Pakistan’s Hamza Akbar caused a major upset as he knocked out Jamie Jones in the first round of qualifying for the Betfred World Championship. Akbar, in his rookie season as a professional after winning the 2015 Asian Championship, had not previously won a match on the Main Tour. However, the[Read More…]
Tag: World Championship
Irish Ready for Tough World Championship Qualifiers
The draw for the World Championship qualifiers was made on Monday and it certainly threw up quite a few interesting ties for the Irish. In total there are seven from the Republic, as well as a further three from the North who are attempting to gain one of the coveted[Read More…]
WATCH: World Championship Qualifiers Draw
With the completion of the China Open on Sunday comes the sobering realisation that the World Championship is finally upon us. The last 32 at the Crucible doesn’t commence for another 12 days but this Wednesday sees the start of the dreaded qualifiers at Ponds Forge in Sheffield. Three victories[Read More…]
Maguire Sends Ding to Ponds Forge
Stephen Maguire beat Alfie Burden 5-1 to reach the semi-finals of the China Open in Beijing. In doing so, the Scot ensured that he would break back into the top 16 in the world rankings just in time to gain automatic qualification to the World Championship in a fortnight. Maguire’s[Read More…]
O’Sullivan Announces Plan to Quit
Ronnie O’Sullivan has today announced his intentions to retire after the upcoming World Championship. The unbelievable statement comes on the eve of this year’s edition at the Crucible, where the Englishman is the favourite to win his sixth crown. Of course, O’Sullivan has often hinted at quitting throughout his career[Read More…]
Paul Collier Chosen to Take Charge of World Final
Paul Collier has been selected to referee the final of the Betfred World Championship for the second time. The 45-year-old Welshman first took charge of snooker’s biggest match in 2004 when Ronnie O’Sullivan beat Graeme Dott in the final at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. And he’ll don the white[Read More…]
Ladies Champion to Play in World Championship
Reigning world ladies snooker champion Ng On Yee has qualified to take up a place in the qualifying rounds of this year’s Betfred World Snooker Championship. On Yee, 25, from Hong Kong, became the first non-British winner of the World Ladies Snooker Championship last year and is now set to[Read More…]
Flat Draw Paints a Sorry Picture
It has been a fiercely contested debate since day one – are flat draws good or bad for the sport? From my point of view I was initially in favour of the initiation of a system which would allow all professional players the opportunity to enter an event on an[Read More…]
What Now?
A whole day has passed since the conclusion of the 2015 World Championship in Sheffield and I’m sure some of us are feeling a snooker hangover. The entire season was jam-packed, particularly in the second half, but the month of April and the first few days in May was as[Read More…]
It’s There! It’s Over
Over the course of the World Championship I challenged one snooker aficionado to highlight the best quirky, outlandish, unusual, laughable and questionable observations of each day. As if to further enhance his (or her!) alter ego as snooker’s sleeper, this spy elected to go through the tournament in disguise. One person[Read More…]