Mark Williams on flying at 50 and why he wants a Ronnie O’Sullivan return ASAP
Into a sixth decade and Mark Williams is still going strong (Picture: Getty Images)
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 has been dealing with dodgy eyes for some time now (Picture: Getty Images)
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.’
Williams claimed the Champion of Champions title this season (Picture: Taka Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport
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.
Ronnie O’Sullivan would be a huge loss for the World Championship (Picture: Getty Images)
‘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.
O’Sullivan and Williams have been battling it out for well over 30 years (Picture: Getty Images)
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.’
Mark Williams says 14-year-old wonderkid ‘up there with Ronnie O’Sullivan’ at same age
Michal Szubarczyk is firmly on the radar of snooker fans now (Picture: WPBSA
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.
Szubarczyk has announced himself as one of the sport’s brightest talents (Picture: WPBSA)
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.
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.’
Just a few thoughts about those two pieces…
Obviously Willo would want to see Ronnie at the Crucible, but is not optimistic about it. He wants Ronnie back on tour and he explains why. It’s simple: Ronnie is still snooker biggest asset when it comes to putting bums on seats and selling events. Personally, given how the season has gone, I have prepared myself mentally for a withdrawal.
Willo was extremely impressed by Michal, rightly so, but I agree with Alan Mc Manus about putting his tour card on hold. He’s still a child and he is must complete mandatory school education. Playing snooker professionally, as an expat, on top of it, would be, in my opinion, far too much for someone so young. It would be a terrible shame if his huge talent was destroyed and if he was left with mental and emotional scars just because of some people being in a hurry.
The draw for the qualifying rounds of the Halo World Championship has been made, with 128 players set to compete for 16 coveted spots at the Crucible….
The qualifiers for snooker’s biggest event run from April 7 to 16 at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield. Players enter at different stages depending on where they are seeded, as follows:
Round one pits players ranked 81 to 112 against those ranked 113 to 144.
In round two, those 32 winners will face players ranked 49 to 80.
In round three, those 32 winners will face players ranked 17 to 48.
In round four, those 32 winners play each other, with the 16 winners going through to the Crucible.
Round four is known as Judgement Day, with places at the Crucible at stake. As always, you’ll be able to watch our special production live and free on April 15 and 16, this time it will be on WST Play. The draw for the final stages will then take place on the morning of April 17, on BBC Radio 5 Live and the BBC Sport website.
New sensation Michał Szubarczyk, age just 14 from Poland, will make his debut in the event against Dean Young, and if he wins that match he’ll face fellow teenager Stan Moody in round two. World Women’s Champion Bai Yulu, who reached Judgement Day at the Victorian Plumbing UK Championship in November, will be up against Liam Highfield.
Former UK Champion Zhao Xintong will take on Ka Wai Cheung, while legend Jimmy White still start against Ukraine’s Anton Kazakov.
Star names in round three will include the likes of Ali Carter, Stuart Bingham, Jack Lisowski, Hossein Vafaei, Stephen Maguire, Gary Wilson, Chris Wakelin and David Gilbert.
Seedings 17-22 are yet to be confirmed, and are listed in the draw as seeding positions rather than names. Wu Yize can still climb into the top 16 if he reaches the final of next week’s Sportsbet.io Tour Championship. Once the seeding positions are confirmed, those names will be added to the draw.
Fans with an annual WST Play subscription will be able to attend the qualifiers for free, with one free ticket per day for each member. A unique link will be sent out to subscribers on April 1st for fans to redeem their tickets.
If you haven’t been able to secure a golden ticket for the final stages, this is a superb opportunity to be a part of snooker’s biggest event. Act quickly to secure your tickets, as demand is expected to be higher than ever!
Let’s have a look at each quarter …
Quarter 1
Seed 17 is currently Xiao Guodong.
In this section, my picks of the first round are two matches:
Artemijs Zizins v Dylan Emery … Dylan has more experience and is older than Artemijs who is only 18 but Artemijs has a good temperament and I like his game. This season so far, as an amateur he had more wins on Tour defeats and, notably, beat Mark Joyce, David Grace and Matt Selt.
Duane Jones v Florian Nüßle… Florian has already done the “main job”, he’s certain to be on tour next season. Duane Jones is in the first year of his current tour card, so he will not be under the biggest pressure, however he will be aware that during this season he has lost more matches than he has won. Therefore he will want do well in Sheffield. There are a lot of points to be gained if he wins a couple. If he doesn’t, he faces a though task next season.
Seed 20 is Neil Robertson and seed 21 is David Gilbert. There are a few intriguing first round matches in this section, notably Ben Mertens v Daniel Womersley, Sunny Akani v Kreishh Gurbaxani and Alex Ursenbacher v Paul Deaville, but I guess that all eyes will be on Zhao Xintong. The way he’s played on the Q-Tour I wouldn’t be surprised if he made it to the Crucible. All his potential opponents on his route to Judgement Days are Chinese. I expect the usual brigade on twitter to shout “max fixing” at some point because they always do when Chinese players compete against each other. Even if Zhao was actually approached, I very much doubt that he would be tempted. He was 1000% determined to regain his tour card at the Q-Tour, he secured it, he won’t be taking any risks or liberties.
Currently, seed 19 is Tom Ford and seed 22 is Jack Lisowski … We could have a “blitzkrieg” between Theppy and Jack on judgment days. That would be something!
Now regarding the first round, I will of course hope that Julien Leclercq progresses. Julien had a poor season TBH. I expect Jimmy to beat Anton Kazakov. Experience matters.
Also, I do not expect it, but I hope that Iulian Boiko can beat Andrew Pagett. Whoever wins that one will face Louis Heathcote and, should they win, Joe O’Connor. That’s a very, very hard section.
In this last section, seed 18 is Jak Jones. How last year’s runner-up finds himself in this situation – having to qualify – is beyond me. That said, Jak is really a long format player. Short matches don’t suit him at all and that’s what you get in first rounds more often than not, alas.
The two women on tour are in this section and on course to meet each other in round 2 should they win their first match … which I don’t expect TBH. Bai is the better of the two but faces Liam Highfield who just won the EBSA championship. Mink has done very little this season and is due to play a very hard and very experienced opponent in Ian Burns.
Young Michal Szubarczyk will face Dean Young in round 1, and, should he wins, he would play Stan Moody in round 2. That would be interesting. Can he win? We shall see. Lets just say this … unless I missed something, other than at the shoot-out, Dean young has never got past qualifiers round 2 in any main tour event since he turned pro four years ago. That said his style of play may not suit young Michal.
The Perfect Match: Halo Partners With Snooker’s World Championship
Halo, renowned for its cutting-edge technology and innovative solutions which are changing the way IT services are delivered globally, has become title partner of snooker’s World Championship for the first time.
The 2025 Halo World Championship will run from April 19th to May 5th at the iconic Crucible in Sheffield, as 32 of the best players on the planet battle for the famous trophy. One of the greatest events in sport, the 17-day tournament will be watched by 500 million viewers on BBC, TNT Sports, Eurosport, CCTV5, WST Play and many other platforms worldwide.
World Snooker Tour is thrilled to join forces with Halo as we share their ambition to build lasting partnerships founded on trust and mutual success.
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.
Halo is proud of its current partnerships in top tier global sport with the McLaren Formula 1 Team as well as Premier League football club Ipswich Town and is now set to collaborate with snooker’s greatest event for the first time.
With a history dating back to 1927, the World Championship has been staged at the Crucible since 1977. Kyren Wilson won the title for the first time last year, beating Jak Jones in the final, and will be defending the title next month against an array of all-time greats.
The qualifying rounds of the Halo World Championship run from April 7th to 16th, with 16 players going through to be drawn against the top 16 seeds at the Crucible.
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.’’
Ronnie is not in the poster and it’s totally understandable given the way the season has gone. Nobody knows if he will play or not… not even himself probably. 😟
Draw And Schedule Confirmed For Sportsbet.io Tour Championship
…
The opening afternoon sees Johnstone’s Paint Masters Champion Shaun Murphy kick off the event against one of the season’s most consistent performers, Barry Hawkins. The winner of that match will face off against world number one Judd Trump, who begins his campaign on Wednesday April 2nd at 1pm.
The top 12 on the Johnstone’s Paint One-Year Rankings have earned a place in Manchester. The top four seeds go straight into the quarter-finals, while the other eight players start a round earlier. The schedule is:
Monday 31st March 1pm Shaun Murphy v Barry Hawkins first session Xiao Guodong v Wu Yize first session
7pm Shaun Murphy v Barry Hawkins concluding session Mark Williams v Ding Junhui first session
Tuesday 1st April 1pm Mark Selby v Si Jiahui first session Xiao Guodong v Wu Yize concluding session
7pm Mark Selby v Si Jiahui concluding session Mark Williams v Ding Junhui concluding session
Wednesday 2nd April 1pm Judd Trump v Murphy or Hawkins first session John Higgins v Xiao or Wu first session
7pm Judd Trump v Murphy or Hawkins concluding session Neil Robertson v Selby or Si first session
Thursday 3rd April 1pm John Higgins v Xiao or Wu concluding session Kyren Wilson v Williams or Ding first session
7pm Neil Robertson v Selby or Si concluding session Kyren Wilson v Williams or Ding concluding session
Friday 4th April 1pm Semi-final first session
7pm Semi-final concluding session
Saturday 5th April 1pm Semi-final first session
7pm Semi-final concluding session
Sunday 6th April 1pm Final first session
7pm Final concluding session
You will also find the draw and everything you need on snooker.org
There is only one player in the field who, as it currently stands, will need to qualify for the Crucible: Wu Yize. Wu needs to reach the semi-finals to climb ahead of Jak Jones currently seeded 16th. It’s quite baffling that being runner-up last year may not be enough to guarantee Jak Jones automatic qualification but that’s how it is.
One Ronnie O’Sullivan record labelled ‘ridiculous and obscene’ by snooker rival
Phil HaighPublished March 24, 2025
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.’
That possibility is very real and it would be a shame if Ronnie isn’t there but, as Shaun said, we don’t know what’s going on in his live.
Me, I just want him to be well and happy. He has nothing to prove, he has given a lot to his sport, more than any other player, even at times when he was struggling badly. His Netflix documentary was hard to watch at times, heartbreaking even. What will be, will be. We can only hope for the best, for him in the first place and for the fans too. We have to accept that nothing and no one goes on forever. There are plenty of great players in snooker currently and the global level has probably never been better. The show WILL go on.
Kyren Wilson beat Judd Trump by 10-9 yesterday evening, to become the 2025 Players Championship Champion. It’s the third time this season that Kyren, the reigning World Champion, beats Judd, the World Number One, in a ranking final. Some feat!
Congratulations Kyren Wilson!
It was a really good match. It was tense, of course, very tense even at times, and there were mistakes which is to be expected when the stakes are that high, but there was also a lot of good stuff and it was played in great spirit.
Also the players struggled with the cue ball. My hearing is not great and I didn’t manage to understand what the issue was exactly, but, on multiple occasions the players looked really baffled at the outcome of their shots. Both players agreed that there was an issue and the ball was replaced.
World Champion Kyren Wilson prevailed in an epic latest edition of his rivalry with world number one Judd Trump, edging the Sportsbet.io Players Championship final 10-9 in Telford.
Wilson now has ten ranking titles to his name, matching the career tally of snooker legend Jimmy White. They are joint 12th in the all-time standings, one title behind Mark Allen and one ahead of John Parrott and Peter Ebdon.
It’s the 33-year-old’s fourth win of the season, having also lifted trophies at the Xi’an Grand Prix, BetVictor Northern Ireland Open and the Machineseeker German Masters. Wilson becomes only the seventh player to reach that tally in a single campaign.
The head-to-head standings between Trump and Wilson are now locked level at 13-13. Wilson has had the edge in recent times, with his final wins in Xi’an, Belfast and now Telford this evening all coming against Trump.
The Warrior walks away with the £150,000 top prize. It’s the first time he’s ever won the Players Championship, an event he failed to qualify for last year. However, Wilson remains a comfortable distance behind Trump in second place in both the Johnstone’s Paint One Year List and the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings.
Defeat for Trump means he will remain on 30 career ranking titles. The Ace in the Pack will also have to wait another year to get his hands on the Players Championship trophy for a third time, having lifted it in 2017 and 2020.
The pair were locked level at 4-4 coming into this evening’s climax and they continued to go blow for blow tonight.
The first two frames of the session were shared, before Wilson countered to come from behind in each of the next three with breaks of 72, 74 and 70 to move 8-5 ahead.
Trump took back-to-back frames to crank up the tension, before a dramatic 16th, which came down to the last two balls. Wilson eventually fired in a tricky pink to the right middle and deposited a more straightforward black to lead 9-7.
Trump refused to back down and breaks of 78 and 103 set up a nerve shredding deciding frame at 9-9.
After both players had failed to cash in on their first opportunities, Trump took on a daring long range red, but missed it and left Wilson his chance. He pounced and grasped victory with a match winning 36, clenching his fist and roaring to the capacity crowd after getting over the line.
“It is hard to keep control of your emotions in deciding frames like that. You feel like you are going to be sick. You just have to rely on your technique. All the hours of practising put you in good stead. If you can get the things you’ve worked on mentally right, the decider is the time to do it. I’m so pleased to get over the line.”
Kyren Wilson
2025 Sportsbet.io Players Champion
Wilson added: “I know what a competitor Judd Trump is. He will go away and be hungry to put it right next time we play. That is what spurs me on to keep practising and performing at the highest level. It is a really healthy rivalry for not just me and Judd, but snooker as a whole.
“It’s a huge tournament to win and any final you can beat Judd Trump in is always a feather in the cap. I didn’t even qualify for these events last year. I had quite a poor season leading up to the World Championship. It has been a conscious effort to make the most of it and I did that today by winning the trophy.”
Trump said: “We weren’t able to play our best, but there was some drama in the decider. Well done to Kyren and his family. I want to thank everyone for coming out to support us. It has been a great event.”
It was quite the day, yesterday on the green baize … so many things happened!
2025 EBSA Championships in Antalya
The 2025 EBSA Championships in Antalya came to a conclusion yesterday. Liam Highfield won the main event. Two of those events were “carrying” a professional tour car for the winner: the under-21 event, won by Iulian Boiko last week and the main event won by Liam Highfield yesterday. The story of the championships though was very much Michal Szubarczyk, an extraordinary young talent.
Michal is only 14, he was born on 12 January 2011. At the tender age of 12 he won the Polish snooker championship. Earlier this month he won both the under-16 and the under-18 EBSA championships. Yesterday he played Liam Highfield in the final of the “main” EBSA event. He didn’t play well in that match, he was beaten by 5-0. Maybe the occasion got at him, maybe he was tired … after all he had played in all four EBSA events. He won the first two, made it to the final in the main event, played 26 matches over the last two weeks and won 24 of them. No mean feat, especially at just 14 years of age! The good news for Michal though is that, because Liam had already secured his tour card for the next two seasons via the Q-Tour, the losing finalist, Michal is now offered that card. The news was shared by WBSA before the final:
Szubarczyk, 14, To Be Nominated For Tour Card
Fourteen-year-old Michał Szubarczyk will be nominated for a two-year World Snooker Tour (WST) tour card after reaching the final of the 2025 EBSA European Championships in Antalya, Türkiye.
Should he accept the nomination, then Poland’s Szubarczyk will make history by becoming the youngest ever professional snooker player.
Organised by the European Billiards & Snooker Association, the 2025 European Championships in Antalya feature Under-16, Under-18, Under-21 and Main tournaments with the winners of the Under-21 and Main events each earning two-year tour cards.
Having already won both the Under-16 and Under-18 events in impressive fashion, Szubarczyk has reached a third final of the Championships by dropping just two frames in knockout stage victories over Maksim Kostov, Daan Leyssen, Chris Peplow and Nicolas Mortreux before stunning former professional Harvey Chandler 4-3 in the semi-finals.
He will face England’s Liam Highfield in the title match later today (22 March) after he overcame Dylan Emery in a deciding frame.
The 34-year-old has continued his fine form in Antalya which earlier saw him secure a two-year WST tour card via the WPBSA Q Tour Global Play-Offs. Therefore, Szubarczyk has now guaranteed himself a nomination to the professional ranks as a result of reaching the European Championship final.
Congratulations to Liam and Michal!
Today, the 2025 Players Championship Final will be played in Telford. The World Number One, Judd Trump, will face the reigning World Champion, Kyren Wilson over a possible 19 frames. It can’t get better than this, can it? Those two have been the star competitors this season.
Yesterday Judd Trump beat John Higgins by 6-4 to book his place in the final (report shared by WST).
Trump Beats Higgins To Make Telford Final
Judd Trump extended his ranking event win streak over John Higgins to 12 consecutive matches, prevailing 6-4 in the semi-finals of the Sportsbet.io Players Championship in Telford.
Trump’s winning run over Higgins includes the 2019 World Championship final and extends back to a quarter-final meeting at the 2018 China Championship. The Englishman now leads their head-to-head standings 19-14.
Victory this evening for the Ace in the Pack sets up a mouth-watering meeting with World Champion and world number two Kyren Wilson in tomorrow’s final. They will be battling it out over the best of 19 frames for a top prize of £150,000.
The pair have been the two standout performers of the season. They’ve already met in two finals, with Wilson emerging victorious at the Xi’an Grand Prix and the BetVictor Northern Ireland Open. However, the overall head-to-head is 13-12 to Trump.
Trump has enjoyed a tremendous campaign, having already racked up £1,375,600 in prize money. The 30-time ranking event winner has picked up titles at the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters and the UK Championship, as well as the invitational Shanghai Masters.
Trump set the tone in the opening frame of the evening with a superb 130 to move 1-0 up. Further runs of 126 and 88 helped him to claim three of the next five frames to go 4-2 up.
At that point Higgins stepped up with two on the bounce to restore parity at 4-4. The Scot made the first significant move in the ninth, but crucially missed a red to the top left on 41. Trump hammered home a crucial break of 61 to punish and go 5-4 ahead.
The last frame of the evening was won with contributions of 53 and 23, which put Trump in the final.
“I had four or five years where he (Kyren Wilson) didn’t beat me before this season. I can see the confidence when he walks around the table. His body language has been different since winning the World Championship,” said 35-year-old Trump.
“For me it is difficult because I’m playing at my level, I’m not full of confidence. If I win the World Championship or something like that I would take the game to that kind of level. He’s in a purple patch, but it’s not going to last forever. It makes for an exciting rivalry for snooker.
“I feel that at the start of my career it was the other way around (against John Higgins). He was making incredible clearances to beat me. It is nice to turn it around. I’m obviously confident to beat him. It is probably in the back of his head that he hasn’t beaten me for a while, but I still have to go out there and do it. I need to play near my best every time.”
And last but not least … WST has published the list of players who have entered the World Championship.
2025 World Championship Entrants Confirmed
The World Championship entry deadline has now passed and WST is delighted to now announce the full list of entrants for the sport’s showcase event.
The final stages take place at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield from April 19th to May 5th, where the top 16 in the world rankings are pitted against 16 players that have come through a nerve shredding qualifying process.
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The qualifiers will be staged from April 7th to 16th, at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield. The competitors will be battling it out for places at the Theatre of Dreams, as well as vital ranking points in the quest for tour survival.
The full list of players is below. Please note that the players are not necessarily in order, with the seeding cut off set for the conclusion of the Sportsbet.io Tour Championship.
WST Tour Player Entrants
Kyren Wilson
Judd Trump
Mark Selby
Ronnie O’Sullivan
Mark Williams
Luca Brecel
John Higgins
Mark Allen
Ding Junhui
Shaun Murphy
Neil Robertson
Zhang Anda
Barry Hawkins
Si Jiahui
Ali Carter
Xiao Guodong
Gary Wilson
Jak Jones
Tom Ford
Stuart Bingham
Chris Wakelin
Wu Yize
David Gilbert
Hossein Vafaei
Jack Lisowski
Pang Junxu
Stephen Maguire
Elliot Slessor
Noppon Saengkham
Ryan Day
Joe O’Connor
Zhou Yuelong
Jackson Page
Jimmy Robertson
Yuan Sijun
Matthew Selt
Lyu Haotian
Robert Milkins
Xu Si
Ricky Walden
Lei Peifan
Anthony McGill
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Ben Woollaston
Scott Donaldson
Fan Zhengyi
Martin O’Donnell
Robbie Williams
Dominic Dale
Daniel Wells
Mark Davis
He Guoqiang
Matthew Stevens
Jordan Brown
Aaron Hill
Graeme Dott
Liu Hongyu
Jamie Jones
David Lilley
Long Zehuang
Sanderson Lam
Jamie Clarke
Anthony Hamilton
David Grace
Joe Perry
Ishpreet Singh Chadha
Stan Moody
Louis Heathcote
Tian Pengfei
Marco Fu
Ashley Carty
Zak Surety
Ma Hailong
Stuart Carrington
Jiang Jun
Ross Muir
Xing Zihao
Michael Holt
Alfie Burden
Rory Thor
Hammad Miah
Ian Burns
Oliver Lines
Alexander Ursenbacher
Liam Graham
Andrew Higginson
Gong Chenzhi
Duane Jones
Antoni Kowalski
Liam Pullen
Jimmy White
Ben Mertens
Sunny Akani
Andrew Pagett
Dean Young
Amir Sarkhosh
Artemijs Zizins
Bulcsu Revesz
Allan Taylor
Liam Davies
Ka Wai Cheung
Julien Leclercq
Haydon Pinhey
Chris Totten
Wang Yuchen
Haris Tahir
Mostafa Dorgham
Robbie McGuigan
Farakh Ajaib
Manasawin Phetmalaikul
Bai Yulu
Huang Jiahao
Mitchell Mann
Reanne Evans
Mink Nutcharut
Kreishh Gurbaxani
Jonas Luz
Ken Doherty
Mohamed Shehab
Hatem Yassen
Ahmed Elsayed
Baipat Siripaporn
WPBSA Nominations
Gao Yang – WSF Champion
Leone Crowley – WSF Junior Champion
Zhao Xintong – Q Tour Europe Winner
Steven Hallworth – Q Tour Playoff 1 Winner
Liam Highfield – Q Tour Playoff 2 Winner
Florian Nuessle – Q Tour Playoff 3 Winner
Brian Cini – WSF Runner-Up
Kaylan Patel – WS Junior Runner-Up
Fergal Quinn – WSF Semi-Finalist
Mateuz Baranowski – WSF Semi-Finalist
Zhou Jinhao – WSF Junior Semi-Finalist
Amaan Iqbal – WSF Junior Semi-Finalist
Michal Szubarcyzk – EBSA U18 Winner
Iulian Boiko – EBSA U21 Champion
Dylan Emery – Q Tour Europe Ranking
Ryan Thomerson – Q Tour Europe Ranking
Q School Top Ups
Simon Blackwell
Joshua Thomond
Paul Deaville
Daniel Womersley
Anton Kazakov
Joshua Cooper
The seeding still could change with the 2025 Tour Championship coming next, and last before the World Championship itself.
Ronnie has entered the event. Will he play? Time will tell. Some posts by Jason Francis and Phil Seymour on social media suggest he will, but then, Ronnie himself had said he would play at the Players Championship in Hong Kong and he withdrew last minute. Now, this is the World championship, he won’t need to travel abroad which of course can be tiring.
We can only wait and hope … IF he does play, how will he perform? Again, it’s impossible to predict. In 2013 he had sat the whole season out, except for a single match he had lost in a PTC, and he won the title. But that was 12 years ago … he was 37 back then, not much older than Judd currently is. Now he is 49. His eyesight is likely not as sharp as it was, and fatigue could be a factor as well. Anyway, there is nothing we can do about … just, as already mentioned, wait and hope.
The action continued in Telford yesterday … and, as far as I’m concerned, life continued to get in the way of snooker1 , so, again, I saw next to nothing of the action at the tables.
John Higgins stormed back from 5-2 down to beat Xiao Guodong 6-5 and make the semi-finals of the Sportsbet.io Players Championship in Telford.
The Wizard of Wishaw captured a first ranking title in four years at the recent World Open in Yushan. He’s since admitted that it has provided newfound confidence after suffering a string of heartbreaking losses.
Higgins now has 32 ranking titles to his name, but his four-year drought extended back to the 2021 Players Championship. The intervening period saw him lose his next five ranking finals.
Next up Higgins, who also won 6-5 in his opening round tie with Chris Wakelin, faces a blockbuster semi-final showdown with world number one Judd Trump. The Scot will be aiming to end a streak 11 consecutive ranking event defeats at the hands of the Englishman.
Xiao dominated the early exchanges this afternoon. He fired in runs of 111, 55, 60 and 104 on his way to storming into a 5-2 lead and moving one from victory.
At that point Higgins dug deep and things began to unravel for Xiao. The Chinese cueman sportingly called a foul on himself after missing a ball with difficult bridging in the eighth and Higgins stepped in with 70 to close within two frames.
Xiao had another opportunity in the ninth, but missed a tricky red to left middle after an unfortunate pack split. Higgins took the frame to make it 5-4.
Both players spurned opportunities in the next, the worst of which was an easy blue to the middle by Xiao. Glasgow’s Higgins forced the final frame, which he controlled to get over the line for a comeback victory.
“I’m very relieved. I’ve been on the wrong end of matches like that, where I’ve been dominant. To come out on the right side is brilliant,” said 49-year-old Higgins.
“I thoroughly enjoyed the game. He was outplaying me, but it was great. There was a packed crowd. I was hoping to make him win the game. Luckily , he missed a couple of pressure balls and let me back into it.
“That is what I’ll miss when I retire from the game. That pressure moment at 5-5 when you have a chance to win the match. You can’t replicate that at any time. It only happens at snooker, in crunch matches. That is one thing I definitely will miss.
“I can’t wait to play Judd. I’m sure the arena will be packed. I’ll be second favourite, maybe a big second favourite. I think I’ll go into it relaxed, knowing that I’ve got to play well to have a chance. Even then it doesn’t guarantee winning. I can’t wait to go out there and give it my all.”
I didn’t see the match but that moment when Xiao called a foul on himself was shared on social media. This is the kind of things the sport we love can be proud about: players perfect honesty. Xiao was playing over a cluster of balls, elevating the cue . Nobody saw the foul, but he felt it and immediately called it. Going by the comments on social media, after that incident Xiao’s game started to disintegrate. Your mind can play tricks on you like that sometimes. A seemingly rather minor thing can damage your confidence or break your concentration.
World Champion Kyren Wilson mounted a superb comeback to rally from 4-1 down and beat Neil Robertson 6-5 to make the Sportsbet.io Players Championship final in Telford.
The Warrior will now appear in his fourth title match of the campaign and the 18th ranking final of his career. He’s already captured silverware this season at the Xi’an Grand Prix, BetVictor Northern Ireland Open and the Machineseeker German Masters.
It’s been an incredible first season as World Champion for Wilson. The Kettering cueman has already amassed £541,800 in ranking events, which has seen him assume second position on the Johnstone’s Paint One-year List behind Judd Trump. He will now face either Trump or John Higgins in Sunday’s final, where he will be aiming to win his tenth ranking crown.
Robertson’s hopes of becoming the first ever player to win all three Players Series events in a single season come to an end. However, his performances in the first two tournaments have seen him secure qualification for the World Championship.
As a result of winning the World Grand Prix in Hong Kong and making the semis this week in Telford, the Australian will rise to ninth in the world rankings.
Robertson got off to a flying start this evening, crafting breaks of 100, 83 and 73 on his way to establishing a 4-1 advantage. Wilson replied with runs of 116 and 57, as he claimed three on the bounce to restore parity at 4-4.
Frame nine brought huge drama. Trailing by 43, Wilson fired in a brilliant clearance of 43 to force a respotted black. However, his safety attempt on the extra ball sent the white into the right middle to hand the frame to Robertson.
World number two Wilson refused to back down and a brilliant break of 89 took the match all the way, setting up a final frame decider. Robertson then left a red to the middle from his break off, Wilson deposited it and made a brilliant total clearance of 134 to emerge a 6-5 victor.
“It is great to make a final of one of these tournaments. The field this week has been so strong. Of the eight quarter-finalists, seven were World Champions. That just shows the standard. I’m so proud that I’ve managed to get to the final,” said 33-year-old Wilson.
“I feel like I dominated most of the matches with Mark Allen and Mark Williams in the first two rounds. They are both great players. I just got off to a slow start against Neil and allowed him to get into his stride.
“When he is hitting the ball the way he can do it is a daunting prospect. At 4-1 down I’m proud of the way I came back. Despite losing that sickener of a frame to go 5-4 down, I’ve come back again and had two one visit frames. It is very pleasing.”
I’ll write it again … Kyren Wilson is indeed carrying himself outstandingly well as a first time World Champion. He should be proud and I do believe that he could well break the Crucible curse come May. It’s a very hard thing to do, of course, and Kyren could even lose on the opening day … but I never felt this way about previous first time World Champions since I’m following the sport.
EBSA 2024 Championship
The Championship is now at the semi-finals stage. Three of the remaining players are British and all three are former professionals. They are Liam Highfield, Dylan Emery and Harvey Chandler. The latter will face Michał Szubarczyk in the semi-finals. Michal is polish, and only 14 years old.
Earlier this month, Michal has won both the under-16, and under-18 EBSA events. What if he was to win the “main” event, the one currently under way and the one that carries a Tour Card for the winner? It would be remarkable, extraordinary even. It would also create a situation that WST will need to handle very carefully. Is it reasonable and safe to give a 14 years old a tour card. Shaun Murphy would probably say yes. Himself wasn’t 16 yet when he turned pro and uses to say “if you are good enough, you are old enough”. I disagree, STRONGLY.
Shaun forgets that
he was nearly 16, not 14.
at the time, there weren’t that many tournaments outside the UK, hence there weren’t, for him, that many “travels” to manage, with the administrative burden that comes with it (visas, flights, hotels and travels organisation to name a few).
he wasn’t going to live in a foreign country away from his family and friends, nor did he need to learn and master a foreign language. Michal is Polish… he would have to deal with all that stuff.
and Shaun’s father was a member of the board…
Michal is too young to have to cope with life on tour without his family close support. The pressure of the main tour combined with relative isolation from family and friends could impact him very badly. Many adult players couldn’t cope. Michal is still a child, he’s still developing. That card, if he earns it, should be put on hold for at least a year, maybe two. If he earns it, he should get it … but not right now.
Although hopefully the administrative, financial and juridic imbroglio I’m caught in, by no fault of myself, will end soon and well – fingers crossed – I tell you … Kafka is still alive and kicking hard somewhere here in Greece! ↩︎
Ronnie O'Sullivan 