Yes, I’m from that generation … the ones who were teenagers at the end of the sixties, who grew up with Bob Dylan, with big hopes for changes that didn’t really come the way we hoped for. But I digress before I even started…
But, yes, this post is about “changing” times…
I have the feeling that this 2024 World Championship signals the start of a new era for the sport. In the eleven editions before this one, only once, in 2015, did we have a final that didn’t feature a member of the class of 92 or Mark Selby, and only once, in 2016, did we have a final between two players aged under-35. This year, neither Selby nor any of the Class of 92 reached the one table setup. Ronnie and John Higgins were the “last standing” of that group and they bowed out in the QFs. This time, both finalists are in their early thirties, and, surely, nobody expected Jak Jones to make it that far. The season to come will be interesting. Will we see a clear “change of guard”? I do expect this to happen and it would be good for the future of the sport … and even if I dearly wish for Ronnie to get to 8 World Championships, I’m not harbouring too much hope. He will be 49 in December …
Those are the stats on Ronnie’s career and we, his fans, can’t complain… he’s given us plenty, and will probably give us some more. I will always support him, and I’m grateful for the countless great moments he’s created on the green baize.
There has been a change of mind by Barry Hearn as well regarding the Crucible. Only a couple of years ago he was adamant the the snooker was “there to stay”. No more so as this BBC article clearly shows:
Sheffield to ‘move heaven and earth’ for World Championship
Snooker’s World Championship could leave the theatre that has been its home since 1977
Sam Drury – BBC Sport journalist
7 May 2024
Barry Hearn believes “Sheffield City Council will move heaven and earth” to keep the World Snooker Championship in the city.
The Crucible, which only holds 980 spectators, has held snooker’s biggest event every year since 1977, but the current contract expires in 2027.
Hearn, the president of Matchroom Sport and former chairman of World Snooker Tour (WST), insisted that keeping the tournament in Sheffield is “what we all want”.
“The priority is to stay in the Steel City of Sheffield because it’s been our home for a long, long time,” he told BBC 5 Live Breakfast.
“Great moments. But we have a duty to everybody to listen. We listen to the fans, listen to the local people, we also listen to the players.
“The effect on prize money. We look at the conditions, and say the game has moved on, and deserves better than the current conditions.”
How the Crucible looked during the 2024 World Championship final
While Hearn’s desire to stay in Sheffield is now clear, he anticipates that doing so would require a change of venue.
Matchroom took over the running of WST in 2010, with Hearn at the helm until he stepped down as chairman in April 2021 at the age of 72.
He remains an influential figure in the running of snooker and ideally wants a new facility to be built to house the World Championship.
“I think it’s a new-build within the city. It can’t be an expansion of the Crucible. There isn’t enough space. The building is too small,” Hearn said.
“But I think there are other buildings that could be converted… but I need a venue to stress the importance of the event, the quality of the event.
“You can’t stick it in a leisure centre, and say ‘this is our World Championships’, just for the sake of another 1,000 [or] 1,500 tickets a session.“
Moving away from the Crucible would also be popular with some of the players, who have criticised conditions at the theatre.
“If you walk around the Crucible it smells really bad,” said Iran’s Hossein Vafaei.
“The practice room? Do you see anything special about it? It feels like I’m practising in a garage and that’s not good.”
Saudi Arabia has worked closely with Matchroom Sport to bring a number of high-profile major boxing events to the country. It also staged a first WST tournament in March – the Riyadh Season World Masters of Snooker.
“Should the World Championships stay in little old England? It’s a global sport, should it go round the world?” Hearn added.
“Should it sell out and go to where the biggest money is, as have so many sports? Some that I’ve been involved in.
“That’s not wrong – that’s just the progression of how the world’s changed.
“It’s a balance – but you can’t ignore the money, that would be unrealistic and silly to say we’re ignoring the money.
“But at the same time we have a duty of care to the sport, to make sure the great traditions stay with us as well.”
‘Zero interest in a breakaway tour‘
Hearn, who managed six-time world champion Steve Davis, dismissed the notion of a recently mooted breakaway tour to challenge WST.
“There’s no breakaway tour,” he said. “I don’t know why people talk about this.
“The players have got a bit more freedom now, outside of contract, where there isn’t a World Snooker contract, to have an event themselves.
“There is absolutely zero interest in a breakaway tour from any player.“
Judd Trump is one of a number of high-profile players to have ruled out joining such a tour, which has been likened to golf’s LIV breakaway venture.
The 1997 world champion Ken Doherty is sceptical that a rival series would gain any traction.
“I don’t see how a LIV-style snooker tour can survive and if it does and players want to do that, if that is what they want their legacy to be, good luck to them,” Doherty said.
“There are people throwing money at the top players, but is that the legacy they want? Playing in an exhibition tour rather than something meaningful?
“It is not going to encourage people to get into the game by playing on an exhibition tour just to increase your bank balance.“
There is no breakaway tour, but the newly crowned World Champion, Kyren Wilson, has recently admitted on social media that if he was approached to play in high profile, highly paid, exhibitions he would consider it. And why not? They are self-employed, the players. Legacy doesn’t pay the bills, nor does it put food in the plates of family.
And then, of course, both Paul Collier and Rolf Kalb have announced their retirement. In the case of Paul, he will still work as tournament director, but not as a referee. I’m wishing them both the very best in whatever they do in the future.
And finally … to answer the question asked in comments, yes, Ronnie will do exhibitions in China.
This was posted on Weibo: “During the second half of May, Luoyang, Chengdu, Kunshan et Shanghai will organise four exhibition tournaments, and O’Sullivan will play in all four ! Ding Junhui will feature in Luoyang et Chengdu” (translated automatically and made a bit more readable by me…)
At the end of the first day of the 2025 World Snooker Championship Final, Kyren Wilson leads Jak Jones by 11-6. Comfortable? You would think so if you didn’t watch the first two sessions yesterday. But …
Jak Jones started in the worst possible way allowing Kyren to lead by 7-0, but, crucially, he managed to win the last frame of the session, punching the air as he left the arena. That still left him in a dire situation but as he was walking on his way out, his facial expression and demeanour were not those of a beaten man. He looked fired up!
Kyren Wilson stormed to a 7-1 lead over Jak Jones after the first session of the Cazoo World Championship final.
The Warrior is competing in his second Crucible final, having been runner-up to Ronnie O’Sullivan in 2020. On that occasion he fell 8-2 down during an eventual 18-8 defeat. This time around Wilson himself has seized the early initative.
Jones has enjoyed a fairytale run to the title match. He began the event as a 200-1 outsider, but has upset the odds to defeat the likes of Judd Trump and Stuart Bingham to make the final. A big turnaround will now be required if he is to land another shock win over Wilson.
The opening frame saw Wilson drill in a long red and make a break of 129 to lay down an early marker and lead 1-0. Both players had opportunities in each of the next two frames, but it was Jones who made the critical mistakes and he was ruthlessly punished as Wilson moved 3-0 up.
The Kettering cueman then crafted runs of 66, 62, 125 and 90 to win a further four on the bounce and lead 7-0. It’s the first time anyone has led by that scoreline in a world final since John Parrott over Jimmy White in 1991.
Jak Jones came back fighting indeed! He managed to win the very hard fought second session by 5-4. That means he still trails by 11-6. Of course it’s a huge deficit but Kyren will know that he can’t relax and start thinking about his winner’s speech just yet (Hey Jimmy …) because it could have easily been 10-7. The last frame of the session was pure drama and Jak will be fuming that he lost it as he was well ahead in that crucial frame, and lost it on the final black … here is the end of that session …
Kyren Wilson won a crucial last frame of the second session of the Cazoo World Championship final against Jak Jones to lead 11-6 overnight.
Jones had earlier trailed 7-0, the worst start to a world final since John Parrott took the first seven frames against Jimmy White in 1991. Tenacious Jones looked set to reduce his arrears to 10-7, but lost a black ball battle as Wilson finished the first day of the final with a five-frame cushion. They return at 1pm on Monday for eight more frames, ahead of the concluding session from 7pm.
Wilson needs seven of the last 18 frames to win snooker’s biggest prize for the first time, while Jones would need the biggest final-day come-back in Crucible history to get to 18 first.
Welshman Jones took the first two frames of the session with breaks of 75 and 52 to close to 7-3. World number 12 Wilson responded with 125 and 60 to lead 9-3 at the interval. Jones, ranked 44th, got the better of frame 13 but Wilson hit back with a 122, his fourth century of the final and eighth of the tournament.
A cracking long pot on the fourth-last red set Jones up to take frame 15, and in the next he made 90, his highest break of the match so far, to close to 10-6. The last frame of the session looked to be going the way of Jones when his break of 64 put him 29 points ahead with just the colours left, only for Wilson to get the snooker he needed on the yellow. It came down to a long safety exchange on the final black, and Jones went for a risky double to a baulk corner but narrowly missed, handing Wilson the chance to extend his lead.
The Kettering cueman punched the air as he left the arena, as he remains on track to become the 23rd player to lift the famous trophy at the Crucible.
Note that if the match finishes late, I will not be able to report on today’s outcome and action until tomorrow late afternoon. I’m going to travel to Sheffield for the 2024 Seniors World Snooker Championship and will need to get up very early… so, no late night for me today. I’m an old gal… 😴
Ronnie booked his place in the quarter-finals at the Crucible this afternoon with a 13-7 win over Ryan Day.
Here are the scores of that match:
This is the report by WST. Ronnie explains why he felt the need to change his technic and turned to Nic Barrow for help.
Ronnie O’Sullivan, at ease with his technique and competing with enthusiasm, reached a record-extending 22nd Crucible quarter-final by rounding off a 13-7 success against Ryan Day in the second round of the Cazoo World Championship.
Looking relaxed and confident, O’Sullivan even engaged in a friendly exchange with a woman in the crowd who was clapping eagerly during the 17th frame. “She got a bit excited, maybe she had never been to a snooker match before!” he later joked. “I said she should calm down a bit. But then I felt a bit bad, I didn’t want her to think I was telling her off.”
O’Sullivan has dropped just eight frames in the tournament so far and will meet Stuart Bingham or Jack Lisowski on Tuesday and Wednesday. He needs three more wins to land an eighth world title, which would put him one ahead of Stephen Hendry. The world’s number one has already won five trophies this season and his prize money tally for 2023/24 is now £1,265,500.
MOST CRUCIBLE QUARTER-FINALS
ROCKET EXTENDS RECORD
Ronnie O’Sullivan 22 Stephen Hendry 19 John Higgins 17 Steve Davis 15 Jimmy White 15
Working with coach Nic Barrow, O’Sullivan is, for once, content with his game in matches and practice. “It feels like I want to play,” he told BBC. “It feels like I want to get my cue out of the case. I’m not scared of the table, not scared of the balls. I’m scared of some other things but not that, which is the most important thing. When you’re confident in your ability to do something when you get the chance, then you feel alright.
“It’s early days for me, trying this new way of playing, a different style of cueing. It’s been hard work for two years. I decided I couldn’t continue playing like that. I had to make some changes and it’s the body and the mind trying to catch up with each other. I’ve got some of it right, I’m just trying to work out the puzzle at the moment. I’ve had a bit of excitement for the last couple of weeks, getting through the ball better. There were some good bits there today. When I find this game hard my life gets harder. When I find it easy, life becomes a pleasant place again.”
O’Sullivan led 10-6 after two sessions, having made breaks of 123, 84, 83, 51, 92, 82, 65, 89, 56 and 96. The opening frame of today’s concluding session came down to a battle on the yellow and Day, leading 57-35, got an unwanted double kiss attempting safety, handing his opponent an opening to make a fine clearance to extend his lead.
A run of 85 brought him to the brink of victory, and though Day pulled one back, O’Sullivan finished the job in frame 20 with 67 and 53.
Day said: “I created lots of chances, but I struggled to settle all game. I missed too many balls and you can’t do that no matter who you play. If I’d managed to settle I could have given him more of a game and put him under pressure. I wasn’t able to do that.“
Ronnie O’Sullivan speaks out on anxiety struggles: ‘For two years I’ve held it down’
Phil Haigh
Ronnie O’Sullivan is feeling as confident as he has done for some time (Picture: Getty Images)
Ronnie O’Sullivan says his issues with his own game have led to him taking medication for anxiety, but is finally feeling better after two years ‘in the doldrums.’
The Rocket is into the quarter-finals of the World Snooker Championship after seeing off Jackson Page and Ryan Day in the opening two rounds.
He is looking to end an already brilliant season in style by adding the world title to five other big events he has picked up over the campaign.
The 48-year-old has cut a frustrated figure over the season, despite his immense success, but is looking and sounding generally more positive in Sheffield.
After beating Page in round one the Rocket suggested he is going to push on into his 50s and see how many more world titles he can win, sounding a lot more buoyant than recent months.
O’Sullivan spoke about working with a new coach ahead of the Crucible this year and he certainly has a bit more pep in his step after two years of not feeling at his best and struggling with anxiety over his game to the point he had to take medication for it.
‘I’ve had such a long time in the doldrums,’ O’Sullivan told the BBC after beating Day 13-7. ‘For two years I’ve held it down, I’ve not really mentioned anything but it’s been really challenging.
O’Sullivan has coasted into the last eight in Sheffield (Picture: Getty Images)
I’ve had to take medication for the anxiety and all that sort of stuff, even in small tournaments, even when I’m not playing. That’s how bad the game can make me feel at times.
‘I didn’t want to do that anymore. I’ve just had a bit of excitement for the last couple of weeks, getting through the ball a little bit better. Then you come down crashing to earth. I was out there last night and it started to wander a bit. It was like, can we fix it? Can we get it back on track? There were some good bits there today.’
‘I’m just getting a bit more optimism a bit more belief that I can sustain it. It’s no good being able to do it for one match or one tournament you’ve got to try and sustain it for a few months, even a year. I played great for three years once, never had a bad day, so it can happen, you just have to get everything right.’
O’Sullivan has often tried to play down how much he is affected by the sport he sits atop of, but admits it is almost impossible to separate his emotions from how his game feels.
‘When I find this game hard my life gets harder. When I find this game easy it comes good to me, life becomes a pleasant place again,’ he said.
‘I’ve tried to disassociate from it, it’s not easy, I’ve tried to not let the sport identify me, but it’s hard. I’ve probably accepted it’s never going to happen.
‘I’ve just tried to minimise the bad performances or what I consider bad feelings out there when I’m playing. If I’m cueing well and lose I’m in a great place because I’m looking forward to the next one. When you’re winning and not looking forward to playing, it’s like, where do I go from here? It’s not a good place to be.’
Here are some videos shared by Eurosport on their YouTube Channel
Only one match finished yesterday: Stephen Maguire beat Shaun Murphy by 13-9 to book his place in the quarter-finals of the 2024 World Snooker Championship.
Stephen Maguire defeated old rival Shaun Murphy 13-9 to make the quarter-finals of the Cazoo World Championship at the Crucible Theatre.
The pair have been engaged in a heated rivalry which extends back three decades. This was the 24th meeting between Maguire and Murphy, with victory for the former taking the head-to-head record dead level at 12-12.
The win for Maguire means he has now beaten Murphy in their last four meetings. Their previous clash came at the 2022 World Championship, when the Scot prevailed 10-8 in the first round.
They contested a fiery first two sessions, which saw both players in demonstrable moods around the table, celebrating frame clinching moments. After Maguire deposited the final pink of the second session to end 10-6 up, he hammered the table and clenched his fist with delight.
When play got back underway this morning, a break of 68 from Maguire extended his lead to 11-6. Murphy claimed the next and had looked good to pull within three in the 19th, but an unexpected missed red on 43 let his opponent in. Maguire pounced with 73 to move one from the win at 12-7.
The Magician kept himself alive with two on the bounce. However, it was Maguire who forced his way over the line in style with a sublime 127, the first century of the match. It puts Maguire through to his eighth Crucible quarter-final, where he will meet David Gilbert.
“There’s a lot of pressure out there. The crowd get involved and they are that close. You end up getting involved. A wee bit of emotion, or actually a big bit of emotion, got out. It must mean a lot, because if it didn’t then there would be no emotion like that. That’s what every player does when they go to the dressing room. They go nuts. They normally hold it in the arena. I let it slip a little bit there.”
Stephen Maguire
2004 UK Champion
Maguire added: “He looked like he was comfortable in that session so I was starting to get geared up for a comeback and a close finish. Once I got my chance, I finished pretty well there.
“Me and Dave (Gilbert) get on and we’ve grown up with each other for the best part of 30 years. He is a great player. He’s not had a great season by his standards. I’m probably the same, so we are coming into a good game at the right time.
“The quarter-finals are the pressure matches. I’ve won a couple and lost a couple. It is a match you don’t want to lose in because that arena changes and it does become the best in the world with the one table.”
Murphy said: “I just wasn’t good enough throughout the match. It was typical of my season really. There were some glimpses of some good stuff but far too many self-inflicted mistakes to challenge Stephen. I thought he played really well and he was very solid. I wish him all the best for the rest of the tournament.”
MAGUIRE REFLECTS ON ROUND TWO WIN
I can’t really comment as I didn’t see anything of this match past the first session.
In other unrelated news Ronnie’s latest autobiography was shortlisted for The Charles Tyrwhitt Sports Book Awards Autobiography of the Year as reported by WST. You can still vote … if you so wish.
Ronnie O’Sullivan’s ‘Unbreakable’ is on the shortlist for The Charles Tyrwhitt Sports Book Awards Autobiography of the Year, in association with The Sunday Times.
Written with Tom Fordyce and published in 2023, Unbreakable is an insight into O’Sullivan’s life and extraordinary career. The seven-time World Champion looks back on his landmark 2022 Crucible triumph and reflects on many highs and lows from his three decades at the top of his sport.
Now in its 22nd Year, the Charles Tyrwhitt Sports Book Awards highlight the outstanding sports books of the previous calendar year to showcase their merits and to enhance their reputation and profile.
The shortlist is:
Broadly Speaking, Stuart Broad Carl Frampton: My Autobiography Kammy, Chris Kamara The Extra Mile, Kevin Sinfield Unbreakable, Ronnie O’Sullivan Unique – A Memoir, Dame Kelly Holmes Who am I?, Danny Cipriani Winning the Fight, Maggie Alphonsi
Judd Trump insisted that he does not feel extra pressure at snooker’s biggest tournament after strolling past Tom Ford 13-7 to reach his tenth quarter-final at the Cazoo World Championship.
Trump has 28 ranking titles to his name – only Ronnie O’Sullivan, Stephen Hendry and John Higgins have won more – but has conquered the Crucible only once, in 2019. Over the next ten days, the 34-year-old has the chance to become only the seventh player to lift the famous trophy more than once in Sheffield. His next opponent will be Jak Jones or Si Jiahui on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“I don’t put too much pressure on myself here, I try to relax and enjoy it,” said Trump. “I have the same attitude and will to win that I do at any other tournament. For some other players, winning here means the absolute world, nothing else matters and they forget to enjoy it, but it’s not the same for me.”
As for the match against Ford, Trump added: “I was average. We both struggled. I had to stay patient when my positional play wasn’t good. It’s hard to play your best when you are not being pushed. But I enjoyed being out there.”
Trump, winner of five ranking titles already this season, led 11-5 after the first two sessions, making breaks of 67, 52, 69, 107, 67, 59 and 50. The early exchanges might have been closer if Ford had not missed a red on the verge of a 3-2 lead, which proved a turning point as he fell 6-2 behind.
The Leicester cueman took the opening frame today with a break of 76, then Trump replied with a 107, his second century of the tournament and 78th of the season. Ford pulled one more back before Bristol’s Trump sealed the result with an 84 in frame 20.
Asked about his next opponent, Trump said: “Si is always improving and has been tipped as a future World Champion. He’s similar to me when I was younger because he needs more experience in his shot selection. I have played Jak a few times and he has played some unbelievable stuff against me, plus he seems to love this venue.“
Ford said: “You can get away with one bad session here, but not two. I tried everything, but it didn’t work. I don’t think Judd played that well, I just gave him so many chances.”
Ford didn’t play well at all and Trump, not being pushed, wasn’t at his best either. He didn’t need to. That made for a rather uninteresting match. The writing was on the wall right from session one. Ford started well, it was 2-2 at the first MSI. Then Ford missed one ball as he looked good to go 3-2 up and lost the frame. That miss appeared to play on his mind and it changed the course of the session and of the whole match.
Jak Jones became the first player in 25 years to reach the quarter-finals on his first two Crucible appearances as he beat Si Jiahui 13-9 in the second round of the Cazoo World Championship.
Having seen an 8-3 lead almost evaporate when his advantage was slashed to 9-8, Jones came good at the business end to get the better of Si in a tense finish. The 30-year-old Welshman will face Judd Trump over 25 frames on Tuesday and Wednesday.
World number 44 Jones reached the last eight on his debut last year and now becomes the first player get that far in his first two trips to Sheffield since Matthew Stevens in 1998 and 1999. He is clearly suited to this event and the longer matches, as he has not reached the quarter-finals of any other tournaments over the past two seasons.
World number two Trump will start strong favourite, and has won four of their five previous meetings, though Jones did score an impressive 6-5 win in the 2018 China Open.
The opening frame today lasted 58 minutes and came down to the colours. China’s Si, a semi-finalist on his debut here last year, got the snooker he needed on the green and later got the better of an exchange on the blue, then potted the last three balls to close the gap to 9-8. Jones made an excellent 44 clearance in the 18th to restore his two-frame cushion, then the next two were shared to leave the score at 11-9 at the interval.
A break of 78 extended Jones’ advantage to 12-9. In frame 22, he led 42-0 when he missed a tricky red with the rest to a top corner. Si battled his way back into the frame and it came down to a long battle on the colours, resolved when Jones slotted the brown into a centre pocket and added blue and pink for victory.
“It’s a relief because it was a shocking match and I’m not sure how I won,” admitted Jones. “I was lucky to be 6-2 up because I won four black ball frames in the first session. I have got a couple of days now to spend time on the practice table, trying to get something together so I am ready to challenge Judd.
“Judd and Ronnie are the best two players at the moment so it can’t get any tougher for me. Everyone expects those two to meet in the semi-finals. He is much more used to the big occasion than me, but I’ve got nothing to lose.”
It was a terrible match but a quite fascinating one at the same time. Si showed tremendous resilience despite struggling badly with his game. He didn’t have the run of the balls either. Jak Jones is a bit of an oddity. He’s a young player but plays like an “old-timer”. He too is extremely resilient, very solid mentally. At times yesterday I was thinking : “No way this guy is only 30… he’s a time capsule out of the 70th-80th“. And that’s no criticism, quite the opposite under the circumstances.
David Gilbert scored 421 points without reply as he thrashed an injured Robert Milkins 13-4 to reach the quarter-finals of the Cazoo World Championship.
Milkins predicted before the match that it was a “50-50 game” but it turned out to be a one-sided contest as Gilbert, riding on a new wave of enthusiasm for snooker, made two centuries and six more breaks over 50 in a superb display. From the end of frame 13 to the conclusion of the match, he compiled 421 points without Milkins troubling the scoreboard – the fourth highest sequence of unanswered points in Crucible history, albeit well short of John Higgins’ record of 485
Tamworth’s 42-year-old Gilbert is through to his second Crucible quarter-final and first since 2019 when he reached the semis before a narrow 17-16 defeat against Higgins. The world number 31 will face Stephen Maguire or Shaun Murphy on Tuesday and Wednesday next week.
Throughout his career, Gilbert has had spells of falling out of love with snooker and losing appetite for practice. He has not reached a ranking event semi-final since winning the 2021 Championship League, but in the past four weeks he has worked hard on his game and fitness and is now enjoying the rewards.
During the second session this morning, Gilbert moved from 5-3 ahead to 12-4, compiling breaks of 67, 83, 136 and 123. Milkins’ chances were hampered by pain in the trapezius muscle of his left shoulder, and he struggled to cue correctly throughout the day. During the 12th frame, frustrated by the match slipping away, he threw his cue to the Crucible floor. When they returned for the evening session, the match was over within 17 minutes as Gilbert dominated frame 17
Milkins said: “It was just emotion coming out when I threw my cue. It wasn’t that bad, I didn’t javelin it into the crowd or do an Eric Cantona! I have done it loads of times, there’s a certain way of dropping the cue where the tip doesn’t come off. It can be good to let your emotions out – Stephen Maguire does it and it can turn his game around.
“This morning I was at Tesco at 6am, buying ibuprofen. I get this pain once or twice a year and usually it goes away with the tablets, but this time it has hurt all day. I couldn’t get down on the shot. It was frustrating that I couldn’t have a good crack at the match. But I don’t want to make excuses because Dave played really well and if he keeps that up he could go far. I have been lazy this season and it has caught up with me now, my game is a million miles off.“
Gilbert said: “I’m feeling confident and it’s nice to know I can still play a bit. It feels fantastic when the white is doing what you want it to do, and I have also been winning scrappy frames, which is important. Some people might be surprised because I have been shocking for so long, but I have been working hard and timed it right for this event. When I got to the semis here in 2019 I realised you have to spend your time wisely, make sure you rest in between sessions and eat properly, so the fitness work has helped and I have time to smash the gym before Tuesday.”
Asked about his next opponent, Gilbert added: “I have known them both since we were kids. Back then, Stephen was the one I most admired, even more than the likes of Shaun and Mark Selby. He has had a great career but I’m amazed he hasn’t won this one. Shaun is one of the few players I will watch if it’s on – the way he hits the ball. They both attack and go for their shots which you have to do here. You have to play to win, you can’t fudge over the line.”
…
The end of the match
I didn’t watch this particular match so can’t comment on the action. One thing though that I want to say is that Robert Milkins isn’t a bad person. I’ve got to know him a bit during the SWSA days. He’s a very instinctive sort of man who sometimes does things that he later regrets but his heart is in the right place and he will be the first to admit it when he’s been wrong. Life hasn’t always been kind on him either. People shouldn’t judge him too harshly.
On another note … about conditions … Barry Pinches on Facebook was rejoicing about the fact that this year the pockets are tight and don’t accept the balls too easily, only for Tom Ford telling him that it’s nothing to do with the pockets. According to Tom it’s freezing cold in the arena and that has an impact on the way the cushions react, including in the immediate vicinity of the pockets, and that is – in his views – why the pockets appear to be tighter.
Shaun Murphy is asking some very important questions here and he summarises the Crucible dilemma very well: a lot of players and fans, especially the older ones and the British ones, have a strong sentimental bond with the Crucible but it’s the smallest venue hosting snooker biggest event. It worked in the past, even in a not so distant past but no more. One of the reasons for that is that snooker in the UK is in decline, while it’s growing elsewhere. the UK centric approach isn’t right anymore. Shaun also wonder why Barry Hearn – officially retired – appears to still be the figurehead of snooker. My answer to that is … because the reality is that Matchroom is the majority shareholder of the sport, and, although Eddie Hearn is supposed to be the boss, he has little interest in snooker, unlike Barry who hasn’t really stepped down and can’t let go of it.
Day 6 at the Crucible is the day when the first round finishes and the second round starts. The last two first round matches were played to a conclusion, with wins for Ronnie and John Higgins.
John Higgins, ever present in the top 16 for a record 29 years, maintained his hopes of keeping that elite status with a hard fought 10-6 win over Jamie Jones in the first round of the Cazoo World Championship.
Higgins first climbed into the top 16 at the end of the 1994/95 season and, incredibly, has been there ever since. But after a lean two years, he could drop out at the end of this Championship. Having knocked out Jones, he must still win one more match to have a chance of keeping his place in the top bracket of the rankings, and the 48-year-old Scot faces a tough test against world number three Mark Allen over 25 frames on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The pair have met five times already this season, Allen winning three of those.
The result means that the record for the most seeds falling in the first round – eight – has been equalled but not beaten.
Leading 5-4 overnight Higgins took the first two frames today to extend his lead to 7-4. In frame 12, he led 39-18 when a routine pink to a centre pocket hit the far jaw, and Jones responded with a 49 clearance to pull one back. Higgins regained control as breaks of 59 and 64 helped make it 9-5. Frame 15 came down to the colours and Higgins, trailing 58-38, missed a long pot on the yellow, which allowed Jones to narrow the gap. Both players had chances in the 16th, but Higgins got the better of an exchange on the last red and cleared to get over the line.
“Jamie still fancied it at 9-5, you could see by his body language,” said four-time champion Higgins, who has not landed a ranking title since the 2021 Players Championship. “He probably came into the match feeling he could beat me because he knocked out Neil Robertson in qualifying and he has beaten me a couple of times before. The draws are tough but you just have to roll with it and try to play your best. I felt my game was pretty good tonight.
“I’m really looking forward to playing Mark Allen over 25 frames, I have beaten him twice here before so I’ll have to draw on those memories. Mark is a fantastic player and competitor. I’m not thinking about the top 16, I’m just focussed on the next match. Tonight was a great win for me because you don’t know how many more times you’re going to play here, and it’s the the best place ever to play snooker.“
Jones said: “From 9-5 I was trying to battle as hard as I could. I could see John was trying a bit too hard and I tried to just stick in there. If it had gone 9-7 then who knows? I enjoyed the occasion, it’s always an amazing experience to play here.”
I didn’t watch any of it. After what happened in 2010, I will never again watch John Higgins unless I have to. I already explained why I feel that way, so I won’t bore you repeating it. Let’s just say this, if it had happened in 2024, and if John was Chinese, he would have been banned for many years, not just for a few months (most of it in the summer when nothing happened back then). His opponent Jamie Jones was banned for longer and fell off the tour merely for failing to report a corrupt approach, although he was cleared of match-fixing. He wasn’t even the one being approached, it was one of his mates and Jamie found it too difficult to denounce/report him. So, I dearly wanted Jamie Jones to win but it wasn’t to be. Don’t get me wrong, John is a great great player, with immense skills and a shrewd mind. But, even before the 2010 affair, for some reason I can’t understand myself, I never enjoyed watching him, he bores me.
Other than that there were some really interesting quotes by Barry Hearn reported in the press yesterday.
The Crucible Theatre has staged the World Championship since 1977, but former World Snooker Tour chairman Barry Hearn has cast doubt over the future of the sport’s biggest event in Sheffield beyond its current agreement in 2027. Hearn, speaking to Eurosport, said: “There is no point in saying: ‘Oh, think of the history’. You can’t eat history.”
Barry Hearn has been on a career-defining journey over the past 43 years when it comes to the ongoing subject of the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield being a suitable host venue for the World Snooker Championship, the sport’s landmark and most lucrative tournament.
When the former World Snooker Tour chairman was manager of Steve Davis in the 1980s and 1990s, he famously bounded down the stairs of the venue to greet Davis after the first of the Romford player’s six world title wins against Doug Mountjoy in 1981.
While it could be argued the Crucible was the scene of Hearn’s greatest moments in snooker overseeing the growth, development and dominance of Davis during the halcyon days of saturated TV coverage, sentiment will not get in the way of forward thinking when it comes to finalising the future direction of travel for the green baize’s blue-chip competition.
As president of Matchroom Sport, majority shareholders in WST, the Essex businessman has appeared to cast doubt over the future of the event being staged by the Crucible when the venue’s current agreement with Sheffield City Council expires in 2027 – the year that will mark 50 years of the World Championship in Sheffield.
Amid several media reports suggesting Saudi Arabia and China could be new destinations for the World Championship, Hearn – who once described the Crucible as “one of the world’s most iconic sporting venues” – told Eurosport: “Look, I can’t be more honest, my hand on my heart, I want to stay at the Crucible.
“I want to stay in Sheffield. Obviously, money talks and we are getting inundated with offers around the world.
“And there’s a certain argument that says we should actually take the World Championships around the world to a different venue every year. Some of the venues want to pay money I’ve never experienced, others just want to show their love and support for snooker.
“We’ve been very consistent. Broadcasters that we’ve worked with and have done a good job for us and have been part of our history, we’re going to stay with as much as we can if they want to stay with us.
“Venues that we’ve used and people that we’ve relied on to be the fans, have been good to us, we want to stay with them as long as they want us.
“Common sense says I have a fiduciary duty to the players to provide the biggest prize money because they’re professional athletes.
“And there is no point in saying: ‘Oh, think of the history’. You can’t eat history.
“Sport, to be progressive, has got to provide bigger and bigger prize funds or it is not going to be competitive in today’s world, and will no longer be aspirational to young people that we want to see come into the sport.“
As a celebrated sports promoter, Hearn traditionally uses the annual World Championship to deliver a state of the nation address on his plans for snooker, with the subject of the Crucible never far from his thoughts.
There was also this, reported by Phil Haigh about Hearn’s stance on players wanting to play in events “outside” the main tour:
Barry Hearn: ‘If people want to leave for a quick buck then I wish them well’
Phil Haigh
Barry Hearn has warned players of the ‘temptations for a one-off quickie’ (Picture: Getty Images)
As some players remain at odds with World Snooker Tour over what events they can and cannot play in, Barry Hearn says he will wish anyone well who leaves to chase a ‘quick buck’.
There is disquiet among professionals after the Macau Five situation this season, which saw John Higgins, Mark Selby, Luca Brecel, Ali Carter and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh sign up for a lucrative exhibition in China which was set to be held during the Northern Ireland Open.
WST were not happy about it and told the five in question that they would be in breach of their players’ contract if they took part in the exhibition while the ranking event was being played in Belfast.
The exhibition was eventually moved to December to avoid the clash, but the five men had already pulled out of Northern Ireland so they didn’t play in anything during that week in October.
Shaun Murphy told the BBC during the coverage of the UK Championship that he was ‘offered the same amount of money to go to that event in the Far East as I would have had for getting to the final of the Northern Ireland Open.’ Ronnie O’Sullivan has also spoken out on the subject, saying it is very hard to turn down the huge sums of cash being offered in China.
‘I get paid so much more for going to do that,’ the Rocket said of the Chinese events. ‘It’s really hard for me to turn them down, I can’t. I’ve got to think of my family and all that sort of stuff.
‘It’s all right if you win all of these tournaments, great. But if you get beat first round you’re struggling to pay your bills and stuff.’
Ronnie O’Sullivan picked up the £250,000 top prize at last week’s UK Championship (Picture: Getty Images)
WST say players are free to take part in exhibitions when professional events aren’t being staged, but Hearn, the president of Matchroom Sport, says that if there is a clash then players will have to choose between being part of the tour or exploring other opportunities.
‘Everyone has a choice in what they want to play in and whether they want to be a part of our tour,’ Hearn told Metro.co.uk.
‘I think the game’s in really good hands. There’s always going to be temptations for a one-off quickie, but we don’t do one-off quickies. We are a sustainable business that’s growing very well, with some great news that’s coming in the next month or so, we’ve got a big month coming up.
‘Look, you’ll always get someone who wants to do something for a quick buck, but that’s just not the way that I run businesses, nor will it ever be.
‘If people want to leave for a quick buck then I wish them well, they’ve got their own lives to run, they make their own decisions.
‘I won’t be unreasonable with anybody, but we have rules, contracts in place and we’re always happy to sit down and talk to them, but in a professional dialogue.
‘I don’t think there’s going to be any real issues, to be honest with you, I think Ronnie in particular is in demand in China. They offer him a lot of money and he wants to take advantage of that, I understand that.
‘But he can’t do anything that’s harmful to the players’ contract. He has the choice not to sign the players contract, that’s his call, not mine.’
Ronnie O'Sullivan 