Mark Williams scored one of his best ever Crucible victories with a 13-12 defeat of John Higgins in the quarter-finals of the Halo World Championship, winning a dramatic deciding frame on the last black.
A bona fide Crucible classic came down to the last few balls and Higgins – who had recovered from 12-8 to 12-12 – rattled a difficult final blue in the jaws of a baulk corner leading 69-56. Williams clipped the blue into the same pocket, the shot of the tournament so far, and rolled in the pink and black to snatch it. Having given both players a standing ovation at the start of the match and another rousing cheer before the deciding frame, fans in the packed arena rose again to applaud these two warriors of the baize at the end of a wonderful contest.
It’s only the second time Higgins has lost a deciding frame at the Crucible, having won nine of his previous ten. The four-time champion looked to have the momentum with his late burst, but lost out by the smallest of margins. Instead it’s Williams, who won his third crown in 2018 by beating Higgins 18-16 in the final, who goes through to the one table situation for the eighth time. He will meet either Judd Trump – who beat him 17-16 at the same stage in 2022 – or Luca Brecel over a possible 33 frames, with the first session on Thursday night.
Having suffered from problems with his eyesight in recent months, Williams came to Sheffield with low expectations, but class is permanent and he has potted the key balls at the big moments in his trio of wins, beating Wu Yize 10-8, Hossein Vafaei 13-10 and now Higgins. Having turned 50 last month, he is the oldest semi-finals since his boyhood hero Ray Reardon reached the same stage in 1985 at the age of 52. Two more wins would make Williams the oldest ever World Champion.
Higgins, who led 5-1 early in the tie before being hauled back to 8-8 on Tuesday night, had first chance in the opening frame today but missed a red to a top corner on 40 and Williams capitalised with 73 to go 9-8 ahead. In frame 18, Higgins trailed 46-21 when he undercut a tricky black to corner and again that proved costly as his opponent doubled his lead. Another miss from Higgins, on the blue to a centre pocket when he trailed 53-36 with one red left, let Williams in to stretch his advantage to 11-8. And a break of 52 in frame 20 from the Cwm cueman put him four ahead.
After the interval, the tide turned as Higgins dominated the 21st then rifled breaks of 94, 112 and 67 to level at 12-12. Both players had chances in the 35 minute decider and it looked to be going Higgins’ way when he potted the last red then black, yellow, green and a difficult brown, but the blue stayed out and he has now to lost to Williams in five of their six Crucible meetings.
“It has to be up there with my best Crucible wins,” said world number six Williams, whose other highlights of a fine season include winning the Champion of Champions and reaching the final of the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters. “I didn’t do much wrong from 12-8 to 12-12, John was coming back like a train. The last frame was edgy and we both missed a couple. The blue I potted was unbelievable, harder than it probably looked on TV. I went for it full-blooded and finished perfect on pink.
“What a game and what an atmosphere. The crowd and the standing ovation helped me through it. John and I are getting on a bit and we have given a lot back to the sport, and been decent ambassadors to try to grow it. Hopefully the crowd appreciate that and they know we might not play each other many more times. The support for both of us was incredible. The applause before the final frame went on so long as I had to wait an extra ten seconds to break off. That has only happened once before – at the Masters when I played John (in 2022). In one frame when John was at the table I was just looking around and thinking ‘what an arena’. Luckily enough I ended up winning, but even if I had lost I would have enjoyed it anyway. I am not sure how I am still doing it at my age, but here I am.”
Higgins said: “I had my chance. I had the blue. If I had potted the brown and rolled through for the blue, maybe it would have been unmissable. But under that much pressure, you play it with an element of safety. So I left a harder blue and missed. It was difficult. At that point I was struggling to see the pockets. Every credit to Mark because he potted a great blue. I had a golden chance earlier in the frame and only made 30, then I played a bad safety and let Mark back into it.
“The atmosphere was incredible. It’s the best place in the world to play snooker. I am devastated right now, but that atmosphere was why we play this game. From 12-8 to 12-12 was the best I have played in the event. But it wasn’t meant to be. It has been my best season for a few years with two big titles.”
Zhao Xintong stepped up his bid to become the first Asian player and first amateur to conquer the Crucible as he swept aside Chris Wakelin 13-5 to reach the semi-finals of the Halo World Championship.
Wakelin had enjoyed a fine run, coming through the qualifying rounds then knocking out Neil Robertson and Mark Allen, but he was no match for 28-year-old Zhao who led 12-4 after two sessions and wrapped it up early in the third to set up a semi-final with Ronnie O’Sullivan or Si Jiahui. He will be only the third player from mainland China to play in the famed one table situation at snooker’s most famous venue, after Ding Junhui and Si Jiahui. So far, Ding has come closest to becoming the first Asian champion, finishing runner-up to Mark Selby in 2016, and Zhao can now dream of going one better.
He came through four qualifying matches just to earn a Crucible spot and has since knocked out Jak Jones, Lei Peifan and Wakelin. Already enjoying the deepest ever run by an amateur in this event, he is looking to join Terry Griffiths and Shaun Murphy as the only qualifiers to lift the trophy. The gifted left-hander, winner of the UK Championship in 2021 and German Masters in 2022, will now play a best of 33 frame match for the first time in his career, starting on Thursday at 1pm.
Today’s result also means that, with a guarantee of £100,000, Zhao has earned enough prize money to climb into the top 64 of the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings so he will keep those points heading into next season.
Breaks of 69, 92, 56, 68 and 58 helped Sheffield-based Zhao take a 12-4 lead on Tuesday, crucially pulling away from 6-4 to win six frames in a row. Wakelin pulled one back today but Zhao ended his hopes in frame 18 with breaks of 49 and 28.
“I’m definitely happy to win, but to be honest, neither of us played particularly well,” said Zhao. “There were quite a few mistakes, and we both gave each other a lot of chances. I know I’m capable of playing better than that. Maybe it’s because I’ve been playing continuously for over 20 days now, this long format takes a toll on your concentration.
“Physically I still feel okay, but mentally I wasn’t as sharp as I was earlier in the tournament. That’s something I’ll learn from. It’s shown me how I should prepare and how to cope with this type of match in the future. Even though the scoreline looks big, we both struggled out there.
“This tournament is really different from regular ones. It’s more like a battle of mental strength. In other events, you might finish a match in a single session. But here, even if you win one session, or even two, it doesn’t mean you’ve won the match. You need to win the third session too. It’s mentally exhausting. To be ready for this kind of match, you have to prepare well in advance, in your daily life, your routines, in every way really.
“I didn’t set any high expectations for myself coming into this. Now I’ve come this far, I do think there’s a chance I can go even further. I feel like there’s even more potential in me, and I hope I can perform even better from now on.
“When I was a kid, watching snooker on TV and seeing the semis and final here, it was such a powerful image. And now that I’m standing there myself, I feel really happy. Of course, I still hope I can go one step further and win the semi-final, maybe even challenge for the title.
“If it’s Si Jiahui, it’ll be great for Chinese snooker because one of us is guaranteed a place in the final. I think we’d play a very entertaining, attacking match. If it’s Ronnie O’Sullivan, that would be special as well. He’s been my idol since I was young, and playing against him in a World Championship semi-final would be an honour. I’d be excited either way.“
Wakelin said: “It was a big occasion and it didn’t go to plan. I played a big final in China and didn’t feel nervous, but I did feel nerves in this one. The quarter-finals at the Crucible is a big game for anyone. I tried to be too aggressive and my long game went to pieces. I have no regrets, I worked really hard. I have an amazing team and they allow me to be the best version of myself, on and off the table. It has been an incredible season for me and hopefully I can build on that.”
I’m happy for Chris Wakelin being able to take the positives and feeling happy in his private life. There were times when he was utterly miserable and didn’t look healthy either. He worked hard to improve himself, and his game and he deserves everything he gets. I’m wishing him a peaceful and relaxing summer break.
As for Zhao, some people still hate him for what happened. He didn’t fix matches, he bet on snooker and didn’t grass on his mates. Regarding the latter, my own stance is that WST shouldn’t expect it from the players that they report their friends. They have enough means to monitor matches, without putting players in “impossible” situations. Anyway, he served his time, worked hard to re-qualify for the tour and played sensational stuff at times in this event en route to the one table setup. He’s there on merit.
Despite losing six consecutive frames in the middle of the match, Judd Trump earned a 13-8 victory over Luca Brecel to reach the semi-finals of the Halo World Championship, setting a new all-time record in the process.
Trump looked in trouble earlier today when he fell 7-5 behind, having led 5-1, but showed grit and maturity to ride that storm and went on to take eight of the last nine frames for what eventually proved a comfortable victory. No one has played better over the past 12 days and the 35-year-old is clearly confident of his chances of a second Crucible crown, having lifted the trophy in 2019. In his three matches he has made 11 centuries, taking his overall tally for the season to 104, surpassing Neil Robertson’s record of 103 which had stood for 11 years.
World number one Trump will appear in the one-table set up in Sheffield for the sixth time and will be aiming for a fourth final. His next opponent is Mark Williams, a familiar foe as Trump beat the veteran Welshman 17-16 when they played at the same stage in 2022, and also 10-9 with a sensational clearance in the deciding frame when they met in the final of the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters earlier this season. A possible 33 frame contest between the two left-handers gets underway on Thursday at 7pm.
For a while this afternoon, Brecel played a style of snooker reminiscent of his triumph here two years ago. But this time he was unable to sustain it and defeat means the 30-year-old Belgian plummets from seventh to 38th in the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings. Brecel has shown signs of a return to form in the tail end of this season and will need to continue that momentum next term to climb back where he belongs.
Tied 8-8 going into tonight’s final session, Trump was fast out of the blocks with breaks of 115 and 116, setting that new centuries record. He went on to dominate the next two frames to lead 12-8 at the interval. Frame 21 came down to the colours and Trump got the better of a battle on the brown before potting brown, blue and pink to reach his 69th ranking event semi-final.
“I played well for most of the match,” he said. “Luca was unstoppable for a period of six frames. I had to really dig in and get out of the second session at 8-8, that’s where I won the match. I didn’t get frustrated, I kept my head and waited to turn things around. I feel very good about my game, I feel confident. I have played good snooker in every session so far. I have really enjoyed it this year, in the past I have been a bit nervous but this time I have enjoyed the walk-ons, and taken time to have a look around and soak it in.
“It’s always a very high standard when I play Mark. I actually think he has five or ten years still to come if he works hard, the same with Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins. They are all legends and it must be a nice feeling for them to still be having great matches here.”
Brecel, in awe of his opponent, said: “Judd’s incredible. He’s so difficult to play against. Anyone in the draw I would have fancied beating but he’s just a different level. His all round game – you have many players who can score unbelievably, but he backs it up with great safety and great long-potting. That’s incredibly difficult and that’s the reason he’s number one. I think he’s been the best player for maybe the last five years, so it’s no surprise. He’s probably the best number one that’s ever been. He’s still young, he can still win so many more. For me he’s probably the best ever.“
Luca can be and often is infuriating to watch. He’s blessed with extraordinary talent but too often doesn’t do it justice. He may well be the most talented player on tour bar none. But he can be lazy and he can go missing for months on a row because of it. That’s the way he is, always was. There is nothing we fans can do about it. We just have to accept it. But me, being from mainland Europe, I can’t help to think that he could have done so much more to “force” WST to invest more seriously in the region.
Ronnie O’Sullivan moved a step closer to a career-defining eighth Crucible crown by beating Si Jiahui 13-9 to reach the semi-finals of the Halo World Championship, where he will face an opponent he describes as a “fantastic talent.”
Si briefly threatened a fight-back in the closing stages but could never get closer than two frames behind, and O’Sullivan eventually pulled away to clinch the result and reach the last four at the Crucible for a record-extending 14th time. He has played well so far only in patches and may face a tougher test next against Zhao Xintong, who has reached this stage for the first time. They will compete over a possible 33 frames, starting on Thursday at 1pm.
“I got lucky again. I have tried to give it my best and I am just hanging in there,” insisted 49-year-old O’Sullivan, who is level with Stephen Hendry on seven world titles. “I have relied on other people to win and that doesn’t feel good for me. I always feel better when I force the opening and put the pressure on my opponents. You feel a lot better when you’ve won the match rather than they’ve lost it. Look at Judd Trump, Mark Williams and Zhao, I won’t be able to get away with this standard.
“Zhao is an amazing, brilliant player, a fantastic talent who will only get better. But it takes more than talent to win this, you need steeliness. You are going to come up against someone really tough in the semis and final. You have got to stand up to the best players, so whether he can do that remains to be seen.”
Trailing 10-6 going into the concluding session, China’s Si took the first two frames tonight to halve his deficit. And he had first chance in frame 19 but ran out of position on 28 and O’Sullivan punished him by slotting in a long red to set up a break of 82.
Si’s run of 58 helped him narrow the gap to 11-9 at the interval, and he had opportunities in frame 21, missing a red along the top cushion when he led 54-9. O’Sullivan later drilled the penultimate red along a side cushion into a a top corner, his best shot of the match, to set up a 36 clearance. In the 22nd, Si was on 43 when he missed the brown to a baulk corner, and O’Sullivan wrapped up the tie with a cool 74.
Making a record 33rd consecutive appearance at the Crucible, world number five O’Sullivan is into the 94th ranking event semi-final of his career, and is chasing a 42nd ranking title and first since the World Grand Prix 15 months ago.
He added: “Si cued better towards the end of the second session and looked dangerous. He potted some good balls but he was a bit unlucky a couple of times and showed a bit of inexperience. Maybe in two years he would have won those frames, but I was able to steal them.
“I have struggled for the last four years and enjoyed the game less, that’s why I took a break. Now I am trying to play through it see where takes me. I am just grinding it out. I have had some work done on my cue today and I am probably going to have to try and get a new ferrule and tip because it feels awful. I’m playing awful and the cue feels awful so it is the worst situation to be in as a snooker player. I don’t think I can get any worse.”
Ronnie is not playing anywhere near his best, but he’s also not playing as badly as he feels he does. That said, he will need to improve to beat Zhao IMO.
But, let’s be realistic. Two weeks ago, we weren’t even sure he would play at all. He arrived in Sheffield not having won a main tour match in nearly four months, not having played competitively for over three months. He broke his cue … but he’s in the semi-finals. Whatever happens from here he will start the next season no worse than World number 5.
12 thoughts on “At the 2025 Crucible … Day 12 … QFs Wins for Ronnie, Willo, Judd Trump and Zhao Xintong”
Thank you, Monique, for taking such a clear stand on your website against discriminatory statements filled with prejudice, misinformation, and false claims.
Ronnie is still not happy and tries something different. Let’s see how this will turn out:
Are you joking about Zhao? He didn’t “grass on his mates”? Really? Like 10 of them were banned and it’s very likely there was some organized crime going on which he will have been perfectly aware of. I find it straight up disgusting how people are celebrating this guy. Crazy how you keep going on about Higgins but defend this dodgy, dodgy guy.
He talked to WST when the whole stuff was already in the open, yes, but not when it was happening. And yes, he knew it was organised crime and that’s why he was afraid to talk, as were all the others except the two that were at the root of it. Higgins was a much more mature man, he had not been threatened either. He definitely didn’t look scared in the video. He was also the reigning champion. Therefore his actions were much more damaging than any of what those youngsters did. Higgins only mitigating factor was that Mooney was his manager and he may have wanted to discuss things with him. But, you see, Money was banned from all things snooker for life, Higgins got away with a ban that spanned over a few months, the majority of it served when there was no snooker being played. He barely missed anything important. Why such discrepancy? Anyway. I said recently that I will no more bring the Higgins story, and I won’t. Zhao served his time, put everything in his snooker since his return.
I’m sorry I don’t trust these Chinese guys now and many others don’t either. If it was proven that organized crime was involved what possibly guarantees that anything changed? That 9-0 against Yan Bingtao should very obviously have been taken away from him. We know how big gambling and organized crime is in China. So yeah I hope he gets absolutely destroyed by Ronnie.
I’m sure you never made any mistake in your life … And one last thing about bookies in general. Have you ever wondered how come that there are so many of them flourishing around you? The reason for that is that they win much more than they lose. They use mathematical algorithms to set prices in such ways that they will statically win and if they win more than they lose that’s because the ones who bet do lose more than they win. The bookies have inside information too.. IF I was able to, I would destroy the betting business rather than their victims. I have lost two colleagues by suicide to them. Two colleagues with families they left behind, bereaved and financially ruined.
sorry what? it wasn’t a “mistake” it’s organized crime which he knew about. he’s not even that young. he’s a dodgy dodgy guy and deserves nothing but the worst in the game. and he’s not the only one.
He was threatened into it. His mistake was to not stand up to the threat and to not report the approach. And BECAUSE he knew it was organised crime he was afraid, as would have been most people. And no he’s not the only one and they are not all Chinese either, far from it.
how do you know for sure? that he was threatened? you just believe what he said at face value? as far as I’m concerned he may very well have done it willingly. and why is that 9-0 still listed as a legitimate win for him? when BOTH finalists had to be banned straight after? utter, utter nonsense. if you ask me that Victoria snooker academy is probably a hotbed for crime. they don’t speak English, we don’t speak Chinese, we have no idea what’s going on in their little hub.
He was threatened. WST inquiry found that much and I’m not surprised as Liang Wenbo comes from a very powerful and very rich family. Those people have contacts and power and Liang is a violent person who got arrested in the UK for domestic violence. As for the 9-0 win, why would he be guilty? If his opponent was losing deliberately, what could he have done? Also, Victoria Shi is a very good, honest person, caring deeply for her players, Chinese or not Chinese. She does speak English perfectly well and has a lot of non Chinese players training at her academy, including Ronnie and several youngsters from mainland Europe. And yes, I know Victoria personally. Before Tai Chengzhe became WST media officer for China, she was the one serving as interpreter when Chinese players were interviewed at the Crucible. I know because I was there. What you are Santino is just a crass racist. For the record… in 2010 when the Higgins scandal came by, I saw the bookies black list at the time, the list of players they kept an eye on because they had reasons to doubt their integrity. There were quite a few known players in there… ALL British. When Hearn took over and integrity became a concern for WST ( they never acted on anything before) quite a few left. And there is at least one English player, still playing, who should definitely not be out there.
oh so you believe that zhao had no knowledge whatsoever of bingtao throwing that match? what else you believe in, Santa? of course he knew bingtao was throwing. so why should it be listed as a legitimate victory?
I hope you had the night to reflect on the sheer stupidity of this comment. Yes it was a legitimate victory.
1.If you were going to fix a match, against someone you know very well, and you let that person know, would you both go for a scoreline that is sure to attract the authorities, and bookies attention? Unless you are utterly stupid, and Zhao isn’t, you would certainly NOT do that because doing that is a sure way to get caught. It’s because 9-0 is so obvious that I don’t believe in an “agreed” fix.
2. Next… some of the matches where a Chinese player was caught fixing, were played against a non Chinese opponent. Would you suggest that this opponents should be deprived of their victory, ranking points and money? I’m sure you would strongly disagree if the authorities did such a thing. WPBSA can’t have “double standards” based on nationality when it comes to punishing players, can they?
3. We, the viewing public do not know, and have no right to know, what is going on in player’s lives. Some very unexpected results often have a simple explanation but we may not be told. Here are two examples that were later “explained”. One involves Marcus Campbell at the 2011 UK Championship. Marcus lost to Matthew Stevens in the first round and played some very strange and poor shots. It later transpired that Marcus’ travel companion, a friend that had been with him at events for years, had died suddenly only a couple of hours before the match. Marcus had gone for a shower, and when he came out of the bathroom, had found his friend dead on his bed. He was in shock, he was in no state to play but had insisted he wanted to try. The other one involves Ross Muir. I can’t remember the circumstances of the match, nor the opponent, but I remember scratching my head at Ross’ shot selection and misses. Quizzed by the media after the match, Ross had revealed that he was prone to oscular migraine attacks and was having one. When that happens, you can’t see properly, and the headache is extremely debilitating. I can relate to that having suffered migraine myself for most of my adult life.
Now, that closes this chapter. Any further comment about the topic will be deleted.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
Thank you, Monique, for taking such a clear stand on your website against discriminatory statements filled with prejudice, misinformation, and false claims.
Ronnie is still not happy and tries something different. Let’s see how this will turn out:
https://metro.co.uk/2025/05/01/ronnie-osullivan-makes-drastic-cue-decision-middle-crucible-semi-final-23011879/
Are you joking about Zhao? He didn’t “grass on his mates”? Really? Like 10 of them were banned and it’s very likely there was some organized crime going on which he will have been perfectly aware of. I find it straight up disgusting how people are celebrating this guy. Crazy how you keep going on about Higgins but defend this dodgy, dodgy guy.
He talked to WST when the whole stuff was already in the open, yes, but not when it was happening. And yes, he knew it was organised crime and that’s why he was afraid to talk, as were all the others except the two that were at the root of it. Higgins was a much more mature man, he had not been threatened either. He definitely didn’t look scared in the video. He was also the reigning champion. Therefore his actions were much more damaging than any of what those youngsters did. Higgins only mitigating factor was that Mooney was his manager and he may have wanted to discuss things with him. But, you see, Money was banned from all things snooker for life, Higgins got away with a ban that spanned over a few months, the majority of it served when there was no snooker being played. He barely missed anything important. Why such discrepancy? Anyway. I said recently that I will no more bring the Higgins story, and I won’t. Zhao served his time, put everything in his snooker since his return.
I’m sorry I don’t trust these Chinese guys now and many others don’t either. If it was proven that organized crime was involved what possibly guarantees that anything changed? That 9-0 against Yan Bingtao should very obviously have been taken away from him. We know how big gambling and organized crime is in China. So yeah I hope he gets absolutely destroyed by Ronnie.
I’m sure you never made any mistake in your life … And one last thing about bookies in general. Have you ever wondered how come that there are so many of them flourishing around you? The reason for that is that they win much more than they lose. They use mathematical algorithms to set prices in such ways that they will statically win and if they win more than they lose that’s because the ones who bet do lose more than they win. The bookies have inside information too.. IF I was able to, I would destroy the betting business rather than their victims. I have lost two colleagues by suicide to them. Two colleagues with families they left behind, bereaved and financially ruined.
sorry what? it wasn’t a “mistake” it’s organized crime which he knew about. he’s not even that young. he’s a dodgy dodgy guy and deserves nothing but the worst in the game. and he’s not the only one.
He was threatened into it. His mistake was to not stand up to the threat and to not report the approach. And BECAUSE he knew it was organised crime he was afraid, as would have been most people. And no he’s not the only one and they are not all Chinese either, far from it.
how do you know for sure? that he was threatened? you just believe what he said at face value? as far as I’m concerned he may very well have done it willingly. and why is that 9-0 still listed as a legitimate win for him? when BOTH finalists had to be banned straight after? utter, utter nonsense. if you ask me that Victoria snooker academy is probably a hotbed for crime. they don’t speak English, we don’t speak Chinese, we have no idea what’s going on in their little hub.
He was threatened. WST inquiry found that much and I’m not surprised as Liang Wenbo comes from a very powerful and very rich family. Those people have contacts and power and Liang is a violent person who got arrested in the UK for domestic violence. As for the 9-0 win, why would he be guilty? If his opponent was losing deliberately, what could he have done? Also, Victoria Shi is a very good, honest person, caring deeply for her players, Chinese or not Chinese. She does speak English perfectly well and has a lot of non Chinese players training at her academy, including Ronnie and several youngsters from mainland Europe. And yes, I know Victoria personally. Before Tai Chengzhe became WST media officer for China, she was the one serving as interpreter when Chinese players were interviewed at the Crucible. I know because I was there. What you are Santino is just a crass racist. For the record… in 2010 when the Higgins scandal came by, I saw the bookies black list at the time, the list of players they kept an eye on because they had reasons to doubt their integrity. There were quite a few known players in there… ALL British. When Hearn took over and integrity became a concern for WST ( they never acted on anything before) quite a few left. And there is at least one English player, still playing, who should definitely not be out there.
oh so you believe that zhao had no knowledge whatsoever of bingtao throwing that match? what else you believe in, Santa? of course he knew bingtao was throwing. so why should it be listed as a legitimate victory?
I hope you had the night to reflect on the sheer stupidity of this comment. Yes it was a legitimate victory.
1.If you were going to fix a match, against someone you know very well, and you let that person know, would you both go for a scoreline that is sure to attract the authorities, and bookies attention? Unless you are utterly stupid, and Zhao isn’t, you would certainly NOT do that because doing that is a sure way to get caught. It’s because 9-0 is so obvious that I don’t believe in an “agreed” fix.
2. Next… some of the matches where a Chinese player was caught fixing, were played against a non Chinese opponent. Would you suggest that this opponents should be deprived of their victory, ranking points and money? I’m sure you would strongly disagree if the authorities did such a thing. WPBSA can’t have “double standards” based on nationality when it comes to punishing players, can they?
3. We, the viewing public do not know, and have no right to know, what is going on in player’s lives. Some very unexpected results often have a simple explanation but we may not be told. Here are two examples that were later “explained”. One involves Marcus Campbell at the 2011 UK Championship. Marcus lost to Matthew Stevens in the first round and played some very strange and poor shots. It later transpired that Marcus’ travel companion, a friend that had been with him at events for years, had died suddenly only a couple of hours before the match. Marcus had gone for a shower, and when he came out of the bathroom, had found his friend dead on his bed. He was in shock, he was in no state to play but had insisted he wanted to try. The other one involves Ross Muir. I can’t remember the circumstances of the match, nor the opponent, but I remember scratching my head at Ross’ shot selection and misses. Quizzed by the media after the match, Ross had revealed that he was prone to oscular migraine attacks and was having one. When that happens, you can’t see properly, and the headache is extremely debilitating. I can relate to that having suffered migraine myself for most of my adult life.
Now, that closes this chapter. Any further comment about the topic will be deleted.