Shaun Murphy believes his game is in better shape than ever and he is a “dangerous” contender for the Halo World Championship crown having beaten Daniel Wells 10-4 in a tremendous first round fixture.
The match of the tournament so far featured six centuries (equalling the record for a first round Crucible tie) and eight more breaks over 50, and debutant Wells played his part with three of those tons. But he was no match for Murphy who strolled into the second round for the 15th time in his career. If Judd Trump can convert a 6-3 lead over Zhou Yuelong into a last 16 spot then the world number one would meet Murphy in a potentially epic tie on Sunday and Monday.
It’s 20 year since Murphy, age 22 at the time, lifted the sport’s most famous trophy. He has since been in three more finals, in 2009, 2015 and 2021, but is yet to join the elite group who have conquered the Crucible on multiple occasions: Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry, Mark Williams, Ronnie O’Sullivan, John Higgins and Mark Selby. After winning the Masters in 2015 he went ten years without a Triple Crown success, but ended that drought in January with victory at Alexandra Palace, restoring his self belief.
“The hunger and desire never goes away, but sometimes in life you can lose your way,” said the world number 15. “Champions don’t think like everyone else, but for a little while I started thinking like everyone else. I had forgotten what it was like to win the majors, I felt like a bit of a draw filler. Winning the Masters has totally changed that. I believe again and I think that makes me dangerous.
“I have come here in the best shape I have ever been in. My game is the best it has ever been and I’m sharp, I’m ready. If I am allowed to play and get chances, I will be a handful for anyone.
“We had the inaugural champions dinner this year and there were a lot of one-time champions sat around the table. It’s not easy winning this title once, let alone more than that. It’s a very small group of people who have done that and there are quite a few of us searching for it – I have been chasing it for 20 years. Judd has got more time on his side. If we meet in the next round I hope he doesn’t play too well against me.
“There’s nothing better than playing well here. I have to give massive praise to Daniel because he is a really nice guy. He didn’t play like a debutant, he played like someone who has been here for years. With more experience he might have won that match or beaten someone else.”
Murphy led 7-2 overnight having made breaks of 64, 63, 100, 57, 138, 76 and 89 in the first session. A run of 53 in the opener today helped him go 8-2 up, before Wells hit back with 115 and 68 for 8-4. But Murphy soon ended any hopes of a fight-back by taking the last two frames with 133 and 71.
Wells said: “It was enjoyable, but just very difficult playing Shaun at the top of his game. I tried to embrace it but he was absolutely fantastic. Making three centuries is something to be proud of.“
Daniel Wells is a very likeable character and a very, very good snooker player but he’s very probably not World Champion material. I’m not trying to belittle Daniel, I’m stating what I perceive as a fact. The vast majority of professional snooker players will never win the World Championship, or even any of the majors. The vast majority of tennis players never win a “grand slam” tournament. the vast majority of cyclists never win a “Grand Tour” or even a “Classic”. The vast majority of football teams never win the World Cup … or even their own national league title. It’s the same in every sport, and probably in most other human endeavours, be it art, science, sport or any other human activity. The “elite” is a very small minority, they are important because they become public figures and they “inspire”, but no sport, no artistic activity, no scientific research would exist without those – the vast majority – who embrace them, live for them, teach them and share their passion without ever “attaining the summit” in their field. They deserve respect and praise. We should remember that… more often than we do, and I have been guilty myself on countless occasions.
China’s Pang Junxu scored his first ever win in the final stages of the Halo World Championship, beating compatriot Zhang Anda 10-7 at the Crucible.
Pang is making his third appearance at Sheffield’s Theatre of Dreams. His previous two trips to snooker’s showpiece event ended in defeat. The 2021 Rookie of the Year lost 10-7 to Ronnie O’Sullivan in 2023 and was beaten 10-9 by Robert Milkins last year.
Next up for Pang is another potential meeting with O’Sullivan, who must first negotiate his opening round clash with Ali Carter.
There are a record ten Chinese players competing at the Crucible this year. They’ve fared well with six first round wins so far.
World number 12 Zhang’s Crucible history extends back to 2010, when he fell just short in a 10-9 loss against the legendary Stephen Hendry. He’s now appeared five times in the final stages and is yet to win a match.
The players emerged from a fragmented opening session with Zhang leading 5-3, after they were pulled off a frame early.
When the action got back underway this morning, 25-year-old Pang immediately made his mark with 111 to reduce his arrears.
Zhang moved back two ahead at 6-4 with a break of 65, before Pang claimed the 11th on the final ball after depositing a tricky black to make it 6-5.
The 12th went the way of Zhang to leave him 7-5 ahead, that was the moment Pang made his move. Breaks of 102, 55 and 65 helped him to five on the bounce and a momentous first win at the Crucible.
Pang said: “The pressure on me was really high today. Zhang Anda is a very strong opponent and he put me under a lot of pressure throughout the match. His safety play was excellent and really restricted my performance.
“I had to wait for his mistakes and slowly find my rhythm. I just tried to cut down on my unforced errors. Yesterday I was making too many mistakes, either missing pots or not getting the cue ball into ideal position. If I can improve in those apartments everything will become easier.
“Having so many eyes on you creates a lot of pressure. When you make a mistake and your opponent takes advantage immediately, it only gets worse. A little bit of pressure comes from myself. During the match, you really have to try not to think about that too much.
“If I reduce my errors I have a chance to win in the next round, as long as I can control my mistakes. You learn a lot from facing top players. Their shot selection and how they handle the pressure.”
Pang’s reward for his efforts is a second round clash with Ronnie starting on Saturday… and in a strange way it might help him because most people will expect Ronnie to win and that may take the pressure off Pang’s shoulders.
Judd Trump became the fourth player in Crucible history to make five centuries in a first round tie as he raced to a 10-4 defeat of Zhou Yuelong at the Halo World Championship.
Trump fired runs of 117, 113, 114, 114 and 100 as he joined Ronnie O’Sullivan, Kyren Wilson and Mark Allen as the only players to score five tons in the opening round. Three of those came in consecutive frames, a feat only previously achieved by O’Sullivan, John Higgins, Mark Selby, Neil Robertson and Stuart Carrington. There have been several excellent first round performances in recent days but this was a reminder from the world number one that he could be the man to beat.
The left-hander is closing in on a £100,000 bonus awarded to the first player to make 100 centuries this season. His tally for 2024/25 is now 98, needing just two more to secure that bumper payout, and Robertson’s record of 103 centuries in a season, set in 2013/14, is well within his grasp.
Bristol’s 35-year-old Trump is into the last 16 in Sheffield for the 13th time and will meet Shaun Murphy in the pick of the second round ties. Champion in 2019, he is looking for a second world title which would cement his status as one of snooker’s all-time greats. Trump has had an outstanding season, highlighted by victories at the Shanghai Masters, Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters and Victorian Plumbing UK Championship and has already broken to record for the most prize money earned in a single campaign, a sum which would top £2 million if he banks the centuries bonus and the first prize.
Trump led 6-3 after the first session having made breaks of 91, 63, 52, 117, 62 and 54. Within 32 minutes tonight it was 9-3 as he fired runs of 113, 114, 114. China’s Zhou pulled one back but after the interval Trump wrapped it up with a break of 100.
“I felt a bit edgy at the start but then settled down and felt confident,” said Trump. “My long potting was good and my safety was even better. I don’t think I have played that well in the first round before. The money (for the 100 centuries) doesn’t really come into it, we are competitive animals and I just want to make century after century, even if there was no prize. There would be no better place to do it than here. Hopefully I can get it out of the way early in my next match. The standard seems to be going up, the pockets aren’t playing big, they are a good size, but it shows how high the skill level is.
“Shaun Murphy looked superb in his first game. Winning the Masters was one of the best performances of his career. He plays with a lot of confidence, if he gets ahead then he walks around like he owns the place, he has that mentality. He goes for his shots and if they go in there is not much you can do. I will have to play like I did today to have a chance.”
I didn’t see anything of this match. Some comments I read on social media suggested that Zhou wasn’t playing as well as he can but, if true, that may well be because of the way Judd was playing, or because the pressure the “Crucible” particular intimate setup creates … or, of course and likely, both.
Ronnie O’Sullivan leads Ali Carter as both struggle for their best at the Crucible
Phil Haigh
Ronnie O’Sullivan and Ali Carter are scrapping it out in Sheffield (Picture: Getty Images)
Ronnie O’Sullivan has taken a 5-4 lead over Ali Carter in their first round clash at the World Snooker Championship, although neither could find their best form with any regularity at the Crucible.
The Rocket was playing his first competitive match since January and is using a new cue, so it is perhaps not surprising that he looked rusty at times.
The Captain won a couple of games to get through qualifying, but did so while struggling with a neck problem, so he too had a reason for not performing at his peak.
The pressure of the occasion and the intense gaze of the world on the Crucible may have also got to both men as we saw plenty of mistakes from the two players.
The old rivals may have been frustrated with themselves, but to their credit they did play the game in good spirits, shaking hands to commence the contest and bring the session to a close.
There were plenty of chances for both over the first three frames, with Carter taking the first and O’Sullivan grabbing the next two.
Then the Rocket fired up for the first time, knocking in a break of 107 to go to the interval 3-1 up and with some sort of confidence behind him.
Ali Carter got better over the session (Picture: Getty Images)
The Captain won the first frame after the interval and really should have levelled the match after making a break of 60 in the sixth, but O’Sullivan eventually pinched it.
While both would say they played poorly by their own high standards, there was some quality and the next two frames were good.
O’Sullivan went 5-2 ahead with a break of 85 before Carter made a 107 to get back within two.
The last frame of the session felt significant and O’Sullivan was in early with a brilliant long red but was unfortunate to knock in a red when going into the pack after potting the blue.
There were more chances for both but it was Carter who made an impressive clearance to take it and remain within one frame.
O’Sullivan struggled with long pots as he dealt with a new cue (Picture: Getty Images)
Neither will be delighted with how they played, but they won’t be disappointed with the scoreline given the standards they were producing.
‘Really hard fought,’ six-time world champion Steve Davis said on the BBC. ‘I think considering the fact it was the first session of their campaigns.
‘Even though it wasn’t absolutely the best snooker we’ve seen this week, it was still important stuff. I think they can both be pretty proud of their performance.’
He added: ‘I think every player is quite pleased to get the first session of the World Championship out of the way. But especially Ronnie, it’s been a while since he’s been on the competitive stage.
‘I’m not saying he’ll be breathing a big sigh of relief, but, ok we’re in the tournament now and let’s look forward to the second session.’
The second session is at 2.30pm on Wednesday as they battle it out to be the first to 10 frames.
Some people eagerly anticipated a “grudge match” judging by what happened at the start of the match, both opted for good sportsmanship over personal feelings as reported in this article in “the Mirror”.
Ronnie O’Sullivan and Ali Carter shared a handshake(Image: BBC)
Ronnie O’Sullivan and rival Ali Carter appeared to have squashed their beef during their World Snooker Championship clash at the Crucible. The pair are battling for a place in the competition’s second round and ahead of their meeting, the Rocket offered a handshake, which was quickly accepted by his opponent.
There was a degree of anticipation surrounding how the pair would greet each other given the close proximity snooker stars operate within. Seated together ahead of the 2.30pm start, the camera cut away as O’Sullivan moved to join Carter.
But after the seven-time world champion earned the right to break, he offered his hand to The Captain, before a small exchange of words as he checked his surroundings. It was a rare moment to see before the opening break, and perhaps all the more surprising given the words the duo have shared in recent years.
Commentator and ex-world champ Stephen Hendry said: “Yeah, one of the opening exchanges has already happened. They actually shook hands at the chair, not the normal fist bump that Ronnie gives.
“It was actually quite a warm handshake, and that’s good to see. We want to see a classic match at the table, and it has all the ingredients of being so.“
The 10 days long qualifiers for the 2025 World Snooker Championship came to an end yesterday. It proved to be a great event in itself – it always is – and this time the fans came in huge numbers for the latter stages of qualifying which is fantastic. It’s fantastic for the players involved, of course, but it’s also fantastic news for the sport and its future. Why? Because it shows that there is a shift in the “fans mentality”. Since I started following snooker closely, 15 years ago, until very recently, most fans appeared to be “focussed” on a very small group of top players, and barely knew the lower ranked players, nor were they interested in them. The huge attendance at the EIS this year shows that things are changing and it’s for the best.
Wu Yize will be one of a record ten Chinese players at the Crucible after beating Matthew Stevens 10-9 in a dramatic finish in the final qualifying round of the Halo World Championship.
The previous record of six Chinese players in the televised stages has been smashed as top 16 seeds Ding Junhui, Zhang Anda, Xiao Guodong, and Si Jiahui will be joined by six more who have come through the qualifying rounds: Zhao Xintong, Zhou Yuelong, Fan Zhengyi, Pang Junxu, Lei Peifan and Wu.
Two-time runner-up Stevens came from 9-7 down to 9-9 to set up a tense 35-minute decider. Wu missed the final green when he led 45-40, but he got another chance after a loose safety from Stevens and this time potted a tremendous green and added brown, blue and pink for victory.
“I am very happy. I thought I was going to lose, he gave me too much pressure and I made mistakes in the last frame. I didn’t think he would give me one more chance,” said 21-year-old Wu, runner-up in two ranking events this season.
In an even closer finish, Matthew Selt beat Jimmy Robertson 10-9 on the final black to book a fifth trip to the Theatre of Dreams. From 8-3 down, Selt fought back to 9-9 with a top break of 112. The decider lasted 49 minutes and Robertson missed match-ball pink to a top corner before Selt slotted in pink and black. However the Essex cueman admitted his victory was tarnished by the fact that his friend Robertson had pulled him aside earlier in the match as he found Selt’s antics off-putting.
“I have to apologise to Jimmy. After one of the frames I won he said I was distracting him and putting him off. So this win has no good feeling whatsoever,” said former Indian Open champion Selt. “Jimmy is one of my closest friends so for him to feel so strongly, I feel dreadful about it. I am gutted for him that he didn’t win so I want to say sorry to him. Everyone knows I commentate to myself during matches. He felt strongly enough to say something so I would have definitely been in the wrong.”
Two-time Crucible finalist Ali Carter overcame a neck injury to beat He Guoqiang 10-5. The Captain is through to the Crucible for the 21st time and will become one of only 12 players to make more than 20 appearances.
“I don’t now where it has come from but I have had a terrible neck ache with excruciating pain,” said Carter. “In my first match against Ian Burns if I had gone 6-3 down at the end of the first session I was going to withdraw. I managed to clear up to go 5-4 and then played some decent stuff in the second session, but I was in agony. It is still not right now but I’m battling through. I will have to see a physiotherapist over the next couple of days. A lot of players have neck trouble and I have been playing this game for 39 years. I am a competitive animal and I hate losing at anything. I don’t suppose many of the seeds will want to draw me.”
Maximum man Jackson Page, who banked a £147,000 bonus for making two 147s in his previous match, will not be at the Crucible as he lost 10-7 to Joe O’Connor. On his debut last year, O’Connor knocked out Mark Selby before losing to Kyren Wilson. “It’s great to be back there, I really enjoyed it last year,” said O’Connor, who was runner-up to John Higgins at the World Open last month. “I didn’t feel much pressure today because I don’t get too attached to the outcome of matches, I think I was born like that and it’s an advantage.”
Hossein Vafaei scored five centuries in a superb 10-4 win over Wang Yuchen. Breaks of 113 and 123 helped Iran’s top player Vafaei take a 7-4 lead and he finished with three consecutive tons, 104, 135 and 111, to earn a fourth consecutive Crucible appearance.
“The atmosphere today was unbelievable, it felt like the Crucible,” said Vafaei. “I had to perform for the fans and my best game came out. I started the season really badly so at least I can finish it in a better way and hopefully continue playing like that. I love playing in the big events.“
BetVictor Scottish Open champion Lei Peifanedged out Gao Yang 10-9 to earn his first trip to the Crucible, and will be one of three debutants alongside Zak Surety and Daniel Wells. Lei won his first ranking title in December in Edinburgh and will finish the season at the perfect location. Amateur Gao led 7-5 before Lei made breaks of 102 and 123 in taking an 8-7 lead. Gao took the next two frames and had chances for victory, but Lei took frame 18 on the final pink and the decider with a run of 66.
“Gao played really well and put me under a lot of pressure,” said 21-year-old Lei. “In the second session I made some adjustments to my game and that’s what won me the match. I kept telling myself to stay calm. Reaching the Crucible is just as exciting as winning the Scottish Open.“
Fan Zhengyi beat Michael Holt 10-4 with a top break of 135 while Pang Junxu saw off Jamie Jones 10-6 with a top run of 94.
So, here is the complete list of our qualifiers: Chris Wakelin, Zak Surety, Zhao Xintong, Zhou Yuelong, Ryan Day, Ben Woollaston, David Gilbert, Daniel Wells, Fan Zhengyi, Hossein Vafaei, Ali Carter, Pang Junxu, Joe O’Connor, Lei Peifan, Wu Yize and Matthew Selt.
I must admit that I would happily do without Selt. He may apologise all he wants, it isn’t the first time he’s involved in this kind of controversy and he’s no kid. He should know, and I’m certain he does know, that this kind of behaviour puts his opponents off. This is gamesmanship, this is cheating and he should at the very least have been warned for it. That’s how I see it and I would tell it in his face if I had the opportunity. To be honest, I can’t stand the guy. I met him on tour countless times. He’s got an opinion on everything and is prone to criticising fellow players. A good hard look at himself in the mirror is on order …
And now … we wait for the draw, and we can only hope that Ronnie turns up. Several players have expressed opinions about his absence/presence. John Higgins has been bluntly honest, he’d rather do without him in the draw. Mark Selby has said that he can relate to Ronnie’s feelings, as he suffers from depression himself. Mark said that he’d love to have Ronnie at the Crucible but only if he’s feeling well enough and that his health should come first. He added that depression never goes away, that the best you can do is “manage” it.
Where should I start ??? “Extraordinary” doesn’t even come close to accurately describe what happened yesterday at the EIS as Jackson Page made not one but TWO maximum breaks in his match against Allan Taylor, and earned by far his biggest pay day as a professional snooker player. Those were and the 215th and 216th maximums in professional snooker. Page actually became the first player ever to make two maximums in one match. They came in frames 8 and 12. Jackson had never made a 147 in professional play before and it earned him the “147,000 pounds Triple Crown bonus”.
Jackson Page made history by becoming the first ever player to craft two 147 breaks in a single match, claiming a massive £147,000 bonus in the process.
The Welshman made two maximums during his 10-2 win over Allan Taylor in the third round of Halo World Championship qualifying. His first came yesterday afternoon and astonishingly a second came in the last frame of the match today.
As a result, Page earns the £147,000 bonus on offer for making two maximums across snooker’s four majors this season. The 23-year-old is also in line to scoop a further £10,000 for making a 147 in the qualifiers and the £15,000 high break prize for the event. That could potentially take the total payout to £172,000, by far the biggest payday of his career.
The two perfect breaks were the first and second 147s of Page’s fledgling career. There have now been 14 maximums so far this season, which breaks the record for a single campaign. Today’s break was the 216th maximum in the history of professional snooker.
World number 35 Page said: “It feels great. Breaking records is brilliant. I’ve made a lot of 147s leading up to this event in the club. It felt routine out there in the end. I’m over the moon to have got it done.
“I never ever go for them in matches. I do when I’m practising. When I’m at the club I could be on the first black and think that the maximum is on. Here you try and win the frame. After I made the first one yesterday, I had to have a go for the second. It paid off, maybe I’ll start going for more.“
And this came in the last frame of the match as well!
Here is the first one:
Hitman Halts The Ballrun
Michael Holt moved one match away from a first Crucible appearance in nine years, after a 10-6 win over 2015 World Champion Stuart Bingham at Halo World Championship Qualifying.
The Hitman’s professional career came under threat in 2022, when he fell off the circuit. During two years away from the World Snooker Tour, he set about a career coaching amateur players. However, Holt’s performances on last season’s Q Tour ensured the 46-year-old regained his professional status.
He’s enjoyed a good first season back, highlighted by a run to the quarter-finals of the UK Championship before Christmas.
Defeat for Bingham ends a 14-year run of consecutive Crucible appearances. He last missed out back in 2010.
Victory for Holt sees him earn a Judgement Day meeting with Fan Zhengyi, who beat Robbie Williams 10-6. The Nottingham cueman last appeared at the Theatre of Dreams in 2016, when he beat Neil Robertson before losing to Mark Williams.
Looking ahead to the final qualifying round, Holt is fully aware of the unique tension it comes with.
Holt said: “It’s a funny one. There’s a slightly different atmosphere. I think you can just sense it. The Crucible is such a special place to play snooker. You never forget it, whether it has been good or bad. You just want to get there. It is a twitchy game, you have to put it to the back of your mind and get to ten.
“It was great qualifying for the UK Championship. It was a nice story after being off the tour and now being back on. It would be great to get back to the Crucible again. When you drop off the circuit you don’t know whether you will get there again or even play professional snooker again. I’ve got another mountain to climb and ironically if I do manage that I’m only at base camp.”
Jackson Page made history by becoming the first ever player to craft two 147 breaks in a single match, claiming a massive £147,000 bonus, following a 10-2 win over Allan Taylor.
The £147,000 bonus is for any player who can make two 147s across snooker’s four majors. However, Page is also in line to scoop a further £10,000 for making a 147 in the qualifiers and the £15,000 high break prize for the event. That could potentially take the total payout to £172,000.
Page will now face Joe O’Connor on Judgement Day, but whatever happens he has comfortably secured the biggest payday of his career so far.
World number 35 Page said: “It feels great. Breaking records is brilliant. I’ve made a lot of 147s leading up to this event in the club. It felt routine out there in the end. I’m over the moon to have got it done.
“I never ever go for them in matches. I do when I’m practising. When I’m at the club I could be on the first black and think that the maximum is on. Here you try and win the frame. After I made the first one yesterday, I had to have a go for the second. It paid off, maybe I’ll start going for more.”
Ali Carter put on a battling display to come from 7-6 down and beat Ian Burns 10-8. The Captain will now play He Guoqiang, who scored a 10-9 win over Scott Donaldson. Despite a strong run, Burns suffers tour relegation after today’s result.
Former European Masters champion Jimmy Robertson held his nerve to beat 18-year-old Stan Moody 10-9. He now faces Matthew Selt, who beat Anthony Hamilton 10-3. Defeat for Hamilton means he will require Q School to return next season.
This is what comes for us, and the players of course, today and tomorrow:
Screenshot – snooker.org
Who do I believe will go through?
Gary Wilson, Zhou Yuelong, Zak Surety, Ben Wollaston, Zhao Xintong, Ryan Day, Chris Wakelin, David Gilbert, Hossein Vafaei, Michael Holt, Joe O’Connor, Pang Junxu, Matthew Stevens, Lei Peifan, Jimmy Robertson, Ali Carter
Who do I want to go through?
Gary Wilson, Zhou Yuelong, Rick Walden, Ben Wollaston, Zhao Xintong, Sunny Akani, Chris Wakelin, David Gilbert, Wang Yuchen, Michael Holt, Jackson Page, Pang Junxu, Wu Yize, Lei Peifan, Jimmy Robertson, He Guoqiang
Anyway… all of them are there on merit.
Good luck to all the players involved in the grueling Judgement Days!
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 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.
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.
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.
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! ↩︎
WPBSA Q Tour Global Play-Offs 2025 | Draw & Preview
The draw has been made for the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) Q Tour Global Play-Offs, where players will compete for a trio of two-year World Snooker Tour (WST) cards.
The prestigious event will be held alongside the EBSA European Championships in Antalya, Turkey from 11-13 March 2025.
A total of 24 players have qualified from the WPBSA Q Tour series’ in Europe, the Middle East, the Americas and the Asia-Pacific region as well as one nomination by the Chinese Billiards and Snooker Association (CBSA).
The cueists have been split into three sections of eight and the player coming through each will earn their professional status for the 2025/26 and 2026/27 seasons.
Play-Off 1
Quarter-Finals (Best of 9 Frames)
Dylan Emery (Wales) vs. Ali Gharagozlou (Iran)
Connor Benzey (England) vs. Mark Joyce (England)
Steven Hallworth (England) vs. Luo Honghao (China)
Kuldesh Johal (England) vs. Ryan Davies (England)
Semi-Finals (Best of 11 Frames)
Emery/Gharagozlou vs. Benzey/Joyce
Hallworth/Luo vs. Johal/Davies
Final (Best of 19 Frames)
Winner of Semi-Final 1 vs. Winner of Semi-Final 2
Wales’ Dylan Emery is the top seed after finishing second in the Q Tour Europe ranking list, behind only four-time event winner Zhao Xintong, as a result of winning the second title of the season in Bulgaria and finishing runner-up to Liam Highfield in event seven.
He faces a tough opening round tie against Iran’s Ali Gharagozlou, who finished at the summit of the Q Tour Middle East ranking list by winning back-to-back titles in the United Arab Emirates.
Former professionals Mark Joyce, Steven Hallworth and Kuldesh Johal are joined by Connor Benzey and Ryan Davies as qualifiers from Q Tour Europe in the top section while Luo Honghao, a former World Snooker Federation (WSF) champion who reached the televised stages of the World Championship in 2019, completes the line-up as the CBSA nomination.
Play-Off 2
Quarter-Finals (Best of 9 Frames)
Liam Highfield (England) vs. Habib Humood (Bahrain)
Dhimones Moraes (Brazil) vs. Harvey Chandler (England)
Iulian Boiko (Ukraine) vs. Alex Clenshaw (England)
Vinnie Calabrese (Australia) vs. Craig Steadman (England)
Semi-Finals (Best of 11 Frames)
Highfield/Humood vs. Moraes/Chandler
Boiko/Clenshaw vs. Calabrese/Steadman
Final (Best of 19 Frames)
Winner of Semi-Final 1 vs. Winner of Semi-Final 2
A trio of Q Tour event winners from across the globe feature in a strong second section where five nations and four continents are represented.
Liam Highfield, who won the seventh and final Q Tour Europe event of the season earlier this month, is aiming for a quick return to the World Snooker Tour after an unbroken 14-year spell came to an end last year.
He is joined in the second section by Australia’s Vinnie Calabrese and Bahrain’s Habib Humood, who finished top of the Q Tour Asia-Pacific and Middle East ranking lists as a result of winning all but one of the events in their individual regions.
Humood will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of Amir Sarkhosh and Mohammed Shehab, who each earned professional status as qualifiers from the Middle East series 12 months ago.
Former professionals Harvey Chandler, Iulian Boiko and Craig Steadman have qualified from the Europe series, as well as England’s Alex Clenshaw, while Brazil’s Dhimones Moraes will compete as the Q Tour Americas series’ South American nomination.
Play-Off 3
Quarter-Finals (Best of 9 Frames)
Ryan Thomerson (Australia) vs. Ehsan Heydari Nezhad (Iran)
Josh Thomond (England) vs. Florian Nuessle (Austria)
Sean O’Sullivan (England) vs. Oliver Sykes (England)
Vito Puopolo (Canada) vs. Andres Petrov (Estonia)
Semi-Finals (Best of 11 Frames)
Thomerson/Nezhad vs. Thomond/Nuessle
O’Sullivan/Sykes vs. Puopolo/Petrov
Final (Best of 19 Frames)
Winner of Semi-Final 1 vs. Winner of Semi-Final 2
Estonia’s Andres Petrov, the first Q Tour Europe event winner of the season, headlines the third and final section of the play-offs which features competitors from six nations.
Petrov will face Canada’s Vito Puopolo, who won an event on the Q Tour Americas series in Toronto, while the other six contenders have qualified via the Europe series.
Former professional Ryan Thomerson finished fourth in the Europe ranking list and will face Iran’s Ehsan Heydari Nezhad, who reached the final in Stockholm, while the line-up is completed by Josh Thomond, Sean O’Sullivan and Oliver Sykes from England as well as Austrian national champion Florian Nuessle.
This is a proper competition, and the ones who will emerge from it will really deserve their tour card.
It’s interesting that the Q-Tour actually travels more than the main tour, the latter being mainly confined to the UK and China. It is also interesting that it’s “combined” with the EBSA championships that also offer tour cards, possibly making it easier and cheaper for players who want to play in both.
Regarding the main tour, they should scrap the invitational championship league and use the calendar slots for events in mainland Europe. They could also make the ranking championship league shorter by using four tables instead of two. This year the Players Championship is played in Hong Kong. What about having one of the events of that series in mainland Europe? Sponsoring has been an issue in mainland Europe events, I know that. BUT, a big part of the problem is the strong ties between the sport and gambling, something that is much more “regulated” in mainland Europe than it is in the UK, and doesn’t have a very favorable image with the general public. Surely they can find sponsors in other areas? Maybe, at the start, those sponsors won’t offer as big price money as WST would like to get but they surely can and should “complement” it. It’s called “investing” in the future. After all they call themselves “World” snooker, not “UK, China and friends” snooker.
Also I mention mainland Europe, but if successful, in the future WST will have to consider the Americas and Africa and then they will need to consider simultaneous events in various locations like other big sports do because the calendar has only 52 weeks and then, to be fair to all players they will be forced to “depart’ from the money list and adopt a different “rating” system. I’m 70, I may never see it but there will come a time when they will have to evolve to that model … or never grow into a global sport.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 