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.
Essex favourite Ali Carter defeated Mark Williams 9-6 in the BetVictor English Open final in Brentwood to land the seventh ranking event win of his career.
The Captain, who is a qualified pilot, defeated Ding Junhui in yesterday afternoon’s first semi-final and had some unorthodox preparations for today’s title match. Carter took to the skies and flew his plane in the evening, whilst Williams was slugging it out in a classic last four clash with Shaun Murphy, which he won 6-5.
Carter’s previous triumph came at the BetVictor Championship League in Leicester back in 2024, but this is his first full knockout ranking title on English soil. It was greeted with joyous scenes in front of a delighted near capacity crowd in his home county.
Victory for Carter sees him pocket the £100,000 top prize and get his hands on the Steve Davis Trophy for the first time. He skyrockets from 25th in the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings to 16th, putting him in line for automatic qualification for snooker’s Triple Crown events. Williams moves from ninth up to eighth position.
Defeat means 51-year-old Williams is denied the chance to beat his own record as snooker’s oldest ever ranking event winner, which he set aged 50 at last year’s Xi’an Grand Prix. However, he does become the oldest ranking event finalist in 40 years, since Rex Williams competed in the 1986 Grand Prix title match.
They came into this evening with Williams holding a 5-3 advantage, but Carter hit back quickly when play resumed. Breaks of 64 and 57 restored parity, before Carter claimed the 11th to lead for the first time in the match at 6-5.
Williams strung together a run of 60 in the next to make it 6-6, but Carter immediately regained the initiative by winning the 13th. He then claimed a tense 41-minute frame, after depositing a clutch green to the right-hand centre to go 8-6 up and one from the title.
With the finishing post in sight, Carter surged over the line with contributions of 38 and 54 to claim victory. He clenched his fist in celebration after securing a momentous win.
“It doesn’t feel real at the moment. It hasn’t really sunk in,” said 47-year-old Carter. “I’ve not won as many titles as someone like Mark Williams, but it is great. The boys know I can play, that is for sure.
“In all my ranking events I’ve never beat one of the all-time greats in the final, to do that today makes it extra special. Not being detrimental to the other players I’ve beat it has been lower ranked players than me. To play Mark Williams and win in front of my home crowd is a dream come true.
“I was flying my aeroplane last night. I was getting in it, running the check list, starting it up and going out flying for half an hour. I was getting away from it all. That was nectar for me.”
Williams said: “I tried my best. I played alright in patches. I didn’t play too well tonight, but Ali put pressure on me and I didn’t handle it very well. He deserved to win. It was a great game and I enjoyed it. I tried my best. The crowd has been unbelievable all week. The conditions have been good, tough at times, but good. Well done and good luck to Ali.”
I have nothing to add really. I’m not Ali’s biggest fan because of a few things he did and said in the past, but then, of course, I did and do not know what kind of personal challenges he may have been facing at the time. He fully deserves this win and huge praise for it.
Home favourite Ali Carter delighted a packed Brentwood crowd by reeling off five frames in a row to beat Chinese legend Ding Junhui 6-2 and make the BetVictor English Open final.
Victory sees Carter through to the 15th ranking event final of his career, where he will be gunning for a seventh ranking crown. The Captain’s last triumph came two years ago at the BetVictor Championship League.
Carter started the week placed 25th in the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings, but if he can capture the Steve Davis Trophy and the £100,000 top prize tomorrow he will return to the elite top 16. In the Englishman’s way will be either compatriot Shaun Murphy or Welshman Mark Williams.
Defeat serves as a disappointment for 15-time ranking event winner Ding, but he can take solace from a fine week which included a 6-2 defeat of 2024 World Champion Kyren Wilson. The 39-year-old had got his season off to a slow start, having only won three of his seven matches at previous tournaments.
Ding made breaks of 98 and 65 in the first three frames this afternoon to lead 2-1 and had looked good to extend that lead before a missed brown proved to be costly. Carter cleared to head into the mid-session level at 2-2.
When play resumed, 47-year-old Carter took the match by the scruff of the neck to blitz to victory. Breaks of 74, 119, 76 and 77 made it five on the bounce and wrapped up a tremendous triumph.
Carter said: “I felt I was just hanging on in the first four frames, but to get out 2-2 was great as I was always on the back foot. I went out after the interval and played no miss snooker so it was amazing.
“To get in the top 16 at my ripe old age of 47 wouldn’t be too bad would it? There is a lot to play for tomorrow, but I’m going to be in there fighting. Arguably Shaun is one of the best players in the world and Mark Williams is an all-time great. It is going to be really tough but I’m going to savour it.
“It is brilliant to be here. It goes without saying that it is all about the winning, but it has been a good week to get to another final. I’m still competing with the best players in the world and it is a feather in my cap.“
Quite incredibly Ding didn’t score a single point after the MSI … 😳
Three-time World Champion Mark Williams staged an epic fightback to come from 5-1 down and beat Shaun Murphy 6-5 to reach the BetVictor English Open final in Brentwood.
The remarkable victory sees 51-year-old Williams become the oldest ranking finalist in 40 years. Rex Williams was 53 when he made the final of the Grand Prix back in 1986. Tomorrow he will have the opportunity to beat his own record as snooker’s oldest ranking champion, which he set aged 50 at the 2025 Xi’an Grand Prix.
Williams will now face home favourite Ali Carter in tomorrow’s final, with both players bidding to lift the Steve Davis Trophy for the first time. The victor will pick up a top prize of £100,000.
Murphy’s year-long wait for a ranking title is extended. The Magician last lifted silverware at the 2025 British Open and has endured heartbreak since then. He came agonisingly close to lifting snooker’s biggest prize earlier this year at the World Championship, falling just short against Wu Yize in an 18-17 final defeat.
Things looked to be going Murphy’s way when he charged into a 5-1 advantage. Williams showed his steel to stay in the contest with an 82 break in the seventh.
Murphy had a golden opportunity to wrap the win up when leading 5-2, but crucially spurned a black off the spot leading 61-5. Williams stepped in and cleared with 69 to steal on the black and trail 5-3.
After pulling within one frame, Williams again found himself on the verge of a tournament exit when Murphy led 56-0 in the tenth. However, the 26-time ranking event winner summoned a clearance of 65 to force a decider.
The final frame saw Williams, who was competing in his 70th ranking semi-final, once again step to the fore. He made 69 to earn a place in the final, for the 45th time in a ranking event.
Williams said: “I’m not sure how I managed to win. I looked at the scoreboard, saw 5-1 and thought I was out. I stuck in there and made a few good clearances. I got it back to 5-4 and he started to miss a few. It was a great clearance to go 5-5 and an unbelievable break in the decider.
“He missed an easy black at 5-2 and I just thought at least if I could clear up I wasn’t giving it to him. Those matches coming from 5-1 down probably only happen once in a thousand. I just had to stick in and that was the one time it turned round for me.
“It has to be up there with my best comebacks. I was 5-1 down and 60 odd behind on two occasions. I’m over the moon to have a crack at the final now.”
Willo was 3-1 down but it’s not as if he had been outplayed. Not at all. All four frames before the MSI had been close, hard fought frames. Mark Williams temperament and battling qualities are probably second to none. Behind the apparently nonchalant demeanour hides a ruthless warrior. Can he win today? I believe he can. He has all the tenacity and the patience in the world and is more than capable to play the sort of game that could frustrate Ali and push him into taking unduly risks. We shall see.
I really enjoyed watching the 2026 English QFs yesterday. I feel that having slightly longer matches a this stage is a real bonus. Also, having two tables in use in the afternoon is a welcome change. Before this year, the two afternoon matches were not played “in parallel”, only one table was in use. As a result, it often happened that the second match didn’t finish “in time” and pushed the evening session, or one of the evening session matches, later that scheduled, causing all sorts of issues. Last year, for instance, the “afternoon session” second QF between Marl Selby and Jackson Page went to a decider and finished just four minute before 9 pm local time. As a result, the QF match between Mark Allen and Elliot Slessor started late and finished past one thirty in the next morning. This wasn’t fair on the players, nor was it fair on the fans who wanted to watch that match and, maybe, could not stay that late, be it because they got really tired or because they relied on public transport and couldn’t afford to miss the last bus …
Essex cueman Ali Carter won the last three frames to overhaul Zhou Yuelong and prevail 6-5 to make the semi-finals of the BetVictor English Open on home turf in Brentwood.
The Englishman came into this afternoon having lost his last three meetings with Zhou. His previous win over the Jumping Dragon came at the 2019 World Championship.
Victory sends Carter through to his 35th ranking event semi-final, where Chinese legend Ding Junhui awaits. The Captain is aiming to land a seventh ranking title and a first in a full format knockout tournament in his home country.
Zhou’s hunt for maiden ranking event glory continues. He has now bowed out in the quarter-finals 11 times, the semi-finals six times and the final four times.
It had looked like Zhou was set for the semis when, leading 5-3, he moved 55-0 ahead in the ninth. However, after missing a straightforward yellow Carter pounced and cleared with 71 to remain in contention at 5-4. Breaks of 77 and 74 came in the next two frames as the 47-year-old surged to a dramatic 6-5 win.
“I felt when he missed the yellow it was one I had to clear from. That really hurt him. I’ve been on the end of stuff like that a lot throughout my career, as has anyone who has played the game for as long as I have,” said two-time Crucible finalist Carter.
“I thought I was going home. The mad thing is, I felt the best I had all week and I thought I was going in the car to go home. This is just the game, typical, he’s missed the yellow and I’ve come back.
“That was a big match to get into the semi-finals. It is my home tournament and I’m delighted to still be in. It is all about winning, we are still punching for tomorrow.“
Ding came through with a superb display to defeat 2024 World Champion Kyren Wilson 6-2.
That was his third straight defeat of Wilson and it sees the Chinese cueman through to a first semi-final since the 2025 Tour Championship.
Ding, who composed breaks of 93, 87, 59 and 76 during the win, said: “I played pretty well in the first three frames. He was under quite a bit of pressure, because whenever I got a chance I was able to take it and win the frame. The last two frames were actually very close, so it wasn’t that he was playing badly, it was more about who could take their chances when they came.
“I’m looking forward to it. For me, every day is a big day. I know how badly I was playing. Hopefully I can win more matches and build up my confidence. It is working at the moment.”
Shaun Murphy overcame Judd Trump 6-5 in a fiercely contested tussle to earn his place in the last four.
2005 Crucible king Murphy suffered heartache back in May when he lost the world final 18-17 to Wu Yize, while Trump recently lost the world number one spot to Zhao Xintong. It was Murphy who left the Brentwood Centre this evening with cause for celebration.
A break of 67 saw Murphy over the line and booked a mouth-watering last four clash with three-time World Champion Mark Williams.
Murphy said: “I had work done on my cue between the British and coming here. I’m effectively playing with a new cue and I’ve had tip trouble since. I think I’m on tip four! In that context, to get this far here, it is probably one of the best weeks of my snooker career. Judd may not be world number one anymore but he is one of the best on the planet. Beating him is a real feather in my cap.“
Welshman Williams prevailed 6-3 against his friend, compatriot and practice partner Liam Davies to reach the 70th ranking semi-final of his career.
20-year-old Davies leaves Brentwood after a landmark week, which saw him defeat World Champion Wu and make the quarters for the first time in his fledgling career.
Williams will head into his last four showdown with Murphy in fine form, having made breaks of 63, 95 and 112 this evening.
Ding yesterday played really well and reminded us what a beautiful player he is when at or close to his best. He’s a delight to watch.
Zhou Yuelong, I feel, may benefit from working with a “mental coach”. He should never have missed that yellow yesterday, and it’s not the first time that we see him missing a crucial ball and seemingly never recover from it in the match. Credits to Ali Carter though because he took his chances afterwards and didn’t allow his past defeats to Zhou to become a psychological negative factor. The issue for Zhou, of course, is that, for such “mental coaching” to be efficient, the coach and the “coached person” need a common language that they fully master. Hence that means that, ideally, Zhou would need a mental coach who is a native Chinese speaker.
The 2026 English Open round of 16 was played to a conclusion yesterday in Leicester and it brougth a few surprises, as so often with this short format.
Welshman Liam Davies scored a stunning 4-1 win over World Champion Wu Yize to make the quarter-finals of a ranking event for the first time at the BetVictor English Open.
Davies has enjoyed a dramatic turnaround in fortunes this year. He ended last season by falling off the circuit, but bounced back immediately with success at Q School to regain his professional status.
The 20-year-old scored a landmark win over Ding Junhui in front of his home fans at the Wuhan Open last month and also defeated Barry Hawkins en route to the last 32 of the British Open last week. Now he has earned a maiden quarter-final berth.
Davies crafted a break of 105 en route to a 3-0 advantage. He then missed a black with a chance to secure the whitewash and Wu pounced to make it 3-1.
With the balls in difficult positions in the fourth, Wu embarked upon a potentially remarkable clearance to come from behind in the frame. He unexpectedly missed the green and Davies got himself over the line for a famous win and earn a quarter-final against compatriot, friend and practice partner Mark Williams, who beat Barry Hawkins 4-1.
“A couple of months ago I was in Q School wondering if I could really do this. Then I have a few wins and come to the first tournament feeling like a different player. I got a few wins and confidence behind me and now I’m playing on stages like that and beating the World Champion,” said world number 86 Davies.
“You find out a lot about yourself at Q School. Especially at my age, everyone needs time to get used to the tour. There are basically all your idols in one room and you walk in there. You have so much pressure to win and keep your tour card. Falling off and coming back on, that pressure has just gone.
“For me this is like a dream. You are waiting to wake up all the time. It is such a great feeling and doing my family and friends proud is really good.”
…
2024 World Champion Kyren Wilson scored his first ever win over four-time Crucible king Mark Selby, prevailing 4-3 to make the last eight.
Wilson came into the match having lost all eight of his previous meetings with fellow Englishman Selby. However, breaks of 84 and 52 helped him to victory this afternoon. It books a quarter-final against Ding Junhui, who beat Joe O’Connor 4-1.
Wilson said: “It just shows you how hard he is to beat. He’s been going from tournament to tournament and decider to decider, in brilliant form. Regardless of the head-to-head, it is a brilliant result against an in-form player.
“It feels like we’ve played so much snooker already this season. We have spent a long time away from home, but it is early doors. Any tournament is so hard nowadays, I’d love to go on and win but we are only in the quarter-finals.“
2019 World Champion Judd Trump battled to a narrow 4-3 win over Anthony McGill and now faces Shaun Murphy, who edged to a 4-3 defeat of Pang Junxu.
Essex cueman Ali Carter kept his hopes alive of a win on home turf with a 4-2 win over Gong Chenzhi. He now faces Zhou Yuelong, who beat Yuan Sijun 4-2.
You will find all the detailed results, and the schedule for today’s matches, on snooker.org … as always.
What I certainly saw yesterday is definite proof that the gap in quality/ability between the top players and the players further down the rankings has shrunk, significantly. This is why in the first sentence of this piece I used the word “surprise” rather than “shock”. There are very few results nowadays that I would see as “shocks”. And, yet, five of the eight players who remain in contention for the title are in the top 16 and we have two “mammoth” clashes to savour today: Ding Junhui v Kyren Wilson in the afternoon and Judd Trump v Shaun Murphy in the evening. I don’t expect too many lengthy safety battles in that last one! Other than young Liam Davies, the lowest ranked player in the field is Zhou Yuelong, ranked 22d , who faces Ali Carter ranked 21st. Young Liam, who is Welsh, will face another Welsh player, the legendary alleged “has-been” Mark Williams1.
Mark Selby dug typically deep to defeat former International Champion Zhang Anda 4-3 on the final black at the BetVictor English Open in Brentwood.
The Leicester cueman is in a rich vein of form, having claimed a fourth China Open title last month and lost the British Open final last weekend against Jak Jones. Four-time World Champion Selby admitted to being exhausted after that match, but is battling on to remain in contention here in Brentwood.
Zhang, having made a century run of 109 to force a decider, appeared to be in the box seat in the final frame. However, a fine clearance of 39 from Selby saw him snatch victory on the black.
“I feel like I’m playing some good stuff. I’m scoring when I get my chances and because I’m confident I’m happy to scrap it out. A few seasons ago, when I felt I was struggling, I got down on myself. When the games went scrappy I wasn’t out there fighting. Now because things are going good I have the fight in me,” said 43-year-old Selby.Â
“A lot of that goes back to when I spoke out and mentioned my mental health. At the time, I was struggling mentally. If you are struggling mentally it is hard to give it your all and still fight out there. At the moment I’m in a far better place. I’m still on medication and I’m still speaking to the doctor who helped me to turn it all around.”
Selby now faces the prospect of a last 16 meeting with Kyren Wilson, who prevailed 4-3 against recent Wuhan Open champion Chang Bingyu. Wilson’s victory was almost identical to Selby’s, also clinching the tie on the final black with a break of 39.
Wilson said: “Chang has had a fantastic season. If someone had said to me it would be 3-3 and I’d have a chance to win I’d have taken that.Â
“Mark has had a great season. He is playing very good snooker so I’m looking forward to it. My game has been hit or miss. I’m working hard. I’ve lost a bit of weight and I’m practising a lot on the table. I can’t do much more.“
World Champion Wu Yize came through 4-2 against Xu Si and now faces Liam Davies, who was a 4-1 victor against Wang Xinbo.
Judd Trump booked his progression thanks to a 4-1 defeat of Ashley Carty. He now plays Scotland’s Anthony McGill, who prevailed 4-1 against former European Masters winner Fan Zhengyi.
As usual the “late matches” aren’t covered and they didn’t yield any unexpected result either as Shaun Murphy whitewashed Jamie Clarke and Mark Williams beat Matthew Selt by 4-3 but, maybe , it’s worth mentioning that Shaun missed the 10th black in a 147 attempt during the first frame of his match yesterday.
I watched the Wilson v Chang match and it was very, very close indeed. The only “one sided” frame was the first: it was won by Kyren and featured the only big break of the match, an 83.
The other match I watched was Oliver Lines v Yuan Sijun. It’s not even mentioned in the above report which is a shame because it was a really good match, hard fought and high quality. Yuan won it by 4-3 and, between them, they had seven breaks over 50: 50, 113, 87 and 55 by Oliver, 140, 61 and 66 by Yuan. The 55 by Oliver came in the deciding frame, as did the “winning” 66 by Yuan.
The first match on the main table today1 will be Mark Selby v Kyren Wilson … “une finale avant la letter” as we would put it in French.
There were a few upsets in the first round of the 2026 Englisg Open, a round that concluded yesterday.
Notably, Zhao Xintong lost by 4-2 to Oliver Lines, Neil Robertson lost by 4-3 to 25 years old rookie on tour Luo Zetao, Ross Muir got the better of top 16 member Xiao Guodong and 18 years old rookie Wang Zinbo beat Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, ranked 17th, by 4-2.
2019 World Champion Judd Trump admitted that only a week ending with silverware can be deemed a successful one, after getting his BetVictor English Open campaign underway with a 4-0 win over Jordan Brown in Brentwood.
The Ace in the Pack has enjoyed a winning start to the season after lifting silverware at the Shanghai Masters. However, he recently lost his world number one spot to 2025 Crucible king Zhao Xintong.
31-time ranking event winner Trump was visibly frustrated after suffering a 6-3 loss to eventual winner Jak Jones in the semi-finals of last week’s British Open. However, breaks of 87 and 68 helped him ease to a bounce-back win this evening. Next up he faces Ashley Carty.
“Any time you can win as comfortably as that is good. You want to save as much energy as possible. This is a busy part of the season. We’ve been playing pretty much every week for the last month and a half. You want to conserve energy and breeze throughout the opening rounds,” said 37-year-old Trump.
“It is a difficult sport to play because nine times out of ten you are going to go home unhappy every week. There are a lot more lows than there are highs in snooker. It is difficult but I think I’ve got better at managing it. I feel a lot of the time I’m not at my best so it can be disappointing. This season I feel pretty good so it hurts that much more when you do lose.“
Weshman Mark Williams reaffirmed his desire to continue competing indefinitely after scoring a 4-3 win over Thailand’s Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon.
Fellow Class of 92 members Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins, who aren’t competing this week, have recently discussed their plans to step away from the sport in the coming years. However, Williams says he has no plans for hanging up his cue.
51-year-old Williams said: “The other two have said they are going to finish in a couple of years, I’m going to be carrying on for whatever it is. I’ll be playing as much as I can.
“I’ll be playing in the amateur game or anything. You don’t have to worry about me. The other two, my compadres, say they will retire in a couple of years and that is good news for the rest. I’m going to carry on, even when I go down the rankings.
“We aren’t the players we used to be. John is nowhere near as good as he was. Ronnie is a patch on what he used to be. They put a time limit on it and I’ve accepted I’m nowhere near as good as I was.“
Last week’s losing British Open finalist Mark Selby scored a narrow 4-3 win over Ricky Walden to seal his progression. Next up the Leicester cueman faces China’s Zhang Anda.
Jamie Clarke was a 4-3 winner over David Gilbert, while Barry Hawkins overcame Lyu Haotian 4-2.
Mark Williams stance may surprise some but there is a story behind it. When, in 2014, he lost in the World Championship qualifiers, he felt very low and wanted to retire. His wife, Joanne, told him firmly that this wasn’t an option, that there is only so much golf he can play and that she wasn’t having him “sitting around the house” all day, day after day. Mark listened to her and his resurgence as a top player was/is remarkable. He always gives Joanne credit for it as well.
O’Sullivan Withdraws From International Championship Qualifiers
Ronnie O’Sullivan has pulled out of this month’s International Championship for medical reasons.
O’Sullivan was due to play Louis Heathcote at the qualifying round in Leicester on Thursday September 17th. He has been replaced in the draw by Joshua Thomond.
The qualifying round runs from September 17-19, followed by the main event in Nanjing, China from October 31 to November 7.
