Wuhan Open Day One: Williams Hails Next Welsh Generation
Welsh snooker legend Mark Williams admitted his young compatriots Liam Davies and Jackson Page are ready to take on China’s best talents, after holding off a spirited fightback from teenager Davies to prevail 5-3 at the Wuhan Open.
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The three-time World Champion was in sensational form in the opening three frames this evening, crafting consecutive century breaks of 125, 100 and 137 to storm into a 3-0 lead. Williams then added a fourth to move 4-0 ahead at the mid-session interval.
When play resumed, 19-year-old Davies showed his class to burst back into contention. The former European Under-21 champion took three on the bounce, including runs of 61 and 94, to move just a frame back at 4-3. However, 50-year-old Williams stamped out hopes of a comeback with 70 in the eighth to get over the line. Next up he faces Joe O’Connor in round three.
“He never looked for once as if he’d gave up. He never threw the towel in and he made some great breaks to get to 4-3,” said world number five Williams, who was runner-up to Zhao Xintong in the Crucible final back in May.
“Both Liam and Jackson are as good as most of the Chinese players. It is easy for me to say that after having just beat one of them. He is only 19 and he has many years yet. It is nice to have a couple of youngsters that can take it to the young Chinese players. It has been a long time with them dominating.
“My game is there but not as consistent as it used to be. First session I can have it and the next I can be dreadful. That is what it is. I’m enjoying it and giving it a good go. I do fade a little bit now though.”
Barry Hawkins found himself facing yet another decider, this time prevailing 5-4 against Welshman Jamie Jones to make round three.
Since finishing last season with a 10-9 defeat to Hossein Vafaei at the World Championship, five of Hawkins’ last eight matches have come down to final frames. The Londoner arrived in Wuhan off the back of a 6-5 defeat to Chris Wakelin at the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters and a 6-5 loss to Ronnie O’Sullivan at the Shanghai Masters.
A cagey decider this afternoon saw both players spurn chances to get over the line on the colours, but eventually Hawkins cracked in a superb long range green to a black end corner, screwing back to find position on the brown and a 5-4 victory. He’ll now play Jak Jones.
Hawkins said: “You don’t want to keep being in deciding frames, but as long as you are on the right side of them it is alright. Today I’m really just so lucky still to be here after that. It is hard, especially when you know your game isn’t there. I felt all over the place and had no confidence at all. Every ball felt like a pint of blood. What I do is just battle and battle. I’ve absolutely used my get out of jail free card there.”
World Champion Zhao Xintong looked to be set for his own perfect break before spurning a straightforward pink on 134. However, he still beat a spirited Iulian Boiko 5-3 and will now play Matthew Stevens.
World number one Judd Trump was a 5-1 victor against Pakistan’s Farakh Ajaib and plays Liu Hongyu up next. Meanwhile, Mark Selby booked a clash with David Gilbert after beating Michael Holt 5-2.
I must admit that it annoys me massively that the main point of reporting by WST on a day of competition in China is Willo’s opinion about the Welsh “youngsters” , if you can consider that Jackson Page, who is 24 and has been a pro since 2019 is still a “youngster”. Of course he’s still young, but he’s no kid anymore and has plenty of experience already. Twenty two matches were played yesterday and only six are reported on in the above report, of which only two are covered in some details.
Marco Fu isn’t even mentioned… he only beat Chris Wakelin by 5-3, with two centuries (120, 136). Eight Chinese players won their match yesterday. Only two feature in this report1, they couldn’t really ignore the defending champion and the World Champion… Incredibly, Ding Junhui, who remains important being the one really “started” the snooker boom in China is among those being “overlooked”.
The thing is, it gives me a feeling that WST is only interested in the British audience and I know that I’m not the only one feeling that way.
Anyway… life goes on and there is plenty more to it than snooker.
three if you count Liu Hongyu who is only mentioned as a “next opponent” ↩︎
First of all thank you so much to everyone for the nice words shared in comments yesterday as this blog celebrated its 10th anniversary. Thank you 💖 !
Back to the baize… here is what happened in Jeddah yesterday. I’m not really able to comment as I didn’t watch anything yet. Family visiting gets priority…
Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters Day Six: Rocket Completes Huge Fight-Back
Ronnie O’Sullivan pulled off a sensational come-back from 5-2 down to beat surprise package Chang Bingyu 6-5 and set up a Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters quarter-final with Kyren Wilson.
World number 104 Chang, playing in the last 16 of a ranking event for the first time, threatened a huge upset when he led 5-2, but O’Sullivan found another gear and played superbly over the last four frames to keep alive his hopes of a first title in 17 months. Cheered on by local fans, the seven-time World Champion faces an intriguing clash on Thursday night with Wilson, a player he has recently described as the best in the world on current form.
Breaks of 57, 68, 80, 64 and 66 helped China’s 23-year-old Chang establish a 5-2 advantage, as O’Sullivan made several unforced errors though he did compile runs of 84 and 85 in the two frames he won. The 49-year-old then made a 103 for 5-3 and dominated frame nine to draw within one.
Chang had his best match-winning chance in the tenth, but leading 53-37 he missed a tricky pot on the penultimate red to a top corner. O’Sullivan potted the red, leaving the cue ball on a side cushion, then played the shot of the tournament so far to cut in the pink and gain position on the last red. He cleared the table for 5-5 then, typically, made a 125 in the decider.
“I have realised now I took this game for granted before because when I was struggling I lost my confidence and lost my swagger and that’s something you can’t fake,” said world number five O’Sullivan, into his 148th ranking quarter-final. “I had it for such a long time without even realising it. Tonight I got it back in spells and remembered I used to feel like that a lot. That’s what made me win so much. I just don’t have that enough now. I wish I could turn the clock back and appreciate it more. These days I am twitching shots and throwing fast ones in, I feel like a numpty. I did feel good in spells tonight but I missed easy balls, my arm doesn’t get through the ball like it used to.”
World number two Wilson has won seven out of seven matches so far this season and tonight beat Si Jiahui 6-3. Earlier this month he landed the Shanghai Masters crown, beating O’Sullivan 6-3 in the quarter-finals, and the Kettering cueman has won the last three meetings between the pair, a sequence he will hope to extend this week. Breaks of 70, 70, 67, 77 and 73 helped the 2024 World Champion to a comfortable win tonight.
Chris Wakelin, who knocked Neil Robertson and Mark Allen out of the World Championship this year, took another big scalp with a 6-5 success over Crucible king Zhao Xintong. World number 16 Wakelin took a 3-1 lead with a top break of 106 then lost four frames in a row, but battled back to win the last three.
“I believe in myself,” said Wakelin. “If I can go deep this week it would cement my top 16 place. Even if I won this tournament, I don’t think people would see me as a top player. But if I can consistently prove it to myself I don’t care what anyone else thinks. At the Crucible I ran out of steam in the quarter-finals, I was mentally exhausted. My goal this season was to get fitter so I have been doing more running and that’s going well so far.”
He will now meet Barry Hawkins who also enjoyed an impressive fight-back, recovering a 5-3 deficit to beat Ding Junhui 6-5. Hawkins made 99 and 84 for 5-5 then dominated the decider in three scoring visits. The Londoner was runner-up at the UK Championship and German Masters last season and will hope he can go one step further this week and claim a first major crown.
Here are the scores for Ronnie’s match:
And the highlights of the match, shared by WST on YouTube
Yesterday, the top 16 players started their campaign in Jeddah.
Ronnie won his opening match, beating Joe O’Connor by 5-0! He played well, not at his best but certainly well enough considering this is the first “ranking” match he played this season and it was a really important one. Indeed, ahead of this event looked in real danger to need to qualify for the Crucible and to finish the season out of the top 16. This event is a very lucrative one and winning his opening match has significantly improved his position. As it stands now, he’s provisionally back in the top 16 in the “end of season” projected list, and, a win today would see him back in the “top 16” in the “Crucible” projected list. It also helps that Ronnie is now 16th in the “World Grand Prix” projected list as ranking points are available for those who qualify for the event, even if they lose their opening match.
Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters Day Five: O’Sullivan Storms To 5-0
Playing with a new cue which he hopes will inspire a return to his best, Ronnie O’Sullivan raced to a 5-0 victory over Joe O’Connor in his opening match at the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters in Jeddah.
The fans’ favourite, who described this as his home tournament as he now lives in Dubai and has an academy in his name in Riyadh, delighted his supporters as he eased into the last 16 where he will face Chang Bingyu.
O’Sullivan was low on confidence for most of last season and played in only a handful of events, suffering a nadir at the Crucible when he was crushed 17-7 by Zhao Xintong in the semi-finals. But a new campaign always brings new hope and the 49-year-old is planning to rebuild his game by competing more regularly.
O’Connor had chances to take the first frame tonight, notably missed the black off its spot after potting the last red when he trailed 42-50. That proved a key early turning point as O’Sullivan pinched the frame and went on to take the next four with breaks of 116, 89, 53 and 90.
O’Sullivan, whose new cue is made by fellow pro Sunny Akani, said: “This one is great so I asked Sunny to make a couple more, he has given me three or four which are all good. Making cues is like being an engineer with wood – I wouldn’t have a clue but Sunny is a very intelligent guy and makes unbelievable cues.
“I have had such a poor form so what’s important to me now is to play some good matches, one after another, I’d be really happy with that. After that then I’d start to want to win tournaments.”
Asked about the standard of the current top players, O’Sullivan added: “Kyren Wilson was phenomenal in Shanghai, he plays at John Higgins’ level which is probably the biggest compliment you can give someone. I’d like to think if I am ‘on it’ I can always find a way to win. But it’s great to still be playing at this stage of my career.“
China’s 23-year-old Chang is the only remaining player who started in round one, with five wins now under his belt. The world number 104 scored a surprise 5-4 victory over Mark Allen to reach the last 16 of a ranking event for the first time. He took a 3-1 lead with a top break of 128 then Allen fought back to go 4-3 ahead, only for Chang to win the last two frames.
Shanghai Masters champion Kyren Wilson narrowly avoided a shock defeat against Iulian Boiko, coming from 4-2 down to win 5-4. Ukraine’s 19-year-old Boiko compiled runs of 73 and 93 in going 4-2 ahead and he had match-winning chances in each of the last three frames but couldn’t take them. Wilson made breaks of 76, 72 and 54 as he earned a fixture with Si Jiahui.
“I felt a bit flat going out there, that’s sometimes the case after winning a big tournament,” said world number two Wilson, who is now sure to close the gap on rankings leader Judd Trump who was knocked out earlier in the day. “I had to gee myself up and remind myself that this is a massive tournament as well. At 4-2 I had to dig in, keep my head and believe that it might turn around. I made some good clearances under pressure.”
World Champion Zhao Xintong cruised to a 5-0 success against Steven Hallworth in just 55 minutes, rattling in breaks of 92, 132, 97, 94 and 106. Chris Wakelin top scored with 102 in a 5-1 victory over Farakh Ajaib, while Ding Junhui came from 2-1 down to beat Stephen Maguire 5-2. Si Jiahui, a semi-finalist in this event last year, won an all-Chinese battle against Wu Yize 5-3. Barry Hawkins top scored with 83 in a 5-3 win over Martin O’Donnell.
Here are the scores for the match:
And a couple of images
Several videos have been shared on YouTube by WST and TNT:
Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters Day Five: Trump Flattened By Lines
Judd Trump’s hopes of defending his Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters title crashed at the first hurdle as he lost 5-3 in the opening round to world number 68 Oliver Lines.
World number one Trump beat Mark Williams 10-9 in an epic final last year to bank the £500,000 top prize but this time he faces an early flight out of Jeddah after a shock reverse against a player who has never reached the final of a ranking event. John Higgins is also out, losing 5-4 to Elliot Slessor.
After taking the opening frame, an out-of-sorts Trump made uncharacteristic errors over the next four as Lines surged into a 4-1 lead with top breaks of 125, 63 and 71. Trump pulled two back, making a 102 in frame seven, but Yorkshire’s 30-year-old Lines slotted in an excellent long red early in the eighth to set up a match-winning 100. He’s into the last 16 to face Ali Carter and is guaranteed his biggest ever pay day of £30,000.
“It hasn’t sunk in yet. I am really proud of the way I played today and the way I handled the occasion. It’s a massive achievement,” said Lines, who also knocked Trump out of the UK Championship in 2016. “At 4-1 I was searching for the line too quickly. The pressure was ramping up so it was a really good break in the last frame.
“It’s the best win of my career. I haven’t done as well as I would like in the last few years so to beat Judd on the TV table is a big step. There’s no pressure now so hopefully I can relax and play my best stuff.”
World number four Higgins won two ranking titles at the end of last season but misses the opportunity of a deep run in Jeddah. From 4-3 down against Slessor, he potted 12 reds with blacks in frame eight before missing the 13th red on 96. In the decider, Higgins trailed 47-0 then had the chance of a trademark clearance but rattled the last red in the jaws of a top corner on 34. Slessor held his nerve to add the points he needed to book a fixture with Stuart Bingham.
“John was my hero when I was growing up, so any win against him is incredible,” said world number 29 Slessor. “I am lucky enough now to call him a friend and have him as a practice partner, he has helped me a lot. I was expecting him to clear in the last frame, so luckily for me the one in a hundred time he missed was against me.“
Bingham, who has lost three and a half stone in weight this year, saw off Zhang Anda 5-2 with runs of 80, 70, 52, 50 and 63. “Losing the weight might have given me more confidence because I am seeing the shot differently,” he said. “I was having trouble with my knee and back and that is better now. My game is getting stronger each round here.”
Shaun Murphy eased to a 5-1 victory over Thepchaiya Un-Nooh in just 72 minutes with top breaks of 125, 66 and 118. Un-Nooh made a 147 on Sunday and had a chance for another maximum in frame five today, which would have earned him a mammoth £147,000 bonus, but missed the 13th red on 96.
Murphy travelled to Saudi Arabia on Monday and had a brief panic when his cue did not arrive at Jeddah airport as it was stuck in Dubai. “My suitcase made it all the way but not my cue,” he said. “Cues seem to go missing quite often and in those moments you just think ‘please not me, not this time’. At least with air tags now we can see where the cue is. Luckily it arrived at the airport yesterday afternoon and I was able to go and pick it up.
“This event is an amazing opportunity for everyone. Winning it would send you flying up the rankings and set you up for the whole season and get you into every other tournament.“
Murphy will now meet Mark Williams, who beat Yuan Sijun 5-3. Shanghai Masters runner-up Ali Carter made a superb 132 in the decider to beat Gary Wilson 5-4.
Neil Robertson fired three centuries, 120, 114 and 106, to take his career tally to 988 as he beat Ben Woollaston 5-2. He now faces a huge last 16 clash with Mark Selby, who beat Long Zehuang 5-3.
Maguire Ends Long Drought To Win Seventh Ranking Title
Stephen Maguire won the seventh ranking title of his career, and first since 2020, by beating Joe O’Connor 3-1 in the final of the BetVictor Championship League in Leicester.
It’s the perfect start to the season for Scotland’s 44-year-old Maguire as he lifted the trophy at the first ranking event of the new campaign, earning £33,000 and a place in November’s Sportsbet.io Champion of Champions at the same venue.
World number 27 Maguire showed signs of a return to form at last season’s BetVictor Welsh Open when he was runner-up to Mark Selby, and he has now gone one step further by landing his first ranking crown since the 2020 Tour Championship. Seven titles moves him one ahead of Stuart Bingham, Ken Doherty and Ali Carter on the all-time list.
“I’m just relieved, it has been a long event, I have been up and down the motorway a few times but it’s a good reward in the end,” said Maguire, who turned pro back in 1998 and won the UK Championship in 2004. “It felt different today because there were eight players left and we knew someone was going home with the trophy. To be the last man standing and to win a title this early in the season, I’m delighted. It gives me a head start qualifying for the World Grand Prix and other events and gives me extra confidence.”
Leicester’s 29-year-old O’Connor narrowly missed out on a first ranking title and has now lost in three finals.
O’Connor had an early chance in the opening frame but missed a red which was close to a top corner, and Maguire punished him with a break of 85. In frame two, O’Connor led 32-0 when he ran out of position, and Maguire – who has been playing with a new cue for the past two weeks – later made 61 which proved enough for 2-0.
An excellent run of 99 saw O’Connor pull one back. But early in frame four, Maguire slotted in a cracking long red and went on to make a match-winning 89.
Earlier in the round robin phase, Maguire finished top of his group ahead of Ben Mertens, Pang Junxu and Matthew Selt, while O’Connor topped his group ahead of Ricky Walden, Tom Ford and Xu Si.
Stephen Maguire was always a very good player. Ronnie likes him and rates him very high. He appreciates his attacking mindset and considers that Stephen plays the game the way it should be played. Ronnie also respects Stephen for the honest and open way he always speaks his mind. They go along very well. Sometimes though Stephen’s fiery temperament gets the better of him.
Stephen is one of the players who, in the past, has complained about the “English centric” organisation of the game. The trip from Scotland to the Mattioli Arena is a long one. He’s right, but then what would he say if he was from mainland Europe or Asia? I guess that it could be rather “colourful” 😂
Stage 2 continued yesterday at the 2025 ranking Championship League Snooker, with Group C and Group D in action. Follow the links for detailed results on snooker.org.
Pang Junxu and Xu Si both remained on course for a first ranking title as they progressed to the last eight of the BetVictor Championship League by topping their groups on Saturday in Leicester.
The Chinese pair follow Stephen Maguire and Joe O’Connor into the third and final phase on Wednesday, with four more players to join them. The champion of the first ranking event of the 2025/26 season will be crowned on Wednesday night.
Pang battled through a tight Group C which came down to the last frame of the day. After beating Alfie Burden 3-1 with breaks of 109 and 132, Pang then lost 3-0 to Robbie Williams. His last fixture was against Lei Peifan and a win for either player was worth top spot, while a 2-2 draw would have handed Burden the group. After sharing the first two frames, Pang took the next two for a 3-1 victory.
Xu was the dominant player in Group D as he opened with a 3-0 win over David Lilley, highlighted by a break of 97 in the opening frame. He then saw off Artemijs Zizins 3-0 with top runs of 90 and 102, and secured top spot with a 2-2 draw against Jack Lisowski.
The action resumes on Monday with Chris Wakelin the highest ranked player Group E, while former World Champion Stuart Bingham is among the quartet in Group F.
The Chinese lads were their reliable selves for most of the day. David Lilley is a very competent and experienced player without being brilliant. Artemijs Zizins acquitted himself well and hopefully the experience will serve him well going forward. As for Jack Lisowski, I really like him but … grrrr ….
The 2025 ranking Championship League Snooker has entered its stage 2, and yesterday Joe O’Connor and Stephen Maguire prevailed in Group A and Group B respectively. Here is the report shared by WST:
Maguire And O’Connor First Into Stage Three
Stephen Maguire and Joe O’Connor became the first two players to reach the last eight of the BetVictor Championship League as they topped their groups on Friday in Leicester.
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Phase two runs until Tuesday, with the eight group winners going into the third and final phase. The champion of the first ranking event of the 2025/26 season will be crowned on Wednesday night.
Maguire, now playing his 28th professional season, started Group B with a 2-2 draw against Yuan Sijun, then beat Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 3-1 with breaks of 84, 67 and 66. His last match against Zhang Anda, who also had a win and a draw under his belt, would decide the group, and Scotland’s Maguire recovered from the loss of the first frame to win 3-1.
O’Connor was in superb form in Group A, winning all three matches. He beat On Yee Ng 3-0 with a top break of 103, then saw off both Haydon Pinhey and Elliot Slessor by a 3-1 scoreline.
The action resumes on Saturday with Jack Lisowski among the quartet in Group D, while Pang Junxu is the top-ranked player in Group C.
On Yee Ng finished third in her “stage two” group gathering 5000 ranking points and hopefully she will grow in confidence from getting to stage two to start with, and not finishing last finish last in her stage 2 group. After all, when this event will come to an end, only 16 players will have done better than her in it.
Phase 1 of the 2025 Ranking Championship League Snooker concluded yesterday with group 27 and group 29. All the detailed results are available on snooker.org, just follow the links.
Dylan Emery and Xu Si topped their groups at the BetVictor Championship League ranking event to become the last two players into the second round.
Phase two gets underway on Friday, with 32 players remaining in the hunt for the title. The second stage runs from July 18-22, with the final chapter on July 23.
Welshman Emery, who is back on tour this season after a year in the amateur ranks, produced a strong finish to top Group 27 ahead of Aaron Hill. He drew his first match 2-2 with Sahil Nayyar then beat Gary Thomson 3-0 with a top break of 126. That left Emery needing to beat Hill in the last game of the day, and he stormed to a 3-0 success.
In Group 29, China’s Xu continued his perfect start to the season having won his qualifying matches for the Wuhan Open and British Open last month. He opened with a 3-0 win over Michal Szubarczyk, making a break of 107 in frame three. He then beat Liam Highfield 3-1 with runs of 92, 90 and 84, and in his last match Xu came from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Fan Zhengyi, who had the consolation of making his second 147 in the second frame.
Here is Fan’s 147, shared by Matchroom Multisport on Youtube:
Young Michal Szubarczyk got a taste of the challenges that awaits him on the main tour. It’s brutal. I have said it many times, but I will say it again, he’s only a child, 14 is too young to be on the professional tour. At that age a player may have the required technical abilities but very few, if any at all, will have the psychological and emotional maturity to cope with the demands of professional competition. The 16 years old threshold should be reinstantiated, and, if it was for me, it would even be 18 rather than 16. Adolescence is enough of a challenge for most kids without them having to cope with the mental and emotional pressures of professional competition.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 