Professional snooker

The 2025 Tour Championship – Draw, schedule and ranking impact – plus a great Shaun Murphy interview

Monique Interview, Professional snooker tournament, Snooker ,

We have a week without professional snooker. The last event before the 2025 World Championship is the 2025 Tour Championship. WST has published the draw and schedule earlier this month:

Draw And Schedule Confirmed For Sportsbet.io Tour Championship

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The opening afternoon sees Johnstone’s Paint Masters Champion Shaun Murphy kick off the event against one of the season’s most consistent performers, Barry Hawkins. The winner of that match will face off against world number one Judd Trump, who begins his campaign on Wednesday April 2nd at 1pm.

The top 12 on the Johnstone’s Paint One-Year Rankings have earned a place in Manchester. The top four seeds go straight into the quarter-finals, while the other eight players start a round earlier.  The schedule is:

Monday 31st March 
1pm
Shaun Murphy v Barry Hawkins first session
Xiao Guodong v Wu Yize first session

7pm
Shaun Murphy v Barry Hawkins concluding session
Mark Williams v Ding Junhui first session

Tuesday 1st April
1pm
Mark Selby v Si Jiahui first session
Xiao Guodong v Wu Yize concluding session

7pm
Mark Selby v Si Jiahui concluding session
Mark Williams v Ding Junhui concluding session

Wednesday 2nd April
1pm
Judd Trump v Murphy or Hawkins first session
John Higgins v Xiao or Wu first session

7pm
Judd Trump v Murphy or Hawkins concluding session
Neil Robertson v Selby or Si first session

Thursday 3rd April
1pm
John Higgins v Xiao or Wu concluding session
Kyren Wilson v Williams or Ding first session

7pm
Neil Robertson v Selby or Si concluding session
Kyren Wilson v Williams or Ding concluding session

Friday 4th April
1pm
Semi-final first session

7pm
Semi-final concluding session

Saturday 5th April
1pm
Semi-final first session

7pm
Semi-final concluding session

Sunday 6th April
1pm
Final first session

7pm
Final concluding session

You will also find the draw and everything you need on snooker.org

There is only one player in the field who, as it currently stands, will need to qualify for the Crucible: Wu Yize. Wu needs to reach the semi-finals to climb ahead of Jak Jones currently seeded 16th. It’s quite baffling that being runner-up last year may not be enough to guarantee Jak Jones automatic qualification but that’s how it is.

Ahead of the event, Shaun Murphy has been on the onefourseven podcast and he’s said a few interesting things as reported by Phil Haigh.

One Ronnie O’Sullivan record labelled ‘ridiculous and obscene’ by snooker rival

Phil Haigh Published March 24, 2025 

Shaun Murphy is blown away by Ronnie O’Sullivan’s Triple Crown record, labelling his total of 23 as ‘ridiculous’ and ‘obscene’.

The Rocket has won more of snooker’s majors than any other player in history, with seven World Championships, eight Masters and and eight UK Championships to his name.

He has long since broken Stephen Hendry’s previous record of 18, with the Scot having landed seven World Championships, six Masters and five UK Championships.

The only other player to make it into double figures was Steve Davis, who won 15 Triple Crowns, with the next in line being John Higgins and Mark Selby on nine each.

Murphy himself has completed the Triple Crown and won his fourth major title at the Masters this season, an amazing achievement, but one that has been dwarfed by the Rocket.

The Magician was asked on his onefourseven podcast what is more likely, for him to reach two of each Triple Crowns, or O’Sullivan to make it to eight of each and he took a moment to consider how mammoth the Rocket’s achievement is.

‘When you just look at the numbers in that question. He needs a world title to make it 8-8-8, it’s ridiculous,’ said Murphy.

‘I’ve worked my nuts off to win my four and he’s got 23. It’s obscene.’

O’Sullivan has said in the past that he is not sure anyone will beat his tally of Triple Crown titles.

‘Someone’s going to have to do phenomenally well to get my records,’ he said ahead of last year’s World Championship. ‘It’s going to be hard to catch those records now. My ranking events is beatable. But the major titles – UKs, Masters and Worlds – that will be hard to get to.

‘I’m pretty cool with what I’ve done, but I’d like to win more though.’

On the question of whether O’Sullivan will make it to 8-8-8 or Murphy reach 2-2-2, the Magician sounded like he was leaning towards the Rocket, but ultimately plumped for himself.

‘I suppose the fact that Ronnie only needs one to complete the set. And will I win anything else? Let’s not assume anything,’ he said.

‘It took me 10 years to win a second Masters, I’ve never won a second World Championship and I haven’t won a second UK Championship.’

He added: ‘I’m going to back myself, I think me getting 2-2-2 is possibly more likely. I was going to say “with what we’ve seen from Ronnie in the last few months” but we haven’t seen him have we. Will we see him?’

Murphy is referring to O’Sullivan’s prolonged absence from professional competition, which has seen him out of action since January when he smashed his cue at the Championship League.

He has pulled out of a string of events including the Masters at Alexandra Palace and World Grand Prix in Hong Kong, with doubts over whether he will now play at the World Championship.

The 49-year-old has never missed a trip to the Crucible since his debut in 1993, but there is a possibility that could change next month.

Murphy said of the situation: ‘I don’t want to stray into the mental health and what he’s got going on in his personal life. What he may or may not have going on, I don’t want to go into that, it’s none of my business.

‘But from a technical point of view, last time out he smashed his cue up, you don’t get another cue and you don’t get used to another cue overnight. I’m sure he’ll only play if he’s ready to play, on and off the table.’

That possibility is very real and it would be a shame if Ronnie isn’t there but, as Shaun said, we don’t know what’s going on in his live.

Me, I just want him to be well and happy. He has nothing to prove, he has given a lot to his sport, more than any other player, even at times when he was struggling badly. His Netflix documentary was hard to watch at times, heartbreaking even. What will be, will be. We can only hope for the best, for him in the first place and for the fans too. We have to accept that nothing and no one goes on forever. There are plenty of great players in snooker currently and the global level has probably never been better. The show WILL go on.

Kyren Wilson is the 2025 Players Championship Champion

Monique Professional snooker, Professional snooker tournament

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 12th 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 16th, 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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Snooker News – 23 March 2025

Monique Amateur, Professional snooker tournament, Snooker , ,

It was quite the day, yesterday on the green baize … so many things happened!

2025 EBSA Championships in Antalya

The 2025 EBSA Championships in Antalya came to a conclusion yesterday. Liam Highfield won the main event. Two of those events were “carrying” a professional tour car for the winner: the under-21 event, won by Iulian Boiko last week and the main event won by Liam Highfield yesterday. The story of the championships though was very much Michal Szubarczyk, an extraordinary young talent.

Michal is only 14, he was born on 12 January 2011. At the tender age of 12 he won the Polish snooker championship. Earlier this month he won both the under-16 and the under-18 EBSA championships. Yesterday he played Liam Highfield in the final of the “main” EBSA event. He didn’t play well in that match, he was beaten by 5-0. Maybe the occasion got at him, maybe he was tired … after all he had played in all four EBSA events. He won the first two, made it to the final in the main event, played 26 matches over the last two weeks and won 24 of them. No mean feat, especially at just 14 years of age! The good news for Michal though is that, because Liam had already secured his tour card for the next two seasons via the Q-Tour, the losing finalist, Michal is now offered that card. The news was shared by WBSA before the final:

Szubarczyk, 14, To Be Nominated For Tour Card

Fourteen-year-old Michał Szubarczyk will be nominated for a two-year World Snooker Tour (WST) tour card after reaching the final of the 2025 EBSA European Championships in Antalya, Türkiye.

Should he accept the nomination, then Poland’s Szubarczyk will make history by becoming the youngest ever professional snooker player.

Organised by the European Billiards & Snooker Association, the 2025 European Championships in Antalya feature Under-16, Under-18, Under-21 and Main tournaments with the winners of the Under-21 and Main events each earning two-year tour cards.

Having already won both the Under-16 and Under-18 events in impressive fashion, Szubarczyk has reached a third final of the Championships by dropping just two frames in knockout stage victories over Maksim Kostov, Daan Leyssen, Chris Peplow and Nicolas Mortreux before stunning former professional Harvey Chandler 4-3 in the semi-finals.

He will face England’s Liam Highfield in the title match later today (22 March) after he overcame Dylan Emery in a deciding frame.

The 34-year-old has continued his fine form in Antalya which earlier saw him secure a two-year WST tour card via the WPBSA Q Tour Global Play-Offs. Therefore, Szubarczyk has now guaranteed himself a nomination to the professional ranks as a result of reaching the European Championship final.

Congratulations to Liam and Michal!

Today, the 2025 Players Championship Final will be played in Telford. The World Number One, Judd Trump, will face the reigning World Champion, Kyren Wilson over a possible 19 frames. It can’t get better than this, can it? Those two have been the star competitors this season.

Yesterday Judd Trump beat John Higgins by 6-4 to book his place in the final (report shared by WST).

Trump Beats Higgins To Make Telford Final

Judd Trump extended his ranking event win streak over John Higgins to 12 consecutive matches, prevailing 6-4 in the semi-finals of the Sportsbet.io Players Championship in Telford. 

Trump’s winning run over Higgins includes the 2019 World Championship final and extends back to a quarter-final meeting at the 2018 China Championship. The Englishman now leads their head-to-head standings 19-14.

Victory this evening for the Ace in the Pack sets up a mouth-watering meeting with World Champion and world number two Kyren Wilson in tomorrow’s final. They will be battling it out over the best of 19 frames for a top prize of £150,000.

The pair have been the two standout performers of the season. They’ve already met in two finals, with Wilson emerging victorious at the Xi’an Grand Prix and the BetVictor Northern Ireland Open. However, the overall head-to-head is 13-12 to Trump.

Trump has enjoyed a tremendous campaign, having already racked up £1,375,600 in prize money. The 30-time ranking event winner has picked up titles at the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters and the UK Championship, as well as the invitational Shanghai Masters.

Trump set the tone in the opening frame of the evening with a superb 130 to move 1-0 up. Further runs of 126 and 88 helped him to claim three of the next five frames to go 4-2 up.

At that point Higgins stepped up with two on the bounce to restore parity at 4-4. The Scot made the first significant move in the ninth, but crucially missed a red to the top left on 41. Trump hammered home a crucial break of 61 to punish and go 5-4 ahead.

The last frame of the evening was won with contributions of 53 and 23, which put Trump in the final.

“I had four or five years where he (Kyren Wilson) didn’t beat me before this season. I can see the confidence when he walks around the table. His body language has been different since winning the World Championship,” said 35-year-old Trump.

“For me it is difficult because I’m playing at my level, I’m not full of confidence. If I win the World Championship or something like that I would take the game to that kind of level. He’s in a purple patch, but it’s not going to last forever. It makes for an exciting rivalry for snooker.

“I feel that at the start of my career it was the other way around (against John Higgins). He was making incredible clearances to beat me. It is nice to turn it around. I’m obviously confident to beat him. It is probably in the back of his head that he hasn’t beaten me for a while, but I still have to go out there and do it. I need to play near my best every time.”

And last but not least … WST has published the list of players who have entered the World Championship.

2025 World Championship Entrants Confirmed

The World Championship entry deadline has now passed and WST is delighted to now announce the full list of entrants for the sport’s showcase event.

The final stages take place at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield from April 19th to May 5th, where the top 16 in the world rankings are pitted against 16 players that have come through a nerve shredding qualifying process.

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The qualifiers will be staged from April 7th to 16th, at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield. The competitors will be battling it out for places at the Theatre of Dreams, as well as vital ranking points in the quest for tour survival.

The full list of players is below. Please note that the players are not necessarily in order, with the seeding cut off set for the conclusion of the Sportsbet.io Tour Championship.

WST Tour Player Entrants

  • Kyren Wilson
  • Judd Trump
  • Mark Selby
  • Ronnie O’Sullivan
  • Mark Williams
  • Luca Brecel
  • John Higgins
  • Mark Allen
  • Ding Junhui
  • Shaun Murphy
  • Neil Robertson
  • Zhang Anda
  • Barry Hawkins
  • Si Jiahui
  • Ali Carter
  • Xiao Guodong
  • Gary Wilson
  • Jak Jones
  • Tom Ford
  • Stuart Bingham
  • Chris Wakelin
  • Wu Yize
  • David Gilbert
  • Hossein Vafaei
  • Jack Lisowski
  • Pang Junxu
  • Stephen Maguire
  • Elliot Slessor
  • Noppon Saengkham
  • Ryan Day
  • Joe O’Connor
  • Zhou Yuelong
  • Jackson Page
  • Jimmy Robertson
  • Yuan Sijun 
  • Matthew Selt
  • Lyu Haotian
  • Robert Milkins
  • Xu Si
  • Ricky Walden
  • Lei Peifan
  • Anthony McGill
  • Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
  • Ben Woollaston
  • Scott Donaldson
  • Fan Zhengyi
  • Martin O’Donnell
  • Robbie Williams
  • Dominic Dale
  • Daniel Wells
  • Mark Davis
  • He Guoqiang
  • Matthew Stevens
  • Jordan Brown
  • Aaron Hill
  • Graeme Dott
  • Liu Hongyu
  • Jamie Jones
  • David Lilley
  • Long Zehuang
  • Sanderson Lam
  • Jamie Clarke
  • Anthony Hamilton
  • David Grace
  • Joe Perry
  • Ishpreet Singh Chadha
  • Stan Moody 
  • Louis Heathcote
  • Tian Pengfei
  • Marco Fu
  • Ashley Carty
  • Zak Surety
  • Ma Hailong
  • Stuart Carrington
  • Jiang Jun
  • Ross Muir
  • Xing Zihao
  • Michael Holt
  • Alfie Burden
  • Rory Thor
  • Hammad Miah
  • Ian Burns
  • Oliver Lines
  • Alexander Ursenbacher
  • Liam Graham
  • Andrew Higginson
  • Gong Chenzhi
  • Duane Jones
  • Antoni Kowalski
  • Liam Pullen
  • Jimmy White
  • Ben Mertens
  • Sunny Akani
  • Andrew Pagett
  • Dean Young
  • Amir Sarkhosh
  • Artemijs Zizins
  • Bulcsu Revesz
  • Allan Taylor
  • Liam Davies
  • Ka Wai Cheung
  • Julien Leclercq
  • Haydon Pinhey
  • Chris Totten
  • Wang Yuchen
  • Haris Tahir 
  • Mostafa Dorgham
  • Robbie McGuigan
  • Farakh Ajaib
  • Manasawin Phetmalaikul
  • Bai Yulu
  • Huang Jiahao
  • Mitchell Mann
  • Reanne Evans
  • Mink Nutcharut
  • Kreishh Gurbaxani
  • Jonas Luz
  • Ken Doherty
  • Mohamed Shehab
  • Hatem Yassen
  • Ahmed Elsayed 
  • Baipat Siripaporn

WPBSA Nominations

  • Gao Yang – WSF Champion
  • Leone Crowley – WSF Junior Champion
  • Zhao Xintong – Q Tour Europe Winner
  • Steven Hallworth – Q Tour Playoff 1 Winner
  • Liam Highfield – Q Tour Playoff 2 Winner
  • Florian Nuessle – Q Tour Playoff 3 Winner
  • Brian Cini – WSF Runner-Up
  • Kaylan Patel – WS Junior Runner-Up
  • Fergal Quinn – WSF Semi-Finalist
  • Mateuz Baranowski – WSF Semi-Finalist
  • Zhou Jinhao – WSF Junior Semi-Finalist
  • Amaan Iqbal – WSF Junior Semi-Finalist
  • Michal Szubarcyzk – EBSA U18 Winner
  • Iulian Boiko – EBSA U21 Champion
  • Dylan Emery – Q Tour Europe Ranking
  • Ryan Thomerson – Q Tour Europe Ranking

Q School Top Ups

  • Simon Blackwell
  • Joshua Thomond
  • Paul Deaville
  • Daniel Womersley
  • Anton Kazakov
  • Joshua Cooper

The seeding still could change with the 2025 Tour Championship coming next, and last before the World Championship itself.

Ronnie has entered the event. Will he play? Time will tell. Some posts by Jason Francis and Phil Seymour on social media suggest he will, but then, Ronnie himself had said he would play at the Players Championship in Hong Kong and he withdrew last minute. Now, this is the World championship, he won’t need to travel abroad which of course can be tiring.

We can only wait and hope … IF he does play, how will he perform? Again, it’s impossible to predict. In 2013 he had sat the whole season out, except for a single match he had lost in a PTC, and he won the title. But that was 12 years ago … he was 37 back then, not much older than Judd currently is. Now he is 49. His eyesight is likely not as sharp as it was, and fatigue could be a factor as well. Anyway, there is nothing we can do about … just, as already mentioned, wait and hope.

The 2025 Players Championship Day5 and EBSA News

Monique Amateur, Professional snooker, Professional snooker tournament , ,

The action continued in Telford yesterday … and, as far as I’m concerned, life continued to get in the way of snooker1 , so, again, I saw next to nothing of the action at the tables.

Anyway, here are the reports shared by WST:

Higgins Floors Xiao With Stunning Fightback

John Higgins stormed back from 5-2 down to beat Xiao Guodong 6-5 and make the semi-finals of the Sportsbet.io Players Championship in Telford.

The Wizard of Wishaw captured a first ranking title in four years at the recent World Open in Yushan. He’s since admitted that it has provided newfound confidence after suffering a string of heartbreaking losses.

Higgins now has 32 ranking titles to his name, but his four-year drought extended back to the 2021 Players Championship. The intervening period saw him lose his next five ranking finals.

Next up Higgins, who also won 6-5 in his opening round tie with Chris Wakelin, faces a blockbuster semi-final showdown with world number one Judd Trump. The Scot will be aiming to end a streak 11 consecutive ranking event defeats at the hands of the Englishman.

Xiao dominated the early exchanges this afternoon. He fired in runs of 111, 55, 60 and 104 on his way to storming into a 5-2 lead and moving one from victory.

At that point Higgins dug deep and things began to unravel for Xiao. The Chinese cueman sportingly called a foul on himself after missing a ball with difficult bridging in the eighth and Higgins stepped in with 70 to close within two frames.

Xiao had another opportunity in the ninth, but missed a tricky red to left middle after an unfortunate pack split. Higgins took the frame to make it 5-4.

Both players spurned opportunities in the next, the worst of which was an easy blue to the middle by Xiao. Glasgow’s Higgins forced the final frame, which he controlled to get over the line for a comeback victory.

“I’m very relieved. I’ve been on the wrong end of matches like that, where I’ve been dominant. To come out on the right side is brilliant,” said 49-year-old Higgins.

“I thoroughly enjoyed the game. He was outplaying me, but it was great. There was a packed crowd. I was hoping to make him win the game. Luckily , he missed a couple of pressure balls and let me back into it.

“That is what I’ll miss when I retire from the game. That pressure moment at 5-5 when you have a chance to win the match. You can’t replicate that at any time. It only happens at snooker, in crunch matches. That is one thing I definitely will miss.

“I can’t wait to play Judd. I’m sure the arena will be packed. I’ll be second favourite, maybe a big second favourite. I think I’ll go into it relaxed, knowing that I’ve got to play well to have a chance. Even then it doesn’t guarantee winning. I can’t wait to go out there and give it my all.”

I didn’t see the match but that moment when Xiao called a foul on himself was shared on social media. This is the kind of things the sport we love can be proud about: players perfect honesty. Xiao was playing over a cluster of balls, elevating the cue . Nobody saw the foul, but he felt it and immediately called it. Going by the comments on social media, after that incident Xiao’s game started to disintegrate. Your mind can play tricks on you like that sometimes. A seemingly rather minor thing can damage your confidence or break your concentration.

Warrior Wilson Battles Back To Make Final

World Champion Kyren Wilson mounted a superb comeback to rally from 4-1 down and beat Neil Robertson 6-5 to make the Sportsbet.io Players Championship final in Telford.

The Warrior will now appear in his fourth title match of the campaign and the 18th ranking final of his career. He’s already captured silverware this season at the Xi’an Grand Prix, BetVictor Northern Ireland Open and the Machineseeker German Masters.

It’s been an incredible first season as World Champion for Wilson. The Kettering cueman has already amassed £541,800 in ranking events, which has seen him assume second position on the Johnstone’s Paint One-year List behind Judd Trump. He will now face either Trump or John Higgins in Sunday’s final, where he will be aiming to win his tenth ranking crown.

Robertson’s hopes of becoming the first ever player to win all three Players Series events in a single season come to an end. However, his performances in the first two tournaments have seen him secure qualification for the World Championship.

As a result of winning the World Grand Prix in Hong Kong and making the semis this week in Telford, the Australian will rise to ninth in the world rankings.

Robertson got off to a flying start this evening, crafting breaks of 100, 83 and 73 on his way to establishing a 4-1 advantage. Wilson replied with runs of 116 and 57, as he claimed three on the bounce to restore parity at 4-4.

Frame nine brought huge drama. Trailing by 43, Wilson fired in a brilliant clearance of 43 to force a respotted black. However, his safety attempt on the extra ball sent the white into the right middle to hand the frame to Robertson.

World number two Wilson refused to back down and a brilliant break of 89 took the match all the way, setting up a final frame decider. Robertson then left a red to the middle from his break off, Wilson deposited it and made a brilliant total clearance of 134 to emerge a 6-5 victor.

“It is great to make a final of one of these tournaments. The field this week has been so strong. Of the eight quarter-finalists, seven were World Champions. That just shows the standard. I’m so proud that I’ve managed to get to the final,” said 33-year-old Wilson.

“I feel like I dominated most of the matches with Mark Allen and Mark Williams in the first two rounds. They are both great players. I just got off to a slow start against Neil and allowed him to get into his stride.

“When he is hitting the ball the way he can do it is a daunting prospect. At 4-1 down I’m proud of the way I came back. Despite losing that sickener of a frame to go 5-4 down, I’ve come back again and had two one visit frames. It is very pleasing.”

I’ll write it again … Kyren Wilson is indeed carrying himself outstandingly well as a first time World Champion. He should be proud and I do believe that he could well break the Crucible curse come May. It’s a very hard thing to do, of course, and Kyren could even lose on the opening day … but I never felt this way about previous first time World Champions since I’m following the sport.

EBSA 2024 Championship

The Championship is now at the semi-finals stage. Three of the remaining players are British and all three are former professionals. They are Liam Highfield, Dylan Emery and Harvey Chandler. The latter will face Michał Szubarczyk in the semi-finals. Michal is polish, and only 14 years old.

Earlier this month, Michal has won both the under-16, and under-18 EBSA events. What if he was to win the “main” event, the one currently under way and the one that carries a Tour Card for the winner? It would be remarkable, extraordinary even. It would also create a situation that WST will need to handle very carefully. Is it reasonable and safe to give a 14 years old a tour card. Shaun Murphy would probably say yes. Himself wasn’t 16 yet when he turned pro and uses to say “if you are good enough, you are old enough”. I disagree, STRONGLY.

Shaun forgets that

  • he was nearly 16, not 14.
  • at the time, there weren’t that many tournaments outside the UK, hence there weren’t, for him, that many “travels” to manage, with the administrative burden that comes with it (visas, flights, hotels and travels organisation to name a few).
  • he wasn’t going to live in a foreign country away from his family and friends, nor did he need to learn and master a foreign language. Michal is Polish… he would have to deal with all that stuff.
  • and Shaun’s father was a member of the board…

Michal is too young to have to cope with life on tour without his family close support. The pressure of the main tour combined with relative isolation from family and friends could impact him very badly. Many adult players couldn’t cope. Michal is still a child, he’s still developing. That card, if he earns it, should be put on hold for at least a year, maybe two. If he earns it, he should get it … but not right now.

  1. Although hopefully the administrative, financial and juridic imbroglio I’m caught in, by no fault of myself, will end soon and well – fingers crossed – I tell you … Kafka is still alive and kicking hard somewhere here in Greece! ↩︎

The 2025 Players Championship Day 4 and EBSA News

Monique Amateur, Professional snooker, Professional snooker tournament ,

Yesterday, again, I had little time for the snooker … life is definitely coming in the way of it right now. I didn’t watch any of the matches, so can’t comment on them, but here is what happened on the baize as reported by WST and snooker.org:

2025 Players Championship – 20 March 2025- reports by WST

Robertson Sets Up Wilson Showdown

Robertson scored a sensational victory in the opening event of the Players Series 11 days ago. The Australian whitewashed Stuart Bingham 10-0 in the World Grand Prix final in Hong Kong to capture the 25th ranking title of his career and second of the season, following the BetVictor English Open.

Prior to these wins, the Melbourne cueman’s ranking was plummeting and he was facing another trip to Crucible qualifying, having dropped to 26th in the world ahead of the English Open. Robertson now finds himself 11th in the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings and is assured of a place in the final stages of the upcoming World Championship.

Robertson met Bingham once again in the opening round this week, but it was a far closer encounter this time around. He needed to rally from 3-1 down to score a 6-4 victory.

Today’s contest saw Robertson extend his impressive head-to-head lead over Selby to 19-9. Leicester’s four-time World Champion Selby will now turn his attention to the series finale in Manchester at the Sportsbet.io Tour Championship.

Despite Selby crafting a stunning 139, it was Robertson who took three of the first four frames to lead 3-1 at the mid-session interval.

When play got back underway, Robertson enhanced his lead with a break of 72 to make it 4-1.

Selby replied with 88 in the sixth, with Robertson then making 99 in the seventh to move one away at 5-2. He was pegged back in the next frame, but Robertson got over the line in the ninth to emerge a comfortable 6-3 victor.

“There wasn’t a big flurry of breaks in the match, but Mark is someone who is hard to get chances out of. He isn’t going to play loose shots and leave you in the balls, you really need to earn it,” said 43-year-old Robertson. “Mark and I have played each other an awful lot over the years. I think I’ve faced him more than any other player. We’ve had a lot of big matches against each other in our careers.

“You need to stand up and be counted (against Kyren Wilson). It is as simple as that. He plays very aggressively. I don’t think either one of us will step down at any point in the match, we are both going to really go for it.

“I love the way he plays the game. I’ve always admired him. When he used to come and practise with Joe Perry I thought he could have a wonderful career. He works so hard and has been a brilliant World Champion. He has shown how you should conduct yourself in the following season after winning the World Championship.”

Trump Storms To Telford Semis

World number one Judd Trump blitzed to 6-0 demolition of Johnstone’s Paint Masters champion Shaun Murphy at the Sportsbet.io Players Championship in Telford.

It was an evening of total dominance for Trump, who scored 524 points to Murphy’s 40. The Ace in the Pack took just one hour and 26 minutes to complete the win, averaging 18 seconds per shot.

The devastating victory sees him extend his winning streak over Murphy to their last seven matches. The Ace in the Pack now leads the head-to-head standings 18-9. Next up Trump will face either John Higgins or Xiao Guodong in last four. 

Trump has landed silverware at the inaugural Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters this season, as well the UK Championship. Ahead of this event, he had already amassed £1,375,600 in prize money for the season.

Murphy can take solace from securing a vital opening round win over Barry Hawkins. That has secured him his qualification for the final stages of the World Championship, which was under threat for much of the season.

Trump produced a break building masterclass, crafting runs of 77, 101, 65, 66 and 55 on his way to the quickfire win. The century run moves Trump to 89 centuries for the season and takes him closer to hunting down the target of 100, which would come with a £100,000 bonus.

“Shaun has been a different animal this season, so when you beat him you take more credit than maybe you used to. He is an amazing player and to beat anyone 6-0 at this level is incredibly hard,” said 30-time ranking event winner Trump.

“He didn’t do a lot wrong. The first frame was incredibly important. He missed a couple of balls in that and got punished. I was full of confidence, he was struggling a little bit and everything was going in for me.

“You just want to carry on when you are playing like that. You are in the zone. I felt like I was playing slow and taking my time but when I came off the table my shot time was quite quick.

“I’ve been consistent all season. I’ve put myself in position in most tournaments I’ve played in. It is nice to know that form is still there coming into the final straight. I know my game is good enough to win any tournament but it is good to back that up for a whole season. Whoever comes through it will be a tough semi-final though.”

As for the EBSA … all the results are on snooker.org

At the time of writing, the quarter-finals are underway with 14 years old Michal Szubarczyk still competing.

Addendum Michal has won his quarter-final…

and…

Happy birthday Willo ! 50 today … stay naughty, never change! ❤️

Some Ronnie news … 10 march 2025

Monique Professional snooker

This was shared today by Nigel Bond on social media

As you can see WST themselves are promoting these coaching sessions.

The announcement triggered mixed responses. I can understand why but I want to see it as a positive sign. Ronnie and Nigel go a long way back. They have a very positive relationship and Ronnie has a lot of respect for Nigel. Hopefully Nigel can restore Ronnie’s confidence ahead of the World Championship and (/or) the coming season.

The 2025 World Grand Prix – Days 2 and 3

Monique Professional snooker, Professional snooker tournament

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.

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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 … ↩︎