ROCKET LAUNCH
The atmosphere for Ronnie O’Sullivan’s entrance into the Crucible this morning will surely feel more akin to a world final but when the cheering stops and the snooker starts it will quickly become...
View ArticleSUNDAY SERVICE
Ronnie O’Sullivan should be satisfied with his overall level of performance in becoming the first player into the last 16 of the Betfair World Championship last night.O’Sullivan beat Marcus Campbell...
View ArticleALL WHITE ON THE AFTERNOON
Many felt Jack Lisowski would make an impression as a debutant but it was Michael White who proved the star of the show at the Betfair World Championship yesterday.White, 21, marked his Crucible debut...
View ArticleOLD MAN'S GAME
Mark Davis and Mark King were not generally touted as pin-up boys for the Betfair World Championship before it began but they each proved yesterday that hype means nothing: it’s results that...
View ArticleCOMIC RELIEF
Dechawat Poomjaeng: comedy genius. That seemed to be the view of the Crucible crowd after the maverick Thai clinched a dramatic 10-9 victory over Stephen Maguire last night. Poomjaeng’s facial...
View ArticlePOOM SHAKE THE ROOM
Judd Trump and Ding Junhui have been the season’s two heaviest scorers. Trump yesterday made his 56th century of the campaign in beating Dominic Dale 10-5. This sets a new record for a single campaign,...
View ArticlePASS IT ON
First off, well done to Robert Milkins, a player who seemed to have completely fallen away but who yesterday produced arguably the win of his career over Neil Robertson.This was a tense old afternoon’s...
View ArticleCAN THE CAPTAIN TAME THE ROCKET?
Ronnie O’Sullivan has had a week off since he played his last match. Then again, he’s had a year off since he played his last major tournament so it’s unlikely to make much difference.However, the...
View ArticleSHOCKS TO THE SYSTEM
This is turning into one of the strangest World Championships ever.The formbook has not so much been thrown out of the window as Fed-Ex’d to Pluto. Big names have tumbled and some old stagers have come...
View ArticleI DO LIKE MONDAYS
After no finishes at all at the Betfair World Championship yesterday there are four today.This great behemoth of a tournament isn’t the easiest to schedule but yesterday felt a bit like an exercise in...
View ArticleSENT TO COVENTRY
The new Champion of Champions event announced today and to be staged in Coventry in November promises to be a prestigious affair with £100,000 to the eventual winner.The 16 player field will comprise...
View ArticleTABLE FOR EIGHT
Ronnie O’Sullivan has won 23 of the 71 frames he needs to capture a fifth world title so still has a long way to go but the manner in which he clinched victory over Ali Carter last night makes him the...
View ArticleFOUR PLAY
Judd Trump v Ronnie O’Sullivan: now there is a match to get the snooker juices flowing.Their Betfair World Championship semi-final over four sessions has the potential to be big entertainment. These...
View ArticleTHE FINAL COUNTDOWN
It seems unlikely now that the 2013 Betfair World Championship will not end with a fifth title for Ronnie O’Sullivan.He has been the best player in the event, playing with great discipline as well as...
View ArticleHUMBLE HAWKINS IN DREAMLAND
As a teenager, Barry Hawkins worked as a junior in an office. It was a chance of a guaranteed income, gradually climbing up the career ladder: a nice, steady nine-to-five, Monday to Friday job which...
View ArticleKING RONNIE THE FIFTH
Those pondering what it says about snooker that a player can return barely having played since the previous year and successfully defend the world title are considering the wrong question.They should...
View ArticleAND THE WINNER IS...
The season just gone will be celebrated at the World Snooker awards in London tonight.The truth is, though, that there was no one definitive player of the year. At various points in the campaign,...
View ArticleSNOOKER LEGENDS ON EUROSPORT
Snooker Legends has been a successful series of exhibitions featuring players who helped make the game such a successful TV phenomenon.Launched four years ago by Jason Francis, it has attracted large...
View ArticleBURNT OUT BY BURNOUT?
“Sorry it took so long to climb those steps, this burnout’s a killer,” was Barry Hearn’s opening gambit in his speech at the World Snooker Awards in London last week.It was a good line and got a big...
View ArticleNEW SEASON, NEW SYSTEM
Michael Wasley is a talented young snooker player from Gloucester who deserves additional respect for being able to solve the Rubik's cube in a matter of seconds (and not, as I used to in my youth, by...
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