, his first century of the match, for 16-11. He also had chances in frame 28, missing a short range red to a top corner when leading 46-37. He later cleared the colours to force a respotted black, but then failed to convert a clear chance to a baulk corner, and Wilson fluked the black off three cushions to go six up with seven to play.
Spurred on by the Crucible crowd, Jones gained momentum with a run of 67 for 17-12. In the next he made a bold attempt at a maximum break, potting 12 reds with blacks for 96 before a tough 13th red along a side cushion stayed on the baize. The fight-back gathered pace when he took a scrappy 31st frame to close to 17-14.
Trailing 29-4 in the 32nd, Jones went for a double to a centre pocket, and was unlucky to see the red hit the jaw and bounce into a pottable position in baulk. This was Wilson’s chance, and his match-winning break of 42 was the most important of his career. Tears were soon flowing as he embraced his family on the arena floor.
“I have dreamed of this since I was six years old,” said Wilson. “To win it with all my family there was just how I imagined it. Jack fought and made it so hard for me, it was tough to hold it all together. In the last frame I just kept potting balls and suddenly I had potted match ball and I was World Champion. It means everything.
“I was gutted to lose the final to Ronnie in 2020 and if that had been my only final I would have been heart-broken. I remember being drained in the first session of that final. This time I felt great, and when I saw Jak I thought he might struggle, I knew that was the moment to kick on. From 7-0 I knew I just had to avoid losing a session heavily, and to keep making it hard for him.”
Preparation, diet and fitness – managed by his brother – have been key for Wilson. “I am sick to death of salmon!” he joked. “I’m having a kebab and a few beers tonight! I have slept really well throughout the tournament and that is important. I believe I can be a multiple World Champion – hopefully the first one is the hardest to win.“
Jones said: “I left myself with too much to do from 7-0. After my semi-final on Saturday night I didn’t get back to the hotel until 1am, and didn’t sleep at all that night. I felt flat yesterday in the first session, though Kyren came out flying and would probably have beaten me anyway. If I could have got to 17-15 tonight I might have had a chance, he might have started twitching. But I was just too far behind.
“I am proud to have got this far without playing that well, it has been my B or C game most of the time. So to beat some of the best players and get so close to the title gives me a lot of confidence. I have learned a lot about how to handle this event and I believe I can come back and win it. Being in the top 16 now is a major plus and I want to build on that.”
At the end of the first day of the 2025 World Snooker Championship Final, Kyren Wilson leads Jak Jones by 11-6. Comfortable? You would think so if you didn’t watch the first two sessions yesterday. But …
Jak Jones started in the worst possible way allowing Kyren to lead by 7-0, but, crucially, he managed to win the last frame of the session, punching the air as he left the arena. That still left him in a dire situation but as he was walking on his way out, his facial expression and demeanour were not those of a beaten man. He looked fired up!
Kyren Wilson stormed to a 7-1 lead over Jak Jones after the first session of the Cazoo World Championship final.
The Warrior is competing in his second Crucible final, having been runner-up to Ronnie O’Sullivan in 2020. On that occasion he fell 8-2 down during an eventual 18-8 defeat. This time around Wilson himself has seized the early initative.
Jones has enjoyed a fairytale run to the title match. He began the event as a 200-1 outsider, but has upset the odds to defeat the likes of Judd Trump and Stuart Bingham to make the final. A big turnaround will now be required if he is to land another shock win over Wilson.
The opening frame saw Wilson drill in a long red and make a break of 129 to lay down an early marker and lead 1-0. Both players had opportunities in each of the next two frames, but it was Jones who made the critical mistakes and he was ruthlessly punished as Wilson moved 3-0 up.
The Kettering cueman then crafted runs of 66, 62, 125 and 90 to win a further four on the bounce and lead 7-0. It’s the first time anyone has led by that scoreline in a world final since John Parrott over Jimmy White in 1991.
Jak Jones came back fighting indeed! He managed to win the very hard fought second session by 5-4. That means he still trails by 11-6. Of course it’s a huge deficit but Kyren will know that he can’t relax and start thinking about his winner’s speech just yet (Hey Jimmy …) because it could have easily been 10-7. The last frame of the session was pure drama and Jak will be fuming that he lost it as he was well ahead in that crucial frame, and lost it on the final black … here is the end of that session …
Kyren Wilson won a crucial last frame of the second session of the Cazoo World Championship final against Jak Jones to lead 11-6 overnight.
Jones had earlier trailed 7-0, the worst start to a world final since John Parrott took the first seven frames against Jimmy White in 1991. Tenacious Jones looked set to reduce his arrears to 10-7, but lost a black ball battle as Wilson finished the first day of the final with a five-frame cushion. They return at 1pm on Monday for eight more frames, ahead of the concluding session from 7pm.
Wilson needs seven of the last 18 frames to win snooker’s biggest prize for the first time, while Jones would need the biggest final-day come-back in Crucible history to get to 18 first.
Welshman Jones took the first two frames of the session with breaks of 75 and 52 to close to 7-3. World number 12 Wilson responded with 125 and 60 to lead 9-3 at the interval. Jones, ranked 44th, got the better of frame 13 but Wilson hit back with a 122, his fourth century of the final and eighth of the tournament.
A cracking long pot on the fourth-last red set Jones up to take frame 15, and in the next he made 90, his highest break of the match so far, to close to 10-6. The last frame of the session looked to be going the way of Jones when his break of 64 put him 29 points ahead with just the colours left, only for Wilson to get the snooker he needed on the yellow. It came down to a long safety exchange on the final black, and Jones went for a risky double to a baulk corner but narrowly missed, handing Wilson the chance to extend his lead.
The Kettering cueman punched the air as he left the arena, as he remains on track to become the 23rd player to lift the famous trophy at the Crucible.
Note that if the match finishes late, I will not be able to report on today’s outcome and action until tomorrow late afternoon. I’m going to travel to Sheffield for the 2024 Seniors World Snooker Championship and will need to get up very early… so, no late night for me today. I’m an old gal… 😴
After three days of hard battle, we have our 2024 Crucible finalists: Kyren Wilson and Jak Jones. This is certainly a line-up not many would have expected but it is a really interesting one and we will have a new name on the trophy no matter who wins tomorrow night. This is the first time in the last 10 years that the final of the World Championship features two finalists who have never won it before, and it’s only the second time in the last 10 years that both finalists are under 35 years old. This has to be good news for the sport. Here is how they got there as reported by WST:
Kyren Wilson moved a step closer to fulfilling his dream of winning snooker’s greatest prize as he beat David Gilbert 17-11 in the semi-finals of the Cazoo World Championship.
World number 12 Wilson pulled away from 9-9 to take eight of the last ten frames to reach the Crucible final for the second time. Four years ago he was denied the trophy by Ronnie O’Sullivan, losing 18-8, but this time the Warrior will start favourite against either Stuart Bingham or Jak Jones. First to 18 frames on Monday will take the £500,000 top prize.
The 2020 final was played during the Covid pandemic, with limited crowds, so this will be a different atmosphere. “I can’t wait,” said Wilson. “It’s what you dream of, to play in the Crucible final with a packed crowd. I’ll try to soak it all in because you never know if you’ll get another chance. It will be a fairy tale ending for whoever wins.”
Kettering’s 32-year-old Wilson hopes to become the 23rd player to win the title at the Crucible, and he would be the lowest seeded winner since Graeme Dott, then ranked 14th, took the silverware in 2006. He will be playing in his 14th ranking final, and looking for a sixth title, his most recent coming at the 2022 European Masters. Wilson had shown only glimpses of his best form this season before arriving in Sheffield, with just one ranking semi-final appearance, but since round one has looked the best player in the field, knocking out Dominic Dale 10-1, Joe O’Connor 13-6, John Higgins 13-8 and now Gilbert.
Tamworth’s Gilbert may look back on the 20th frame on Friday night as a turning point, as he missed the yellow and the brown when he had chances for 10-10. This is his second Crucible semi-final defeat, having lost 17-16 to John Higgins in 2019. Today’s result also ends his hopes of climbing into the world’s top 16 – Gilbert will finish the season 21st and Higgins will hang on to his place among the elite.
Wilson was on 25 in the opening frame today when he overcut the black to a top corner, and Gilbert stepped in with 70 to draw within three frames and raise his hopes of a fight-back at 14-11. Wilson took control of the next with a run of 47, and though Gilbert took it to the colours, he made a safety error on the yellow which handed his opponent the chance to regain his four-frame cushion.
Gilbert had a scoring chance in frame 27 but made just 10 before rattling a red in the jaws of a top corner, and Wilson’s 54 helped him to the brink of victory at 16-11. Battling to stay afloat, Gilbert made 49 in the next before over-cutting a tricky mid-range red, and Wilson clinched the result in style with a superb 67 clearance.
“Dave cued the ball very sweetly for the first two sessions,” added Wilson after his fourth Crucible semi-final. “I stayed mentally strong and didn’t panic. It’s a long tournament and he had been through the qualfying rounds, so maybe on Friday night that caught up with him, he missed a few and I knew I had to take advantage at that stage. I have had some big defeats here and have tried to learn from those and become a better player. I feel I can handle any situation now.
“You can arrive at the Crucible with no form, and find it here. Before the event I had a holiday in Portugal with the family, then had two weeks practice, so I came here fresh. Perhaps some of the top players who have had great seasons had gone stale.“
Gilbert said: “I lost it last night, I lost my way with my cueing and alignment and sliced a couple. I couldn’t believe some of the shots I hit. I feel as if I could have won 17-11 instead of lost. Kyren looked confident but I kept landing awkward and he had a fair bit of luck. It was brilliant to be out there. The reception we had, you can’t buy that and it makes you feel special. I wanted to be part of the game today and make it hard for him, but I was too far behind.
“It will be great for Kyren and his family if he wins it, good luck to him. I don’t want to go missing now for another couple of years so I’ll be back to the practice table soon.“
Nice words from David Gilbert there.
The “underline” part is my doing. It’s an interesting point raised by Kyren. Ronnie and Judd both won five titles during the season – Ronnie in particular had won the other two “triple crown” events – but neither was able to find top form here. I don’t think it was about pressure. Snooker is very demanding, mentally and emotionally. Ronnie was visibly “on edge” emotionally during the QFs, Judd looked totally flat and devoid of energy at the same stage.
Jak Jones, a 200-1 outsider at the start of the tournament, beat Stuart Bingham 17-12 at the Cazoo World Championship to become the ninth qualifier ever to reach the Crucible final.
Welshman Jones, seemingly unfazed by his extraordinary run, came from 9-8 down to win nine of the last 12 frames to reach the final of a ranking event for the first time in his career. Arguably the most unlikely finalist in Crucible history, he will meet Kyren Wilson over 35 frames on Sunday and Monday for the trophy and £500,000 top prize. The world number 44 is the lowest ranked player to get this far since Shaun Murphy, then 48th, won the title in 2005.
And this will be the first final since 2005, when Murphy beat Matthew Stevens, that we are sure to see a new name on the trophy. Jones, who had only previously played in one ranking event semi-final since turning pro in 2010, aims to become the 23rd player to hold the silverware at the Crucible. Already guaranteed £200,000, by far his biggest ever pay-day, the 30-year-old from Cwmbran will jump 30 places up the ranking list to 14th even if he loses the final, and will climb to number six if he wins.
He will be the sixth player from Wales to contest the final, joining Ray Reardon, Terry Griffiths, Doug Mountjoy, Mark Williams and Stevens, and victory would make him only the third qualifier, after Griffiths and Murphy, to wear snooker’s most coveted crown.
Back in 2011, Wilson and Jones met for the first time, in the less glamorous surroundings of Q School. Wilson came from 3-0 down to win 4-3, and Jones was eventually relegated from the tour, not returning until 2013. His progress as a professional has been slower than he would have liked, but over the past fortnight he has shown he has the talent and temperament, and is now set for the biggest match of his life.
Bingham, the 2015 champion, misses out on the chance to become the seventh player to win the title at the Crucible more than once. Having knocked out Ronnie O’Sullivan in the previous round, his confidence could barely have been higher, but he made too many errors against Jones and the Essex man’s third Crucible semi-final ended in disappointment.
Going into the concluding session 13-10 down, Bingham took a scrappy opening frame to close the gap, and he had chances in frame 25 but crucially missed a red to a top corner when he led 25-5 and later made a safety error on the final green which gifted Jones the chance to go 14-11 up. Bingham was on 16 in the next when he went in-off when potting the blue, and Jones responded with 65 to extend his lead.
In frame 27, Jones led 28-0 when he over-cut a tricky red to a top corner. Bingham build a 55-35 lead and trapped his opponent in a snooker with three reds left, creating the chance to close to 15-12. After the interval, Bingham was on 23 when he missed the black to a top corner, and Jones replied with 70 to go four up with five to play. And he went on to dominate frame 29 with runs of 44 and 58 to cross the line.
“It’s crazy, this was totally unexpected at the start of the event,” said Jones, who won two matches to reach the Crucible before knocking out Zhang Anda, Si Jiahui, Judd Trump and Bingham. “I don’t feel I have played that well, but my matchplay has got me through. Hopefully I’ll start playing well tomorrow. I watch the world final on TV every year, it has always been a dream to play in it and find out what an amazing occasion it is. It would mean everything to win it, but Kyren is playing as well as anyone.
“I have had so much disappointment in my career that I don’t tend to get too high when I win or low when I lose. I don’t feel that excited yet – but maybe when I get introduced into the arena tomorrow it will hit me.“
Bingham said: “I’m gutted. I gifted him so many chances. In the fourth frame I missed a blue which might have put me 4-0 up, and after that he got his teeth into the match. I must have given away eight frames. He is tough to play against, it’s hard to get a rhythm against him.“
Jak Jones is the youngest player in this final but his ways around the table are quite “old school”. He’s not ultra defensive, but he’s a quite solid all-rounder, with huge reserves of patience, and a hard match player. Neither his game, nor his temperament are suited for the short “sprint” formats that prevail in early rounds of most events nowadays which is probably why he hasn’t done “better” on tour during his career so far. Kyren has to start favourite, if only because he has been in a Crucible final before, but he will have to work hard if he is to win tomorrow. He will know that. It’s an intriguing final we have in store. Bring it on!
The quarter-finals at the 2024 World Snooker Championship yielded a very unexpected semi-finals line-up as the all big “favourites” bowed out. Indeed, for the first time since the World Championship is played at the Crucible in 1977, three of the semi-finalists are “qualifiers”, although, one of them, Stuart Bingham, is a former World Champion. Kyren Wilson is the only seed still standing.
Judd Trump’s dreams of winning a second Cazoo World Championship crown were smashed by world number 44 Jak Jones who won 13-9 to record the biggest ever quarter-final shock at the Crucible.
World number two Trump arrived in Sheffield on the crest of a wave having won five ranking titles this season and was rated second favourite for the title after Ronnie O’Sullivan, but struggled to find any fluency against gritty Jones and made too many unforced errors. From 8-7 ahead, Trump lost six of the last seven frames, and his highest break in the concluding session was just 22.
Welshman Jones, age 30, was playing in only the fourth ranking event quarter-final of a pro career which dates back to 2010. He clearly loves the Crucible as he reached the last eight here last year, knocking out Neil Robertson before losing to Mark Allen. Calm under pressure with an excellent safety game, Jones also made several high quality breaks in the closing stages and finished with a century.
He is into his second ranking event semi-final, the only previous one coming at the 2022 Gibraltar Open, and will face O’Sullivan or Stuart Bingham over 33 frames on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Jones is already guaranteed £100,000, by far his biggest pay day, and if he reaches the final he’ll be into the world’s top 16.
Trump led 27-15 in the opening frame today when he missed the pink to a top corner, and Jones punished him with 40 to go 9-8 ahead. A scrappy 18th frame went Trump’s way, but it was Jones who grew in confidence as a break of 87 put him 10-9 ahead. In frame 20, Trump trailed 10-24 when he missed the pink off its spot, and again his opponent took advantage with 61.
Another clear scoring chance went begging for Trump in the 21st as, trailing 18-7, he overcut a short range yellow to a baulk corner. The frame came down to the last red and Jones, leading 53-21, slotted in a mid range pot for 12-9. Yet another error from Trump early in the next, going in-off after potting the blue on 21, proved his last shot as Jones finished in style with a 106.
“Judd struggled – from 4-4 he seemed to go into his shell and I picked up on that,” said Jones, who won the European Under-19 title during a promising junior career before turning pro aged 16. “He made a century in the first frame and that seemed to motivate me as I knew I would need to play well. Maybe it was pressure, but Judd didn’t seem to play the way he usually does. I just tried to keep calm and I have learned that from previous matches here. And something I have learned from Judd is not to get down on myself if I make a mistake.
“I only slept for two hours last night, but the adrenaline of this event keeps you going. I don’t know how I would feel if I play Ronnie next, but I am trying to just play snooker rather than thinking about the whole situation. My dad is here with me and he is a very calming influence. He has been there with me since my junior days and he never gets too down when I lose or excited when I win. We don’t even talk much about snooker!“
Trump said: “I struggled. I had chances but I couldn’t get rhythm. Every time I came to the table, it felt like I had been away from it for ages and I wasn’t able to get into that flow. Maybe I should have been more attacking in the first couple of sessions. Maybe I played it into his hands. I was slower than I would have liked.
“I had more than enough chances today to win so I only have myself to blame. Every time is tough coming here. It’s a gruelling schedule, playing last night and then again the following morning. But it’s the same for both players and Jak dealt with it a lot better than I did. I missed too many easy balls.”
David Gilbert, who was struggling for motivation to even play snooker a few weeks ago, is into the semi-finals of the Cazoo World Championship for the second time after a 13-8 victory over Stephen Maguire.
Having built a 7-1 lead in the opening session on Tuesday, Gilbert was able to nurse his advantage through to the finish line and can now look forward to a huge occasion on Thursday, Friday and Saturday when he faces John Higgins or Kyren Wilson over 33 frames.
Gilbert’s previous appearance in the last four at the Crucible came in 2019 when he battled Higgins all the way before an agonising 17-16 defeat. This time the 42-year-old will hope to go further and, inspired by a new fitness and practice regime arranged by fellow player Andy Lee, clearly believes he can go all the way.
“Five weeks I go I couldn’t even be bothered to play in the qualifiers,” admitted world number 31 Gilbert, who knocked out Luca Brecel and Robert Milkins in the first two rounds. “This would have seemed impossible so it has been an incredible turn around and I feel it’s a massive achievement. I am more confident than ever, for whatever reason, I truly believe in myself. I have proved to myself that I can still play.
“I miss being a top 16 player. I have had times in my career where I have pressed the self destruct button. But the motivation is back now. If I am sitting here on Monday night with the trophy, no one could be more proud.
“I would love to play John Higgins again in the semis. He’s a class act. We had a fantastic game here five years ago and I have thought about it many times. I never thought I would get another chance to walk out there in the one table set up. But I also admire Kyren and the way he turns up at tournaments to win, if I had his belief then I might have won ten titles.“
Tamworth’s Gilbert is into the eighth ranking event semi-final of his career and is chasing his second title, the only other coming at the 2021 Championship League. With Jak Jones already into the last four, this is the first time since 2016 that two qualifiers have reached the semi-finals, and Stuart Bingham could make it three if he beats Ronnie O’Sullivan.
Having led 10-6 overnight, Gilbert had a chance to snatch the opening frame today from 56-0 behind but missed a tough pot on the penultimate red with the rest on 33, and Glasgow’s Maguire took advantage to close the gap. Gilbert dominated frame 18 before Maguire’s 64 in the 19th made it 11-8. Three scoring visits helped Gilbert to win frame 20 to go four up with five to play. After the interval, the Englishman took control of frame 21 with runs of 19 and 20, and after he potted the last red to go 31 points ahead, the handshake soon followed.
Maguire, who missed out on a third semi-final having reached that stage in 2007 and 2012, said: “I felt I just handed it to him, which I hate doing. I don’t know what happened in the first session and it was a long way back from there. I lost all the close frames. I don’t feel I played any quality snooker, I just battled through. Good luck to Dave, he’s a nice kid and we go back a long way. He’ll have to improve. He was there for taking last night and I was disappointed to finish 10-6 because it could have been 9-7.”
Kyren Wilson is through to the fourth Crucible semi-final of his career, after an impressive display saw him overpower John Higgins 13-8 at the Cazoo World Championship.
As he so often does, Wilson has timed his form to hit its peak here at the sport’s biggest event. Despite having only made one prior semi-final appearance this season, at the German Masters, the Warrior has produced his very best to blitz a path to the Crucible semis. So far he has defeated Dominic Dale and Joe O’Connor, as well as Higgins, and he is the last seed left in the event.
Wilson has a tremendous record at the Theatre of Dreams. He first made the semi-finals in 2018, when he lost out to Higgins. The Englishman returned to the last four in 2020, scoring an epic 17-16 win over Anthony McGill to make the final, before being denied snooker’s grandest prize by Ronnie O’Sullivan. Wilson was also a beaten semi-finalist when he faced Shaun Murphy here in 2021. However, the 32-year-old is still hunting an elusive maiden Crucible crown.
To gain a place in this year’s semis he had to overcome a player who he has struggled against in recent times. Tonight’s victory is Wilson’s first against Higgins in four years, since the 2020 World Grand Prix. In the intervening period Higgins won all of their five meetings, including a 13-2 win over Wilson here last year.
Despite suffering defeat, Higgins remains in a strong position to retain his place in the world’s top 16. The four-time World Champion has been in that elite group since 1995 and his stunning 13-12 win over Mark Allen acted as a huge boost to his hopes to stay there.
For much of this encounter, it was Higgins clinging to Wilson’s coattails. The Scot won the last two frames of the opening session to end 5-3 behind and came from 9-4 down to finish the second session trailing 9-7.
When this evening’s play got underway, it was 48-year-old Higgins who cranked up the heat by taking the opener to pull within one at 9-8. However, that would prove to be the last frame won by the Glaswegian in this year’s tournament.
Wilson limited his opponent to just 12 points in the next three frames as he swept to a 12-8 advantage, compiling a superb 101 break in the 20th. Higgins had opportunities in the 21st, but a break of 61 from Wilson got him over the line for a momentous win.
He now faces qualifier David Gilbert in the last four. It will be a repeat of the 2019 German Masters final, which was won by Wilson.
“To come off the back of absolute annihilation from John here last year, I had to put that to one side. There is nothing I can do about the past. I just focussed on what was in front of me. All aspects of my game were really strong. My safety was strong, my long potting was good, I scored when I had to and I made some good clearances. I’m really pleased with where my game is at.”
Kyren Wilson
World Number 12
Wilson added: “The key word, which I keep bringing up, is resilience. If you can keep being resilient, then you can destroy a player’s resolve. That is something I managed to do against John. I lost four frames on the bounce between 9-4 and 9-8 then kicked on with four of my own.
“I think all four players that are left in have a chance. It will be a fascinating watch. It is four players that you wouldn’t necessarily have put in at this stage at the start of the tournament. It is great to see new faces and it is an amazing semi-final lineup.”
Higgins said: “He was too powerful for me. That is the best he’s ever hit the ball continuously against me. He had a couple of little wobbles in the first and second session, but he was far too powerful for me. He played great.”
Just as he did in 2015 on his way to the title, Stuart Bingham floored Ronnie O’Sullivan at the quarter-final stage at the Crucible, winning 13-10 to reach the last four of the Cazoo World Championship.
O’Sullivan’s chances of an eighth title, which would move him one ahead of Stephen Hendry’s total, are over for another year, as he lost seven of the last nine frames having led 8-6. Earlier in the day, Jak Jones registered a seismic shock when he knocked out Judd Trump, and Bingham created another huge upset with victory over snooker’s all-time greatest player.
O’Sullivan had been on course for a career-best season, having won five titles including the UK Championship and the Masters. But his hopes of landing all three Triple Crown events in the same season for the first time are over, and he also loses the world number one ranking which he had held since April 2022. Mark Allen will climb to the top of the official list for the first time in his career and become the 12th player ever to hold that status.
World number 29 Bingham is through to his third Crucible semi-final and is aiming to become only the seventh player to lift the trophy in Sheffield more than once, following Steve Davis, Hendry, Mark Williams, O’Sullivan, John Higgins and Mark Selby. The 47-year-old from Basildon, who beat Shaun Murphy in the 2015 final, will be up against Jones over 33 frames over the next three days. It’s some turnaround for Bingham who has suffered from loss of form and problems with his eyesight in recent seasons and had not previously reached a ranking event semi-final since the 2021 World Grand Prix.
With Kyren Wilson up against David Gilbert in the other semi-final, this is the first time that three qualifiers have made the last four since 1977 (which was the first year at the Crucible, when there were only eight seeds). Bingham is the only man among the quartet who has lifted the trophy before and, with his game slotting into gear, is drawing on memories of his triumph nine years ago.
“I enjoyed going toe to toe with the best player ever, and I can’t believe I came out on top,” said Bingham. “Something clicked at 10-10, I felt great and went for my shots. This place brings the best out of me and I played with a smile on my face, just like I did in 2015.
“I am the only one left who has held that trophy but that doesn’t count for much. Everyone left will think they have a chance. Jak has just knocked out Judd and he obviously loves it out there. I played him in Gibraltar a few years ago and he hammered me 4-0 so I know what he can do. I need a good night’s sleep to be ready for tomorrow.“
O’Sullivan said: “I enjoyed it, and the number one thing for me is to enjoy the game. For the first time in two years I feel like I want to play. I look forward to getting my cue out and the sound of the balls. That’s nothing to do with winning titles. You can’t win them all.“
Here are the scores of that match:
Stuart Bingham played really, really well and Ronnie was never at the top of his game. He hasn’t been for most of the season despite winning five titles. It’s been hard work and he didn’t enjoy it most of the time, but he was surprisingly positive yesterday evening despite the defeat… amongst other things here are the key quotes:
“I’ve had a bit of a worrying couple of years. For me, it’s not the win I’d have liked to have had. But it’s snooker; that’s the way it goes.
“Good luck to Stuart, he played a fantastic match and he deserved his victory. I’m just pleased that I competed and I felt like I was cueing okay. Just a few errors here and there but on the whole, not too bad.”
And before anyone comes here with “it’s a disaster, it’s terrible, it’s awful …” no it’s not, it’s not the result we wanted but that’s sport. Nobody has a divine right to win and nobody can win them all. Ronnie tried hard, it wasn’t to be and the better player on the day won. Am I disappointed? Yes, I am. Is it the end of the world? Absolutely not.
I’m a fan of snooker, just as much as I’m a fan of Ronnie and I think that this unexpected semi-final line-up makes for a very interesting and intriguing final part of the championship.
Only eight players remain in the 2024 World Snooker Championship draw as we reach the quarter-final stage and four of them are qualifiers. Jak Jones, number 44 in the ranking, is the lowest ranked player still standing.
Four matches were played to a finish yesterday. The two matches played in the afternoon finished quickly, there was no MSI in either. The two matches in the evening were extremely hard fought, intense and brought the sort of drama that only the World Championship and its multi-session format can bring.
Kyren Wilson scored a 13-6 win over Joe O’Connor to make the quarter-finals of the Cazoo World Championship for the seventh time in his career.
The Warrior has a formidable record on snooker’s grandest stage. His steely all-round game is well suited to the gruelling test which the Crucible provides. Wilson is a three-time semi-finalist and was runner-up to Ronnie O’Sullivan in 2020. He’s still seeking a maiden World Championship title.
Wilson is now just one win away from a return to the hallowed single table setup, where defeated Anthony McGill 17-16 in one of the most dramatic deciding frames of all-time four years ago. In Wilson’s way will be either four-time Crucible king John Higgins or Northern Ireland’s Mark Allen, who is hunting a first world crown.
O’Connor’s Crucible debut ends in defeat, but he can take pride in his best ever Sheffield showing. The world number 30 defeated Matthew Selt 10-8 in a marathon qualifying clash to become this year’s only Crucible debutant. The 28-year-old had a dream first appearance, beating fellow Leicester cueman, four-time World Champion and close friend Mark Selby 10-6 in the opening round.
The pair came into this afternoon’s concluding session with Wilson holding a 10-6 lead, after O’Connor fired in a break of 102 in the last frame yesterday evening to remain in touch. However, when play got underway today it was Wilson who extinguished any hopes of a fightback.
The first frame was in the balance, before a long-range final yellow from the Kettering cueman helped him to clear to the pink and make it 11-6. Wilson then dominated the 18th to move one from victory.
He had looked to be coasting over the line in the next, before an unexpected missed black off the spot. O’Connor couldn’t capitalise and spurned a red with the rest to effectively end his hopes with Wilson clinching the frame and the match.
“Sometimes it is nice to go under the radar. I had that all throughout my junior career, I was never fancied. I managed to come under the radar and win a lot of the events. It is irrelevant if people are tipping you or not, they can’t help you win. I try to ignore all of that. You have to put it to one side and focus on yourself. “
Kyren Wilson
Five-time Ranking Event Winner
32-year-old Wilson added: “I always seem to peak for Sheffield. I know the process I have to go through to get myself in form going into this event. It definitely helps if you hit the ground running and I managed to do that with my win over Dominic Dale in the first round. As soon as you get a win here, you feel a part of the tournament. You get a feel for the venue and you settle in.
“Next I have either an all-time great who has won the World Championship four times (John Higgins) or the provisional world number one (Mark Allen). It is going to be a tough game, both lads are playing well. Hopefully it goes 13-12 and they are both shattered!”
O’Connor said: “I’m dissapointed. Kyren was the better player over the sessions and he did deserve to win. It is frustrating to not get out of first gear. On the whole, it is a great tournament and it has been great to be a part of it.
“The first match made it really. It was a bit of a dream to play Mark and to get the result as well. It has been amazing having all of my family and friends here. It is one to cherish.”
John Higgins cried tears of joy in his dressing room after making what he described as the best clearance of his career to beat Mark Allen 13-12 in a sensational second round match at the Cazoo World Championship.
Legend Higgins has had moments of despair in recent seasons, particularly when struggling to convert winning positions, but tonight he rolled back the years to produce a moment he said he would remember forever. From the jaws of defeat at 62-0 down in the deciding frame against Allen, he doubled a red to a centre pocket to initiate a marvellous 71 clearance, reminiscent of his winning break against Ronnie O’Sullivan in the 2006 Masters final. The four-time champion raised his arms aloft to an enthralled crowd as the last ball went down, in the first Crucible match to go to the final black since Nigel Bond beat Stephen Hendry in 2006.
Asked where the clearance ranks in his career, Higgins said: “It’s the best. It will live with me forever. After everything that has gone before over the last two years, to stand up under the most intense pressure is a very proud moment for me. When I came to the table I knew that the double was my only chance, and when that went in, I knew it was on. I felt calm and I just tried to stay positive and keep pushing the cue through straight. This should do wonders for me because I know I can do it, and this is the hardest place to play.”
Scotland’s Higgins goes through to his 18th quarter-final in Sheffield and will face Kyren Wilson over 25 frames on Tuesday and Wednesday. Tonight’s result was particularly significant for the 48-year-old as defeat would have meant the end of an unbroken sequence of 29 years among the top 16 of the world rankings. Instead, victory lifts him to 15th in the provisional end of season list. Chasing his first ranking title since the 2021 Players Championship, Higgins is now the only player in the top half of the draw to have previously lifted the trophy, and will hope to use his experience and surge of confidence when he comes up against Wilson and then potentially David Gilbert or Stephen Maguire in the semi-finals.
Allen remains top of the provisional list but his hopes of becoming world number one for the first time now rely on other results as Judd Trump and Ronnie O’Sullivan can overtake him. The Northern Irishman was disappointed to miss match-winning chances in the closing stages and will have to wait a year for another opportunity to win the title he covets most.
Leading 9-7 going into tonight’s concluding session, Allen took the opener, then in frame 18, he had a chance to clear from 55-1 down, but missed on 39 he a tricky pot on the last red to a centre pocket, and Higgins punished him for 10-8. Allen led 46-26 in the next when he failed to pot a tough red to a top corner, and an excellent 35 from his opponent drew him within one frame. Soon they were level, as Higgins made 64 in frame 20.
After the interval, Allen regained the lead with a break of 66, and he had a scoring chance in the next but, trailing 33-13, missed a red with the rest to a top corner, letting Higgins in for 51 to make it 11-11. In frame 23, Higgins had first chance but was unlucky to not to land on a red when splitting the pack off the blue. Allen took control and eventually won it with an excellent pot on the last red along a side cushion.
Frame 24 came down to the colours, and after trapping his opponent in a snooker on the green, Allen was just three pots from victory at 41-37 when he wobbled the green in the jaws of a baulk corner. Higgins cleared for 12-12, but thought his chance was gone when he narrowly missed a long red at the start of the decider. Allen looked composed in a run of 62 until he failed to pot a red to a top corner with the rest, and could only watch from his chair as Higgins created an all-time classic Crucible moment.
Higgins added: “I had a cry for about 20 seconds in my dressing room to let it all out. But then I said to myself that I need to be ready for tomorrow. I’m only in the quarter-finals, there’s a long way to go. I need to get better – I haven’t made a century yet in the tournament (his highest break is just 75). But I am in there fighting and staying positive.”
Allen said: “Credit to John, it was a great clearance. But I didn’t lose it in the last frame, I lost it earlier in the match because I had so many chances to go further ahead. I could have won around 13-7 if I had taken those chances. It’s one that got away.
“As soon as John got the double I knew he was going to clear up. He is one of the very few players who can make a break like that. He should give himself a massive pat on the back for that and he should believe he can go on and win this now.”
HIGGINS: MY BEST EVER CLEARANCE
Am I the only who got (painful) memories of this one watching it?
Stuart Bingham came through a pulsating encounter with Jack Lisowski 13-11 to set up a quarter-final showdown with Ronnie O’Sullivan at the Cazoo World Championship.
The last time Bingham crossed cues with seven-time World Champion O’Sullivan at the Theatre of Dreams was in 2015. It was Bingham who scored a momentous 13-9 victory and he went on to beat Judd Trump and Shaun Murphy to capture Crucible glory and become World Champion.
Recent times have been more trying for Bingham, who has fallen out of the top 16. He had to battle through qualifying to earn his place in the final stages this year, scoring a 10-9 win over Stuart Carrington and a 10-8 defeat of Louis Heathcote at the English Institute of Sport.
It’s the first time that four qualifiers have made the quarter-finals since 1992, with Bingham being joined by Jak Jones, David Gilbert and Stephen Maguire in the last eight.
Defeat comes as a bitter pill to swallow for six-time ranking event finalist Lisowski, who ends his season still chasing a maiden piece of silverware.
They came into the evening session with Bingham holding a 9-7 advantage. The Basildon cueman extended his lead to three by taking the first frame tonight, before Lisowski hit back to make it 10-8.
Bingham was in control of the 19th, when Lisowski summoned a clearance of 51 to steal. He potted a tricky final black to pull within one at 10-9.
The last before the mid-session came down to the pink, with Lisowski spurning a routine chance with the frame at his mercy and another from long range. Those errors were punished by Bingham, who nailed a double to the middle to move 11-9 up.
Lisowski appeared to have put those misses behind him when play resumed after the interval. Breaks of 84 and 124 helped him to a quickfire two frames to draw level at 11-11.
A hugely dramatic 23rd frame had looked to be going the way of 32-year-old Lisowski, until he missed a straight pink to the top right. Bingham stepped in and cleared the colours to move one away from the win. The six-time ranking event winner held his nerve to get over the line at the first time of asking, winning the 24th by a 75-0 scoreline to seal a famous victory.
“I’ve been working on a few things with my coach Chris Henry. Something clicked after the second session and I felt really good going into tonight. I just have to get my scoring boots on and see where it goes,” said 47-year-old Bingham.
“We will see tomorrow how it goes. I watched a little bit of Ronnie’s match with Ryan Day. He gave him a fair few chances. I hope he plays like that tomorrow and over the next couple of days. Ronnie is Ronnie. I will have to touch up on my game and score a bit heavier to have a chance.
“I’m going for my second and he is going for his eighth. We have our own pressures. He is maybe coming close to his retirement and I’m sure he will want to get to eight. To be honest, he probably should be on 12 at the moment. He does have that added pressure, but you can’t take anything for granted with Ronnie. He is the best player that has ever picked up a cue. You need to play really well to have a chance.”
Jack Lisowski is ahead on every statistic in this match … except the only one that matters, the final score. He was the better player yesterday, even his safety game was strong BUT when it really mattered Stuart experience and solid nerves made the difference. I won’t lie, I was hoping for a Ronnie v Jack QF for a number of reasons. It wasn’t to be BUT having watched Jack yesterday, and earlier this week, I thought that he might well win a ranking event in a not too distant future after all and if the gates open… who know?
Ronnie O'Sullivan 