Here is the announcement by WST:

Top 16 Seeds Confirmed For Halo World Championship

he top 16 seeds for the Halo World Championship have now been confirmed, with last year’s Crucible runner-up Jak Jones hanging on to the 16th and last spot.

Wu Yize could have jumped into the elite by reaching the final of this week’s Sportsbet.io Tour Championship in Manchester, but lost in the opening round which means he’ll be heading for the qualifiers. Jones is safe for the Crucible and will be a seed for the first time, as will Xiao Guodong and Si Jiahui.

The 16 seeds are below, though this order could change depending on results in Manchester:

Kyren Wilson
Judd Trump
Mark Selby
Ronnie O’Sullivan
Mark Williams
John Higgins
Luca Brecel
Mark Allen
Neil Robertson
Ding Junhui
Barry Hawkins
Zhang Anda
Si Jiahui
Xiao Guodong
Shaun Murphy
Jak Jones

Of course the seeding order could still change and … what if Ronnie withdraws?

My understanding of what could happen if Ronnie withdraws is this: if he withdraws before the third round of qualifiers starts, every seed below Ronnie would “advance” one spot and Gary Wilson, who is currently ranked 17th in the provisional Crucible seeding list, would take the 16th spot as a seed at the Crucible. If Ronnie was to withdraw after the third round of qualifiers started, his opponent in the first round proper would get a bye.

Meanwhile, Phil Haigh has been speaking to Graeme Dott:

Ronnie O’Sullivan ‘misinterpreted quite a lot,’ says former World Championship final foe

Ronnie O’Sullivan is often ‘misinterpreted’ and ‘has a heart of gold,’ says Graeme Dott, who hopes to see the Rocket back at the World Snooker Championship.

Whether O’Sullivan will play at the Crucible this year is yet to be seen as he has not played competitively since the Championship League in January, pulling out of a string of tournaments since then.

Frustrations boiled over at the Championship League, where he smashed his cue and left it in a bin in Leicester, before pulling out of the Masters shortly after.

He has not been seen at the table since, but having never missed a World Championship since his debut in 1993, it would be a major decision not to play in Sheffield.

Dott, who lost to the Rocket in the 2004 Crucible final but then beat him in the 2006 semis before lifting the famous trophy himself, hopes that O’Sullivan is getting himself into a good place mentally so he can perform in Sheffield.

‘I’ve not spoke to him but the guy must be struggling,’ Dott told Metro. ‘I know he’s got a love-hate relationship with snooker, but he does still love it.

‘He puts a lot of work in in practice so he obviously is struggling if he’s not playing. Probably the best thing he can do is what he is doing, just don’t play.

‘Hopefully he gets back to a better mental state so he can come back and play again.

‘He’s the box office name, he’s still the box office player, he’s probably still the best player. It’s certainly a better tournament with him in and it’s not quite the same when he’s not there.

‘I wish him nothing but the best and hopefully he’s back to feeling a bit better and he feels well enough to compete again.’

The Englishman and the Scot go a long way back, having first played each other professionally at the 1995 International Open.

Both have gone through their own battles with mental health, with Dott speaking openly about suffering with depression in the past.

The 47-year-old has also told the story of how O’Sullivan reached out to him when the Rocket heard that he was struggling, to offer help and advice.

Explaining the worst time of his struggles with depression in 2007, Dott said on This Sporting Life back in 2021: ‘Funnily enough I actually got a phone call, now I don’t really speak to him, at all. Even just now I don’t really speak to him but Ronnie phoned me and was asking, because Ronnie had been through it as well, he was asking how I was feeling and what I was doing and saying that was the same as what he was doing.

‘I thought it was really nice of him to phone, because he doesn’t really speak to me, it’s not as if we were mates. I kind of looked at him a different way after that. But it’s horrible [depression], horrible.’

Remembering that conversation now, Dott says it meant a lot to him: ‘Yeah it did because it’s not as if we were friends, it came completely out the blue, so it shows you what kind of guy he is.

‘He’s misinterpreted quite a lot, Ronnie, I think he’s got a heart of gold. Hopefully he can feel a bit better and he can play in the Worlds. It would be a much better tournament with him in it.’

Thank you Graeme! I’m wishing you the very best at the qualifiers.

Graeme is one of the most honest and genuine person you might want to meet. Fans don’t appreciate him enough. He always speaks his mind, but I’ve never heard a nasty word coming out of his mouth. He’s genuine, honest and a very very good player. More than very good, you don’t become World Champion if you are not a very top player.

Kyren Wilson beat Judd Trump by 10-9 yesterday evening, to become the 2025 Players Championship Champion. It’s the third time this season that Kyren, the reigning World Champion, beats Judd, the World Number One, in a ranking final. Some feat!

Congratulations Kyren Wilson!

It was a really good match. It was tense, of course, very tense even at times, and there were mistakes which is to be expected when the stakes are that high, but there was also a lot of good stuff and it was played in great spirit.

Also the players struggled with the cue ball. My hearing is not great and I didn’t manage to understand what the issue was exactly, but, on multiple occasions the players looked really baffled at the outcome of their shots. Both players agreed that there was an issue and the ball was replaced.

Here is the report shared by WST:

Wilson Beats Trump In Thrilling Final

World Champion Kyren Wilson prevailed in an epic latest edition of his rivalry with world number one Judd Trump, edging the Sportsbet.io Players Championship final 10-9 in Telford.

Wilson now has ten ranking titles to his name, matching the career tally of snooker legend Jimmy White. They are joint 12^th in the all-time standings, one title behind Mark Allen and one ahead of John Parrott and Peter Ebdon.

It’s the 33-year-old’s fourth win of the season, having also lifted trophies at the Xi’an Grand Prix, BetVictor Northern Ireland Open and the Machineseeker German Masters. Wilson becomes only the seventh player to reach that tally in a single campaign.

The head-to-head standings between Trump and Wilson are now locked level at 13-13. Wilson has had the edge in recent times, with his final wins in Xi’an, Belfast and now Telford this evening all coming against Trump.

The Warrior walks away with the £150,000 top prize. It’s the first time he’s ever won the Players Championship, an event he failed to qualify for last year. However, Wilson remains a comfortable distance behind Trump in second place in both the Johnstone’s Paint One Year List and the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings.

Defeat for Trump means he will remain on 30 career ranking titles. The Ace in the Pack will also have to wait another year to get his hands on the Players Championship trophy for a third time, having lifted it in 2017 and 2020.

The pair were locked level at 4-4 coming into this evening’s climax and they continued to go blow for blow tonight.

The first two frames of the session were shared, before Wilson countered to come from behind in each of the next three with breaks of 72, 74 and 70 to move 8-5 ahead.

Trump took back-to-back frames to crank up the tension, before a dramatic 16^th, which came down to the last two balls. Wilson eventually fired in a tricky pink to the right middle and deposited a more straightforward black to lead 9-7.

Trump refused to back down and breaks of 78 and 103 set up a nerve shredding deciding frame at 9-9.

After both players had failed to cash in on their first opportunities, Trump took on a daring long range red, but missed it and left Wilson his chance. He pounced and grasped victory with a match winning 36, clenching his fist and roaring to the capacity crowd after getting over the line.

“It is hard to keep control of your emotions in deciding frames like that. You feel like you are going to be sick. You just have to rely on your technique. All the hours of practising put you in good stead. If you can get the things you’ve worked on mentally right, the decider is the time to do it. I’m so pleased to get over the line.”

Kyren Wilson

2025 Sportsbet.io Players Champion

Wilson added: “I know what a competitor Judd Trump is. He will go away and be hungry to put it right next time we play. That is what spurs me on to keep practising and performing at the highest level. It is a really healthy rivalry for not just me and Judd, but snooker as a whole.

“It’s a huge tournament to win and any final you can beat Judd Trump in is always a feather in the cap. I didn’t even qualify for these events last year. I had quite a poor season leading up to the World Championship. It has been a conscious effort to make the most of it and I did that today by winning the trophy.”

Trump said: “We weren’t able to play our best, but there was some drama in the decider. Well done to Kyren and his family. I want to thank everyone for coming out to support us. It has been a great event.”

The Deciding Frame

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I went missing yesterday … out in Athens trying to sort some administrative nightmare out in the company of our lawyers – father and son – who are, I must say, great company as well as good at their job. Their only fault seems to be a strong determination to feed me sweets and cakes every couple of hours! 😂

Anyway… I’m back to snooker today, but obviously can’t comment on any of yesterday’s action.

Here are the reports shared by WST on what happened on Wednesday and yesterday.

Jack Lisowski has withdrawn from the event:

Lisowski Withdraws From World Grand Prix

Jack Lisowski has withdrawn from the ongoing World Grand Prix in Hong Kong for personal reasons. 

Lisowski was due to face Judd Trump on Thursday afternoon, but Trump will now receive a bye. Neil Robertson vs. David Gilbert will now take place on table one.

It’s a shame for Jack and I sincerely hope that nothing awful has happened to himself or anyone dear to him.

Day 2 – Afternoon session

Neil Robertson revealed that switching to a titanium ferrule on his cue has given him renewed enthusiasm for practice, and his sharpness showed in a 4-0 win over Yuan Sijun in the first round of the World Grand Prix in Hong Kong.

…

Robertson is one of a growing number of players to switch to titanium, which allows the player to aim directly at the potting angle, rather than allowing for side spin on the cue ball, known as deflection, when playing with a traditional brass ferrule. The Australian has already had an excellent season, highlighted by victory at the BetVictor English Open in September, but believes he can improve further with the change to his cue. 

He fired breaks of 97 and 67 today as he eased into the last 16, setting up a tie with David Gilbert on Thursday.

“I decided to make the switch after the Welsh Open, then I needed a couple of weeks to get used to it,” said Robertson. “As soon as I wake up I’m thinking I can’t wait to practise, and it’s the first time I have felt that in over 20 years. The things I’m doing things in practice are exciting. I need to experience it more in an area with the different cloth, but once I fully adapt I’ll be playing some fun snooker.  

“Other top players like John Higgins, Kyren Wilson and Mark Allen have changed to titanium in recent seasons and I had always been curious. It’s a massive change because there is so much less deflection, while with brass you get used to aiming to miss balls by one or two inches, to allow for the throw. Titanium is a much more consistent material then brass which means you have to adapt less in different conditions when we play in different counties. I think in the coming years we will see more innovation in snooker.” 

Robertson won the Hong Kong Masters in 2017 and enjoys the location. He added: “I always love coming here. In some places you go for a practice then go back to your hotel room. In Hong Kong you want to make the most of every day. That helps inspire me. People love snooker and support the event. If I can get to the quarter-finals onwards I think the atmosphere in the arena will be unbelievable.“

BetVictor Welsh Open champion Mark Selby edged out Jackson Page 4-3 despite failing to make a break over 50. After sharing the first four frames, Page made an 85 to lead 3-2, and he was among the balls first in frame six but scored only 29. Selby battled back to take that frame on the colours, then won the decider with runs of 36 and 41. 

“Jackson played well to go 3-2 up and I was just hanging on,” admitted Selby, who now meets Mark Allen or Jimmy Robertson. “He had a good chance to win 4-2 but luckily he let me back into it. I’ll need to improve in the next round.”

China’s Xiao Guodong, enjoying the best season of his career and currently fourth in the Johnstone’s Paint One-Year Rankings, edged out Jak Jones 4-3. Breaks of 106 and 56 put Xiao 2-0 up before Jones hit back with 53, 69 and 58 to lead 3-2. Xiao rose to the challenge with runs of 110 (his 300th career century) and 89 to take the last two frames. The result means that last year’s Crucible runner-up Jones misses out on the Sportsbet.io Players Championship and could be in danger of having to qualify for the World Championship.

Xiao now meets BetVictor Scottish Open champion Lei Peifan, who enjoyed a 4-2 success against Elliot Slessor with runs of 60, 107 and 71.

I didn’t see anything from this session as I had to prepare for my trip on the next day. Neil’s quotes about the titanium ferule are interesting though and they explain why some players, particularly older players, may find the transition hard. Practice in snooker is a lot about creating “automatism”. “Undoing” some automatic behaviours and, not just replacing them by new behaviours , but making them ” the new automatic” as well isn’t easy.

Day 2 – evening session

Jimmy Robertson scored his best result in recent months as he came from 2-0 down to beat Mark Allen 4-2 in the first round of the World Grand Prix in Hong Kong.  

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Robertson started the current season strongly, notably knocking out John Higgins and Kyren Wilson on his way to the quarter-finals of the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters in September, and he has now claimed another huge scalp with victory over world number seven Allen. 

The result keeps alive Robertson’s hopes of qualifying for this month’s Sportsbet.io Players Championship in Telford as he now lies 20th in the Johnstone’s Paint One-Year Rankings and if he reaches the final he will jump into the top 16. Allen is defending champion in that event but defeat today means his place in Telford is not secure yet.

Breaks of 50 and 63 gave Allen the first two frames, but Robertson then dominated by taking four in a row with top runs of 65, 68 and 50 as he set up a last 16 tie with Mark Selby on Thursday evening.

Barry Hawkins added another win to his superb season with a 4-1 win over Tom Ford. Hawkins was runner-up in both the Victorian Plumbing UK Championship and Machineseeker German Masters as well as reaching the quarter-finals of last week’s Weide Cup World Open. Breaks of 126 and 105 today helped him set up a second round fixture with Shaun Murphy.

“It’s looking like one of my best seasons ever,” said Hawkins, who is seventh on the one-year list. “I haven’t won anything but I have been very consistent and hopefully I can still pick up a trophy. My main aim at the start of season was to be in the top 16 for the Crucible so I have done that already. 

“I am over the moon to beat Tom because since winning the Shoot Out he’s had confidence. It’s an amazing venue and if I can get to the later rounds it will be a fantastic atmosphere.”

That result ended Ford’s hopes of qualifying for Telford, and also means he misses out on the top 16 status for the World Championship which he enjoyed last year. 

China’s top player Ding Junhui suffered a surprise 4-3 defeat against Xu Si. Ding led 3-2 with top breaks of 78 and 108 but Xu won the sixth with a run of 81 then dominated the decider with 43 and 24. He now meets Hossein Vafaei, who took full advantage of his late call up in place of Ronnie O’Sullivan as he edged out Si Jiahui 4-3. 

In this session I watched the Vafaei v Si Jiahui match. It was a very watchable match full of twists and turns. Hossein Vafaei deserves a lot of credit for winning this one. He was in pain throughout, apparently suffering from an arm or shoulder injury. His opponent, Si Jiahui was the better scorer: over the course of the match, he had four breaks over 50, including one in the last frame, whilst Hossein Vafaei had just one break of note, a 56. Hossein’s perseverance and determination are to be admired.

Day 3 – afternoon session

Man of the moment John Higgins kept his hot streak going with a 4-2 win over World Champion Kyren Wilson in the second round of the World Grand Prix, and will now set a new record for the most ever ranking event quarter-finals appearances. 

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Higgins described his triumph at last week’s Weide Cup World Open as a “big monkey off my back‘ as it was his first ranking title for four years. The 49-year-old has carried his momentum into this week’s event in Hong Kong, knocking out Ali Carter before today’s success in a tremendous match against Wilson. 

Crucible king Wilson opened with a run of 131 then Higgins responded with a 143, the new target for the £10,000 high break prize. Wilson regained the lead with a 72 but failed to score a point in the last three frames as Higgins rattled in 74, 92 and 100. On Friday the Scot will face Shaun Murphy or Barry Hawkins in the 147th ranking quarter-final of his 33-year career, putting him ahead of Ronnie O’Sullivan’s tally of 146.

“It’s a good record and a nice number to get to,” said world number eight Higgins. “I needed to play well today to beat Kyren because he’s beginning to have an aura around the table. He reminds me of a young John Parrott, he hits the ball which such authority and really believes he is going to pot everything. That’s daunting to play against so you know you have to be at your best. 

“I felt great today, there’s no pressure. Winning last week was a big monkey off my back because I’d lost in some heart-breaking finals. I have proved to myself I can still do it at this age. 

“There were some dark times. Drives home and flights home, talking to yourself asking ‘do I really need to do this? Do I need to put myself through it?’ But the competitive nature within me had got me to a certain level, and that wouldn’t allow me to back down and drift away neatly. That’s what kept me driving on, to taste the feeling of winning again.”

Most Ranking Event Quarter-Finals

All-Time List

John Higgins 147
Ronnie O’Sullivan 146
Stephen Hendry 122
Mark Williams 114
Judd Trump 100
Mark Selby 99

Stuart Bingham reached his first quarter-final of the season with a 4-2 win over Wu Yize. China’s Wu made a fast start with 129 and 120 to go 2-0 up, but former World and Masters champion Bingham stormed back to take four frames in a row with top runs of 80 and 108. 

Bingham must reach the final this week to climb into the top 16 of the Johnstone’s Paint One-Year Rankings and qualify for the Sportsbet.io Players Championship. “That’s my goal and if I play like I did today I’ve got a chance,” said the Essex cueman ahead of tomorrow’s meeting with Mark Selby or Jimmy Robertson. 

Neil Robertson battled to a 4-1 success against David Gilbert with a top break of 78. He now meets Xiao Guodong or Lei Peifan.

Day 3 – evening session

Battling a spinal problem which is causing intense pain, Hossein Vafaei beat Xu Si 4-3 in the second round of the World Grand Prix as he continued to take advantage of his late call-up in place of Ronnie O’Sullivan. 

This time last week, Vafaei didn’t think he had a place in Hong Kong, but when O’Sullivan pulled out on Saturday he was given the spot, as the next player in line on the Johnstone’s Paint One-Year Rankings. And after beating Si Jiahui 4-3 in round one, Vafaei enjoyed another narrow victory against Xu, winning the sixth frame on the final black for 3-3 and the decider on the final pink. His top breaks in those two matches were just 58 and 56 but Iran’s leading player is into the quarter-finals and faces Judd Trump on Friday. 

For several weeks, Vafaei has been suffering from the effects of a problem with a disc in his upper spine, but has no intention of pulling out. “I am playing with one hand, I am in so much pain with my neck and shoulder,” said the 30-year-old former Shoot Out champion. “But I am always fighting for my fans and I’m delighted for them to win today. If I pull out, what would I do, sit and watch the others? So I want to try. When I sit in my chair, my hand is shaking, my left arm is completely numb. I don’t have any feeling on the shot. 

“Last week I was in Chengdu and I went to hospital there but I didn’t have time for an MRI scan. I had a CT scan. I know I need physiotherapy and exercise. After this event I will go to Iran, see the Olympic doctor there and he will help me. In the mean time I have had acupuncture with small electric shocks to the nerve and hopefully that will help after a few days.”

Vafaei was in Chengdu when he received the news of a call-up to this week’s event. He added: “I was very happy to have a place although I hope Ronnie is happy and healthy. I love playing in Hong Kong and China, this is the place I want to be. They treat us really well. Judd is a good friend, a great champion and ambassador. It’s nice to see he has achieved his dream, he is one of my heroes. Hopefully we can put on a good show for the fans.”

Shaun Murphy enjoyed a 4-1 victory over Barry Hawkins with top breaks of 75 and 51. With runs to the quarter-finals this week, both Murphy and Neil Robertson have strengthened their hopes of being seeded among the top 16 for the Crucible. With a guaranteed total of £35,000 if they qualify for both the Sportsbet.io Players Championship and Sportsbet.io Tour Championship, they are sure to move above Jak Jones, Gary Wilson and Tom Ford in the Race to the Crucible.

Murphy, who now meets John Higgins, said: “Last time I played Barry he broke my heart at the UK Championship (in the quarter-finals when Hawkins won 6-2). I’m delighted with the win, I would have liked to knock in a few more big breaks for a great crowd. But I’d rather play badly and win than play well and lose.“

Mark Selby reached his 100th ranking event quarter-final with a 4-2 win over Jimmy Robertson, highlighted by breaks of 102 and 74. The four-time World Champion, who won last month’s BetVictor Welsh Open, will now meet Stuart Bingham.

Xiao Guodong made three centuries during a 4-3 win in a Chinese derby against Lei Peifan. From 2-0 down, Wuhan Open champion Xiao fired runs of 117, 128 and 128 as he set up a quarter-final with Neil Robertson.

I hope that Hossein can get the help he needs. It would be a shame if the end of his season was marred by injury. Also it seems that his “feud” with Ronnie is well and truly over¹.

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1. TBH I never really understood what got Hossein so worked up at the time … ↩︎

John Higgins has beaten Joe O’Connor by 10-6 in the final to become the 2025 World Open Champion.

Congratulations John Higgins

Here is the report shared by WST:

John Higgins scored one of the most satisfying victories of his career and ended a sequence of four years without a ranking title by beating Joe O’Connor 10-6 in the final of the Weide Cup World Open in Yushan, China.

One of snooker’s all-time greats, Higgins feared that his days of lifting trophies were over, particularly after a series of a narrow defeats in crucial matches, most painfully a 10-9 reverse from 9-4 ahead in the 2022 Tour Championship final against Neil Robertson.

Wishaw’s 49-year-old Higgins has, at last, buried those demons by capturing his first ranking title since the 2021 Players Championship. And it’s a huge event – with a top prize of £175,000 which lifts him to eighth in the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings and up to third in the Johnstone’s Paint One-Year list. He now has 32 ranking titles, behind only Ronnie O’Sullivan (40) and Stephen Hendry (36).

Set to turn 50 in May, the Scot becomes the second oldest ranking event winner in snooker history, after Ray Reardon who was just the other side of his 50th birthday when he won the 1982 Professional Players Tournament. Higgins also sets a new record for the longest gap between first and most recent ranking titles, 30 years and 129 days after his maiden success at the 1994 Grand Prix. 

Fellow ‘Class of 92’ members O’Sullivan and Mark Williams have had moments in the limelight in recent seasons, which may have stung for Higgins as his standard was still high but he struggled to handle nerves in big moments, describing it himself as “mental fragility.” He has never lost the hunger to win more titles and has experimented extensively with different cues as well as techniques to keep his emotions under control. This week he has found a formula that works, and the four-time Crucible king will hope that lasts as he looks to extend his astonishing longevity. 

O’Connor had played perhaps the best snooker of his life in reaching the final, knocking out the likes of Judd Trump, Shaun Murphy and Ali Carter. The 29-year-old from Leicester started slowly today and left himself too big a deficit to claw back, and is still waiting for his first pro title, having lost his only previous final 9-2 against Gary Wilson at the 2022 Scottish Open. Still, the £75,000 pay day is a career best and lifts him eight places to world number 31.

Leading 6-2 after the first session, Higgins soon extended that advantage as a break of 68 helped him take the opening frame of the evening session. Runs of 71 and 70 got O’Connor back to 7-4, only for Higgins to respond with 57 and 94 to go 9-4 ahead. 

In frame 14, Higgins had a chance for victory from 45-1 down, but made just 24 before missing a risky plant to a centre pocket, handing his opponent the chance to pull one back. Higgins established a 43-8 lead in the 15th before O’Connor got the better of a safety exchange and, with the balls in unpromising positions, made a marvellous 67 clearance including a double on the final green to a centre pocket.

At 9-6, Higgins may have feared a late collapse, but he composed himself and finished in superb style with a break of 100, his fifth century of the tournament.

Update …

People who read this blog know how much I struggle to appreciate Higgins after what happened in 2010¹ but there is no doubt that he’s a great player, one of the greatest, and that his dedication to his sport is to be admired.

1. I still feel that he has got away with what he did very, very lightly at the time. He only missed some minor events early in the season. The fact that he was set up is nor here or there because he didn’t know that he was set up. That said, he wasn’t the main culprit, nor was he the main target. He may just have been collateral damage. His manager Pat Mooney had much more responsibility in this than John himself if only because he was a member of the board, in charge of developing the game in Eastern Europe. As a result, Pat was banned from all things snooker. Rightly so. To John’s credit, on his return, he worked very hard to redeem himself. What I REALLY wish to know one day is what was the TRUE purpose of this setup and who was behind it. I doubt that the NOTW just wanted a big scoop … Surely there was something deeper and more sinister behind it all. Maybe the real target was Hearn, who had just taken control of the sport and wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea. By discrediting his “board”, someone may have tried to discredit Hearn himself. ↩︎