Ronnie beat Joe Perry in the Final of the 2026 World Seniors Snooker Championship at the Crucible theatre in Sheffield to become the 2026 World Seniors Snooker Champion. This is actually his first Seniors title.
Ronnie O’Sullivan wins first World Seniors championship title | ‘I’d like to finish my career on a strong note’
Snooker Championship final, beating Joe Perry 10-4, a fifth century of the match provided a fitting end; O’Sullivan revealed: “My confidence is quite low. But if I can get some confidence going then I’d like to finish my career on a strong note”
Seven-time world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan added a first World Seniors Snooker Championship title to his trophy haul with a convincing 10-4 victory over Joe Perry.
O’Sullivan never looked back after breaks of 110, 131 and 113 saw him go 3-1 up at the mid-session interval before an 81 put him three frames ahead at the Crucible.
Perry won the next two frames but missed the chance to level things up after fluffing two simple pots as O’Sullivan took a 5-3 lead into the evening session.
The deficit was reduced on the resumption with the aid of a 51 break but it was the last frame Perry would win as O’Sullivan closed out victory in clinical style, which included a 129-clearance before his fifth century of the match provided a fitting end.
“This has been a tough tournament to win, every match I played felt hard. I know it might not have looked it but these guys are experienced competitors,,” O’Sullivan told Channel 5.
“I just wanted to enjoy the game, I didn’t want to get bogged down. I thought I’m just going to come and attack the balls. There’s always a risk with that that you lose some easy opportunities. [In the last session] I thought I’ve got to try and dig deep tonight so I came out and I just tried to play match snooker, use my brain.
“I’ve not been playing great for three years so my confidence is quite low and when I get into little situations, I was missing a few and I’m just thinking I never used to miss them balls.
“But if I can get some confidence going then I’d like to finish my career on a strong note. That’s my ambition.”
World Seniors Snooker Championship: Ronnie O’Sullivan reaches Crucible final on debut after victory over Robert Milkins
Ronnie O’Sullivan is making his debut at the World Seniors Championship; O’Sullivan came back from 5-4 down to beat Robert Milkins and reach Sunday’s final against Joe Perry at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.
Ronnie O’Sullivan is through to his maiden World Seniors Championship final after closing out a 7-5 victory over Robert Milkins in Sheffield.
The seven-time world champion, making his tournament debut at the Crucible Theatre, had to come from behind on three occasions before winning three successive frames to close out victory.
O’Sullivan had already beaten Ken Doherty (4-1) and Peter Lines (4-2) on Friday to reach the last four, where Milkins provided a tough test during a topsy-turvy contest.
Milkins – the former Welsh Open winner – built leads of 3-2, 4-3 and 5-4 to threaten a famous upset against O’Sullivan, who responded with a brilliant 75 break during the 10th frame to level the contest.
O’Sullivan then won the next two frames to complete his victory against ‘The Milkman’, booking a meeting against Joe Perry in Sunday’s best-of-19 final.
“Conditions were really tough,” O’Sullivan said. “None of the players are making excuses.
“I thought we were cueing well, but it is just sometimes you can fall out of position and keep chasing the balls.
”It is hard, especially under pressure in front of a big crowd. So I think we’ve done really well considering the conditions.
“I’m messing about with different types of cue actions so it was a good experience to play under pressure, lose it and get it back. It is all new for me, so I’m enjoying that process..”
Milkins, who defeated Jimmy White in a black-ball decider in the last 16 before beating Igor Figueiredo 4-1 in the quarter-finals, said: “I’m not quite sharp, my match sharpness. I’ve disrespected the game for too long. I was struggling to get back into it. There are signs of playing well, but I just missed too many easy balls.”
The World Seniors Snooker Championship is underway at the Crucible theatre in Sheffield, with an extended field featuring a number of senior players who are still competing at the highest level on the main tour. Ironically, this has been made possible by the failure of the negotiations between WST and Jason Francis 🙂.
Amongst the big three of 92, Ronnie and Willo entered the event. Willo however withdrew. But Ronnie is competing. The results can be found on snookerscores.net. There are however no actual live-scores on that site. These can be found on flashscores although there were not always up-to-date earlier this week.
The event is shown on Channel Five and on Pluto TV but even with my vpn I was unable to watch anything. 😞 …it used to work on my MacBook but I can get it working on the iPad even with the vpn.
Anyway… here are the reports shard on the WSS site so far:
WHITE STORMS INTO ROUND TWO AND DOHERTY SETS UP MEETING WITH O’SULLIVAN
7th May 2026
Home » White Storms Into Round Two and Doherty Sets Up Meeting with O’Sullivan
Jimmy White kept his hopes of a record-extending fifth JenningsBet World Seniors Snooker Championship title alive with a 4-1 opening round victory over Daniel Ward on Thursday afternoon.
‘The Whirlwind’ capitalised on a nervy start from the Crucible Theatre debutant, who won the Golden Ticket qualifier to reach this stage, to race into a 3-0 lead before getting over the line in the fifth to set up a second round meeting with Robert Milkins on Thursday evening.
There was black ball shootout drama in the same session as Ken Doherty overcame Gerard Greene to set up a first ever Crucible contest against Ronnie O’Sullivan.
Doherty had trailed 3-2 to Gerard Greene, but fired in a break of 88 to force a shootout decider before potting the final black to advance.
Also on Thursday afternoon, an impressive display from Dominic Dale saw him sweep aside Wayne Townsend 4-0 with a top break of 92 while Peter Lines held off a comeback from ‘The Sheriff of Pottingham’ Anthony Hamilton to win 4-2.
The action began on Wednesday evening as Craig Steadman, Roger Farebrother and former World Seniors champions Igor Figueiredo and Aaron Canavan each advanced in a session that concluded after midnight.
The biggest story of the opening day came from Crucible Theatre debutant Farebrother, who stunned two-time World Seniors Championship semi-finalist Tony Drago by defeating ‘The Tornado’ 4-2.
The second round action begins at 7pm BST on Thursday evening.
O’SULLIVAN DOWNS DOHERTY ON WORLD SENIORS SNOOKER DEBUT
8th May 2026
Home » O’Sullivan Downs Doherty On World Seniors Snooker Debut
Ronnie O’Sullivan made a dominant start to his JenningsBet World Seniors Snooker Championship debut by defeating Ken Doherty 4-1 at the Crucible Theatre.
‘The Rocket’ claimed not to have picked up a cue since his dramatic World Championship defeat to John Higgins last month, but rarely looked threatened by the 1997 world champion as he overcame ‘The Darling of Dublin’ to secure a quarter-final berth.
Next up for the seven-times world champion is former professional Peter Lines, who shocked the 2015 Crucible king Stuart Bingham 4-2 to earn a dream Crucible meeting with snooker’s greatest ever player.
Elsewhere on Friday afternoon, there was more black ball drama as Craig Steadman came from 3-2 behind to defeat 1995 world finalist Nigel Bond – Bond agonisingly losing on the final ball as the result of a time foul. There was also a 4-2 victory for reigning British Seniors Open champion Joe Perry against Jersey’s Aaron Canavan.
The second round began on an eventful Thursday evening session that saw the exit of four-time World Seniors champion Jimmy White, who battled back from 2-0 behind against Rob Milkins before losing out in a black ball shootout decider.
Ali Carter, another World Seniors Championship debutant, was unexpectedly forced to work hard against Australian debutant Roger Farebrother but a break of 94 in frame six ultimately secured ‘The Captain’ a 4-2 success.
fault with table two resulted in an unfortunate situation which saw Matthew Stevens and Dominic Dale forced to conclude their contest on table one after midnight, with Stevens coming through a 4-2 victor, while Igor Figueiredo whitewashed Alfie Burden in a match contested in a private area of the practice room due to time constraints.
The quarter-finals get underway at 7pm BST live on Channel 5 and Pluto TV. How to watch.
Ronnie O’Sullivan was presented with five new Guinness World Record titles at the Crucible Theatre during the JenningsBet World Seniors Snooker Championship.
A presentation took place with Guiness World Record representatives after ‘The Rocket’ had defeated Ken Doherty 4-1 in his World Seniors Championship debut on Friday afternoon.
The records include O’Sullivan’s recent record break of 153, set during the World Open in Yushan, China in March, as well as the fastest competitive 147 break – famously fired in at the 1997 World Championship in just 5 minutes and 8 seconds.
The five new records bring O’Sullivan’s total to 19, the full list of which can be viewed below:
RECORDS:
Youngest winner of snooker’s UK Championship – aged 17 years 358 days, achieved on 28 November 1993
Most wins of snooker’s UK Championship – 8, achieved in 1993, 1997, 2001, 2007, 2014, 2017, 2018 and 2023
Most wins of the Masters snooker – 8, achieved in 1995, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2014, 2016–17 and 2024
Fastest 147 break in snooker – 5 minutes 8 seconds, achieved on 21 April 1997
Most competitive 147 breaks in snooker – 17, achieved between 21 April 1997 and 15 August 2025
Most 147 breaks made in Snooker World Championships – 3, jointly achieved with Stephen Hendry. Ronnie O’Sullivan achieved the record in 1997, 2003 and 2008; Stephen Hendry achieved the record in 1995, 2009 and 2012
Most Premier League Snooker titles – 10, achieved between 1997 and 2011
Most World Snooker Championship wins (modern era) – 7, jointly achieved with Stephen Hendry between 1990 and 2022
First snooker player to make 1,000 competitive centuries – achieved between 20 June 1992 and 10 March 2019
Most points scored in a snooker match without reply – 556, achieved on 17 January 2014
Oldest winner of snooker’s UK Championship – aged 47 years 363 days, achieved on 3 December 2023
Most wins of snooker’s “Triple Crown” tournaments – 23, achieved between 1993 and 2024
Most career ranking titles won in snooker – 41, achieved between 28 November 1993 and 21 January 2024
Fastest time to win a match at the World Snooker Championships – 1 hr 48 min, achieved on 3 August 2020
Most World Snooker Championship appearances – 34, between 1979 and 2026
Most century breaks at the World Snooker Championship – 219, achieved between 1993 and 2026
Oldest snooker player to record a maximum 147 break in professional competition – aged 49 years 253 days, achieved on 15 August 2025
Highest break in snooker – 153, achieved on 20 March 2026
Most century breaks in a snooker career – 1,330, achieved between 20 June 1992 and 26 April 2026
No, I’m not going to die soon, not unless I have a dramatic accident but …
But … denial has never helped anybody and I don’t want to take that route. Over the last couple of years my memory has worsened considerably. I forget a lot. The fact that we, as a family, had a lot of stress privately certainly contributed to the situation. But now the stress is gone and it’s not improving, quite the opposite. Alzheimer’s disease runs in the family on my mother’s side. She died from it, her mother died from it, and her maternal grandmother as well…
Next week, I will travel to Athens and see a doctor who is one of the very best specialists in the subject. Hopefully, he will at least be able to give me guidance and possibly medications that will slow down the development of the disease. With the population ageing, especially in the south of Europe, the social cost of this disease is very high and that surely is an incentive for authorities to invest in research aiming at finding a cure for it, or, at least, at means to slow down its onset.
I’m not looking for pity, not even for sympathy … but I want you to know that, maybe, I may not be able to maintain this blog for much longer. 💔
Already, I want to thank all of you who read it, took interest in it and contributed to it with comments and suggestions.
Thank you!🙏
For those wondering about the “post featured image”… this cat is/was Mink. she was a stray that we took inside when we understood that she was about giving birth. She was very young and inexperienced. She hadn’t prepared anything. She gave birth in our house. When her kittens were about 3 months old, she disappeared. Never seen again. Likely, she died that day, likely she was poisoned… Two of her kittens survived. Loulou and Lustucru are now 6 years old and live with us.
Wu Yize beat Shaun Murphy by 18-17 in the final of the 2026 World Championship at the Crucible Theatre yesterday night to become the 2026 World Snooker Champion.
Congratulations Wu Yize
Here is the report shared by WST:
WU RULES THE WORLD AFTER CLASSIC CRUCIBLE FINAL
Wu Yize conquered the Crucible for the first time and became the second consecutive Chinese winner as he beat Shaun Murphy 18-17 in one of the all-time great finals at the Halo World Championship.
This was an outstanding contest, with three centuries, 29 more breaks over 50 and an average frame time of just 17 minutes, as both players favoured an attacking strategy. Wu’s courageous potting was most evident in the deciding frame – the first in a Crucible final since 2002 – as he was faced with a difficult red to centre, dropped it into the heart of the pocket, and went on to compile a fantastic break of 85 to land the trophy and £500,000 top prize.
Following Zhao Xintong’s historic triumph a year ago, as the first Chinese World Champion, Wu has followed in his footsteps and again the images of his celebration draped in his country’s flag will echo around the globe. Age 22 and 202 days, he is the second youngest ever World Champion, after Stephen Hendry who was 21 in 1990. He becomes the 25th player to hold the famous silverware at the Crucible, and for the first time there have been four consecutive maiden winners as Wu follows Luca Brecel in 2023 (age 28), Kyren Wilson in 2024 (age 32) and Zhao in 2025 (age 28).
CRUCIBLE FINAL DECIDERS
THIS WAS THE FIRST 18-17 SCORELINE IN 24 YEARS
1985: Dennis Taylor 18-17 Steve Davis 1994: Stephen Hendry 18-17 Jimmy White 2002: Peter Ebdon 18-17 Stephen Hendry 2026: Wu Yize 18-17 Shaun Murphy
Wu first came to the UK age 16 and initially lived in Sheffield in a windowless apartment with his father Wu Jiepin which was so small that they had to share a bed. He turned pro in 2021 and was named Rookie of the Year after his first season, then made gradual progress including runs to the final of the English Open and Scottish Open in 2024. This has been his breakthrough season, winning his first ranking title at the International Championship in November when he beat John Higgins in the final. That boosted him into the world’s top 16 and on his Masters debut in January he reached the semi-finals.
Wu had never won a match at the Crucible before this year, losing in the first round in his previous appearances in 2023 and 2025, but given his audacious talent and composure under pressure he was considered a true contender this time. Victories over Lei Peifan, Mark Selby and Hossein Vafaei put him into the semi-finals where he won a thrilling battle with Mark Allen 17-16, before another classic victory against Murphy. It’s his second title and he leaps from tenth to fourth in the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings.
”I am so happy I could play like that today,” said Wu. ”I played for my family, for myself and for China. My parents are the true champions. Since I made the decision to drop out of school, my dad has been by my side. My mum has also been through so much over the years. They are the source of my strength and I love them so much.
”I can’t thank the fans enough, no matter who you support, the love for snooker is mutual. I just want to have a good sleep! Since the second session I have been feeling nerves so right now I want to go to bed!”
I’m very happy for Wu. I like his game, I like the way he goes about his shots. I like the youthful audacity. I’m happy for his parents as well. I’m certain that they made any number of sacrifices to allow him to pursue his dreams and yesterday that dream became reality and they were in the arena to witness it and on stage to celebrate with him. 💕
I’m currently trying to publish using jetpack on my IPad tablet. I’m sorry to say that the Jetpack editor ergonomic is really poor and cumbersome. The keyboard pad is coming on top of the text you are trying to write … but here goes …
Ronnie O’Sullivan had flight booked before climax of clash with John Higgins at World Snooker Championship – ‘Thought it could be two-session match’
BY Alex Livie
Published 27/04/2026 at 19:42 GMT+1
Ronnie O’Sullivan made a potentially costly error after booking a flight for the morning of the final session of his World Championship clash with John Higgins.
O’Sullivan eased into the second round with a 10-2 win over He Guoqiang, but said his confidence was so low that he did not expect to reach the final session of his match with Higgins. As it turned out, O’Sullivan made a superb start to the contest and led 6-2 after the first session to guarantee he could not lose in two sessions.
After leading 9-4 at one stage, O’Sullivan saw Higgins claw his way back into the clash.
The contest see-sawed and went to a deciding frame, which went Higgins’ way as he booked his place in a Crucible quarter-final for the fifth year in a row.
Although disappointed to fall short in his bid for an eighth World Championship, O’Sullivan went further than he expected.
”I missed too many vital balls all through that match, important shots I got tight and nervous,” O’Sullivan told TNT Sports. ”When you are playing more and winning more that is probably what it is, you probably pot those clutch balls.
”That is the difference between winning the big matches and tournaments, you pot those balls under pressure. I missed far too many. ”It’s all about potting the big balls under pressure and I just didn’t. ”I have probably done well to get that close to be fair. “I did have a flight booked early this morning as I was not sure I was going to go [beyond] two sessions, as John is such a great player playing well. ”I thought it could be a two-session match, so to take it that far I feel quite proud of myself.”
”I did not want to play, so a lot of positives
O’Sullivan showed signs of frustration as Higgins clawed his way back into the match on Sunday, but he said punching the table and slapping the cushion with his cue was down to releasing tension.
”It was kind of a nice sort of anger,” he said. ”Then the last frame, I thought, rather than the hand, I’ll do it with the cue. ”I wasn’t really that angry. I missed a tough ball, it was nice to go, bang. Within a second it’s deleted and I’m cool as a cucumber, really. ”I like to just get it out and it’s just done, draw a line under it and move forward.”
A honest interview and rather positive all things considered. Of course Ronnie knows that he didn’t play enough and that he isn’t sharp but there is more. There is a strange dynamic between the members of the class of 92: Ronnie has a good record against Willo. Willo has a great record against Higgins and Highins has a great record against Ronnie.
