Tom Ford made the perfect start to the 2026 BetVictor Championship League Invitational, beating Jackson Page 3-1 in the final to book his place in the Winners’ Group.
Leicester’s Ford, playing on home ground at the Mattioli Arena, will return in February alongside six other players to compete for the title.
The group phase saw Page, Joe O’Connor and Chris Wakelin all finish with four wins out of six, with Ford snatching fourth place with three wins.
In the semi-finals, Page came from 2-1 down to edge out Wakelin 3-2, making vital clearances of 86 and 54 in the last two frames. Ford enjoyed a 3-1 victory over O’Connor.
A break of 77 gave Page the opening frame of the final, but world number 28 Ford then took control with runs of 108, 76 and 97 to take the next three.
Group two gets underway on Sunday as Page, O’Connor, Wakelin and Elliot Slessor are joined by Gary Wilson, David Gilbert and Noppon Saengkham.
Recently crowned BetVictor Scottish Open champion Chris Wakelin made the first 147 of his career at the BetVictor Championship League Invitational.
The perfect break came during his 3-2 win over Pang Junxu. It is a record extending 17th of this season and the 234th in snooker history.
The previous record for 147s in a single season came last term, when 15 were made. That tally looks set to be smashed in the current campaign, with the season just passing the halfway point.
Michal Szubarczyk is still only fourteen, the youngest ever professional snooker player. He has, so far, found the life on the main tour rather hard, but that was to be expected. His talent and love for the game are evident though and he proved it again earlier this week in Doha where he won the 2025 IBSF World Men’s Snooker Champion.
Michal Szubarczyk Creates History as 14-Year-Old World Champion
Michal Szubarczyk Creates History as 14-Year-Old World Champion Took the title to Europe after 16 years
Poland’s Michal Szubarczyk has etched his name into snooker history, becoming the IBSF World Men’s Snooker Champion 2025 after a commanding 5-2 victory over Qatar’s former world champion Ali Alobaidli in today’s final. At just 14 years old, Michal joins elite company, becoming only the second player of his age to win the world title, the first being China’s Yan Bingtao in 2014 in India.
This landmark triumph also ends Europe’s 16-year wait for the men’s world crown. The last world champion from Europe, Alfie Burden (UK), lifted the trophy in 2009 in India, making Michal’s achievement all the more significant for the continent.
The final began in favour of the home favourite, Ali Alobaidli, who used his experience to secure the opening frame. But once Michal settled his nerves, the match took a dramatic turn. The young Polish prodigy unleashed three consecutive breaks of 71, 51, and 53, stunning the local crowd and storming ahead 3-1.
Ali attempted to claw his way back in the fifth frame, but unforced errors and a few missed pots proved costly, allowing Michal to extend his lead to 4-1.
The sixth frame briefly revived Ali’s hopes. Michal looked set to close out the match, but an unexpected black-ball miss opened the door. Ali capitalized with precision, reducing the deficit to 2-4 and drawing a roar from the home supporters.
But champions are defined by how they respond, and Michal showed maturity well beyond his years. In the seventh frame, he adopted a measured, disciplined approach “shot by shot, ball by ball”. That focus culminated in a brilliant break of 76, sealing the frame and the championship, and crowning him World Champion at 14.
The men’s event concluded with Harvey Chandler of England and Nicolas Mortreux of France earning joint bronze as semi-finalists, capping off a fiercely competitive tournament.
For Michal Szubarczyk, this victory is not just a world title, it is the birth of a new era, and the arrival of snooker’s next global superstar.
The last time a player from mainland Europe won this title was Kurt Maflin in 2006, the last time an European player won it was Alfie Burden in 2009.
Shaun Murphy remained on target to win back-to-back ranking titles as he made three centuries in a 6-4 defeat of Gary Wilson to set up a final clash with Mark Williams at the Xi’an Grand Prix in China.
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A match of outstanding quality included four breaks over 130 plus a further four over 70 within the ten frames, but Murphy proved unstoppable as he came from 3-1 down to take five of the last six.
Having won the Unibet British Open in Cheltenham 14 days ago, Murphy could become the first winner of consecutive ranking titles since Judd Trump took three in a row in October 2023. The Magician will meet Williams over 19 frames on Monday, with the trophy and £177,000 top prize on the line.
World number 12 Murphy briefly dropped out of the top 16 earlier this season but has responded to the setback with a dramatic return to form. The 43-year-old is set for his 28th ranking final and will be looking for a 14th title which would leave him just one behind Ding Junhui on the all time list. It would also continue his record of winning each of his ranking titles on one occasion only.
Today’s result has already come with a huge bonus for Murphy as his run to the final this week has earned him a place in next month’s Riyadh Season Snooker Championship at the expense of Mark Selby.
A run of 91 gave Murphy the opening frame before Wilson responded to take three in a row with top breaks of 81 and 139. After the interval, Murphy stormed back with 81, 131 and 140 to go 4-3 ahead, then crucially he took a tight eighth frame on the colours. World number 17 Wilson, whose run this week will take him back into the elite top 16, pulled one back with a 74, but Murphy finished in style with a 141 total clearance.
“I felt I hadn’t done that much wrong at 3-1 down,” said Murphy, who has won his last 13 consecutive matches. “Gary played very well all the way through. In frame five he broke off and forced me to go for a long red, I potted it and won the next three frames. I had a bit of luck at the right times, on another day I could have easily lost that match. The eighth frame I knew was really important. As I have got older and got more maturity in my game you sense those moments. I haven’t always had that awareness to stick a ‘Mark Selby’ or ‘John Higgins’ frame in there. I have been a bit slow to the party but I am learning.
“This vein of form won’t last forever but I am enjoying it. I played well in Brentwood, played well in Cheltenham and I was delighted to lift the trophy. Here this week I’ve got another chance. But I have got one of the best of all time in my way and he will give me nothing. We have had some great matches over the years and I am sure tomorrow will be no different.“
Asked about earning a place at the event in Riyadh, where a $1 million bonus will be on offer for making a ‘super maximum’ of 167 by potting the unique gold ball, Murphy added: “I am really pleased to get myself back into the top ten and to qualify for that event. What an achievement it will be for whoever makes the first 167.”
Mark Williams is just one win away from becoming the oldest ever ranking event winner as he came from 3-2 down to beat Daniel Wells 6-3 and reach the final of the Xi’an Grand Prix in China.
Williams will meet Shaun Murphy or Gary Wilson in the final on Monday with a top prize of £177,000 up for grabs. As it stands the oldest ranking event winner is Ray Reardon who was 50 years and 14 days when he landed the 1982 Professional Players Tournament, but Williams could extend that record to 50 years and 206 days. He could also become the first player to win a title in every decade from his teens through to his 50s.
The three-time World Champion will be playing in the 44th ranking final of his 33-year career and aiming for a 27th title, which would leave him just one behind Steve Davis on the all-time list. Runner-up to Zhao Xintong at the Crucible last season, Williams remains a strong contender for titles and is into his first final of the new campaign.
An all-Welsh battle saw world number 47 Wells contesting his fourth ranking event semi-final, and he is still yet to reach a final. After sharing the first four frames, Wells edged ahead by potting the final blue and pink to take the fifth. Williams won a scrappy sixth for 3-3, at which point the highest break of the match was just 42.
World number five Williams finally found some rhythm as a superb run of 129 gave him the lead, and a 53 in the next helped make it 5-3. In frame nine, Williams led by 33 points with just the colours left, then Wells got the snookers he needed on the yellow. But Williams later laid two tough snookers on the brown and when Wells missed the second, he offered the handshake.
“Most of my games this week have been the same, pretty poor,” admitted Williams. “I scraped over the line again, I’m glad to win. Apart from the one century break, it was tough out there. I might have looked calm but you wouldn’t want to know the names I was calling myself in my head. I struggled all match, I just stuck in there. Honestly, I don’t know how I am in the final. Can I do it once more? Probably not, I would have to play a lot better otherwise I’ll get trampled on. I will try my best.
“I have played some unbelievable matches this season and lost 5-4 or 5-3. In this tournament I haven’t looked like making breaks but I’m in the final. I’ll take winning like this over playing out of my skin and losing.
“I suppose if I take that record as the oldest winner, Ronnie or John Higgins will beat it in a few months time. It’s just nice to be in a final, and to win a tournament would be great. At the start of this week if you had offered me the quarter-finals I would have bitten your hand off, so for the final I would have bitten your whole body off“.
I don’t really have anything to add about the matches.
The Final today will be contested between two players with a combined age of 93. Snooker at the top nowadays is definitely not exactly a “young man’s game”, despite the fact that we do have some very good youngsters on the tour. But those “darn oldies” refuse to go away!
The conditions in Xi’An have been problematic all week. WST will probably say that the number of centuries and high breaks say otherwise, but what we have seen and the reactions of the commentators witnessing the outcome of some shots do tell a different story. It’s a shame for the players, but it probably can’t be helped.
Normally, the monsoon season should be over by now and the conditions should be dryer but it seems that the snooker gods have decided otherwise. Indeed, this is the weather forecast for this week in Xi’An …
Jimmy White scored his second win of the season as he came from 2-0 down to beat Cheung Ka Wai 4-3 in the first round of the BetVictor English Open, setting up an intriguing clash with Luca Brecel.
The first event in the 2025/26 BetVictor Home Nations Series got underway on Thursday in Brentwood. The non-televised phase runs until Sunday and then the top 32 seeds join the fray from Monday.
After losing the first two frames, veteran White recovered to 2-2 with breaks of 50 and 57. He lost the fifth, but then nicked the sixth on the colours before dominating the decider with a top run of 41. The crowd favourite now meets Brecel in round two on Saturday morning.
Liam Highfield enjoyed a 4-2 victory over On Yee Ng, despite a record break of 137 from Ng in the second frame. Marco Fu, the fastest player on the tour this season with an average shot time of 15 seconds, needed just 59 minutes to beat Gao Yang 4-0 with breaks of 62, 79, 110 and 104. There was more success for Hong Kong as Wang Yuchen came from 3-2 down to edge out Florian Nuessle 4-2.
Pakistan’s Haris Tahir top scored with 127 in a 4-0 win over Michal Szubarczyk while Julien Leclercq beat Aidan Murphy 4-0 with runs of 115, 68, 58 and 104.
The first two matches to finish yesterday were won by two Chinese players, Huang Jiahao and Zhao Hanyang who beat Oliver Sykes and Connor Benzey respectively.
Sunny Akani came back from 0-2 down to beat Oliver Brown, with a top break of 107.
Liam Graham beat Antoni Kowalski by 4-1 in a match that was much closer than the score suggests. The last two frames in particular were hard fought and very close. Liam won them both.
The match between On Yee and Liam Highfield could easily have gone the distance. On Yee lost the last frame on a score of 70-69 to Liam … having made a 69 break in that frame. She also scored the only century of in that match, her 137 in frame 2.
Julien Leclercq missed the 14th red in a maximum attempt in frame 4 of his match against Aidan Murphy. Julien won that match by 4-0 with breaks of 115, 68, 58 and 104.
As you probably know the Pink Ribbon is a pro–am snooker tournament that was initially held at the South West Snooker Academy, later renamed the Capital Venue in Gloucester, England.
The first edition was held in 2010. The tournament raises funds for breast cancer charities and has the players all wear pink shirts to show their support. It was created by Paul Mount who had lost his beloved sister, Kay Suzanne to the disease. It was played at the SWSA for ten years. I went to it every year from 2011 to 2019, taking pictures, a lot of them must still be around somewhere on Facebook, and of course on this blog from 2015 until 2018. Ronnie won it in 2015, the only year he participated. It was revived last season and is now played at the Landywood Snooker Club.
It all started last Friday with the “Flyer Event“, won by Riley Powell who beat Peter Devlin in the final.
The “Top Half” amateur event was played on Saturday. Actually this was the “top half” of the main event, up to and included the “last 64” round as the professionals were seeded in the last 32 of the “main event”.
Amateurs entering the Pink Ribbon are granted two bites of the cherry if they so wish. Indeed they have the possibility to play in both halves. 117 amateurs entered the amateur events!
The “main event”, the professional round, was played yesterday. Not all pros won their opening match … some amateurs showed how strong they are! Indeed one of them, Craig Steadman reached the final!
But, eventually, it was a professional, Chris Wakelin who won the event, beating Craig Steadman by 5-3.
Igor Figueriedo Does the Double at 2025 Pan American Snooker Championships
Igor Figueiredo defeated Fabio Anderson Luerson 5-2 to win the 2025 Pan American Open Snooker Championship and earn a two-year World Snooker Tour (WST) tour card.
The continental success means the Brazilian will be nominated for a fourth spell among the professional ranks having first joined the Tour in 2010.
Figueiredo was the dominant force at the Aryan Snooker Club in Sacramento, California as he won both the Open and Seniors Championship titles to earn a two-year WST tour card and qualification for the 2026 World Seniors Snooker Championship – a title he won at the iconic Crucible Theatre last year.
The 47-year-old began the event, which is organised by the Pan American Billiards & Snooker Association (PABSA), with a clean sweep of whitewash victories over fellow countryman Ricardo Bouwman Filho and American cueists Sam McGrath and Pravin Patel.
He dropped just two further frames en route to the semi-finals as he overcame Saif Ibrahim (3-0), Zia Sheik (4-1) and Jason Williams (4-1).
It was an impressive week for Brazilian snooker as the semi-final line-ups for both the Seniors and Open Championships featured all four players from the South American nation.
Three of these – Figueiredo, Luersen and Nelson Rodrigues Morreira – competed in the semi-finals of both events while they were joined by former WST professional Victor Sarkis in the Open competition.
It was Sarkis that faced Figueiredo in the last four but it was the senior man that was in dominant form as he completed yet another whitewash win to move within one victory of the title.
Luersen was his opponent in the title match after he completed a 4-2 defeat of Morreira as he looked to add to the Pan American Seniors Snooker Championship title that he had won 12 months ago.
Figueiredo proved to be too strong once again, however, as he rounded off an unforgettable week by completing a 5-2 victory to secure the title and a WST tour card.
Wether Igor will actually take his tour card remains to be seen though. He didn’t “finish” his last spell on tour and went back to Brazil before his tour card “expired”, explaining that this life abroad was too hard for him and his family. This is understandable. Brazil is too far away for making it possible for Brazilian players to return home just to spend a week-end or indeed any short period of time with their loved ones. The trip is costly and very tiring because the huge time difference. He might however decide to play in the World and Seniors World Championships, as these are “one-offs” in the season and, of course, very special.
I really do hope that he will be able to play in a few events though as he’s very entertaining and (almost) always smiling.
Coalisland’s Fergal Quinn edged out Antrim’s Robbie McGuigan 4-3 in the first qualifying round of the BetVictor Northern Ireland Open, needing one more win to earn a place in the final stages in Belfast.
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Quinn, playing his debut season on the pro tour, will meet Zak Surety on Sunday with the winner to go through to the Waterfront Hall next month. McGuigan came from 2-0 down to lead 3-2, but Quinn took frame six with runs of 47 and 53 then got the better of a low-scoring decider.
Jimmy White reached the last 32 of this event last year but he misses out this time, losing 4-2 to China’s Huang Jiahao whose top break was 97.
Fight-back of the day came from Poland’s Mateusz Baranowski who recovered a 3-0 deficit to beat Wang Yuchen 4-3, making a 62 in the decider. Liam Pullen, who beat John Higgins in the Xi’an Grand Prix qualifiers earlier in the week, built on his momentum with a 4-0 defeat of Ben Mertens, firing breaks of 89, 96 and 100.
As usual as well – alas – the report is far from exhaustive and focuses mainly on the UK and Irish players results. Also, not a single match of the evening session is reported on. And, alas again, I can’t add too much to it.
I watched two matches, the Baranowski v Wang one and the Pullen v Mertens one. Both ended with defeat for player I supported1. Liam Pullen played extremely well, no complaints. The Baranowski v Wang match was a typical “qualifiers match”. It was hard fought, not very fluent at all, with only one breaks over 50, one each, a 63 by Wang.
Although I have absolutely nothing against their opponents ↩︎
Ronnie O'Sullivan 