Ronnie O’Sullivan was in relaxed mood after a straightforward first-round outing at the UK Championship against Scottish amateur Rhys Clark.

Noel Baker recalls a tranquil few days in Sagres on the southernmost tip of Portugal, with a spin in a Porsche thrown in for good measure.

Dennis Taylor claims there would be no tears shed among fellow players if Ronnie O'Sullivan carried out his latest threat to quit snooker.

World champion John Higgins dumped snooker's new sensation Judd Trump out of the Partypoker.com Snooker Shoot-Out in Blackpool last night.

World champion John Higgins admits he “needs to knuckle down” after his shock first-round elimination from the Australian Goldfields Open in Bendigo today.

Ronnie O'Sullivan's miserable run continued today as he was eliminated from the Bank of Beijing China Open at the first-round stage.

John Higgins battled past Nigel Bond today to seal his place in the second round of the Bank of Beijing China Open.

Veteran Nigel Bond proved himself a champion sprinter as he triumphed at the Snooker Shoot-Out in Blackpool tonight.

Stephen Hendry believes he can play himself into title-winning form after knocking out Mark Davis to reach the 12bet.com World Open last 16.

Former poker club croupier Martin Gould provided the first shock of the Betfred.com World Championship as Marco Fu folded in their first-round clash.

Marco Fu was involved in a tense tussle with qualifier Martin Gould as their first-round clash at the Betfred.com World Championship neared its conclusion.

Stephen Hendry completed a remarkable turnaround, coming back from 4-0 down to seal a 5-4 win over Marcus Campbell in the second round of the Shanghai Masters.

The North's Mark Allen today caused the sensation of this season’s Betfred.com World Championship by knocking out Ronnie O’Sullivan.

RONNIE O’SULLIVAN finally began to dominate second-round opponent Mark Allen at the Crucible as he secured an overnight lead over the Northern Irishman.

Stephen Hendry was pegged back by Ding Junhui in a terrific middle session of their Betfred.com World Championship second-round clash.

Mark Allen will be hoping he can continue to hold his own against Ronnie O'Sullivan when they resume their second-round match at the World Snooker Championship this afternoon.

AUSTRALIAN Neil Robertson completed quickfire a 10-2 victory over veteran Steve Davis in round one of the Betfred.com World Championship yesterday.

Nigel Bond is happy just to be playing more snooker after he made it into the second round of the Betfred.com World Championships with a shock 10-5 win over Peter Ebdon last night.

The all-Chinese encounter in the first round of the Betfred.com World Snooker Championship did not disappoint its record-breaking audience after Ding Junhui came through a thrilling contest to beat Liang Wenbo.

The all-Chinese encounter in the first round of the Betfred.com World Snooker Championship remained anyone’s game as Liang Wenbo hit back to trail Ding Junhui only 7-6 at the mid-session interval.

World number one Ronnie O’Sullivan will kick off his bid for a fourth World Snooker Championship crown with a first-round tie against Stuart Bingham.

Stephen Hendry was today battling to avoid a second first-round exit in three years from the 888.com World Championships in Sheffield.

AUSTRALIAN Neil Robertson has added his voice to the row between snooker’s top stars and the BBC over sponsorship logos.

STEPHEN LEE revealed he is considering quitting snooker after crashing out of the 888.com World Championship in the first round for the second year running.

John Higgins made a superb start to the defence of his 888.com World Championship today at the Crucible in Sheffield.

Matthew Stevens came close to a 147 maximum break on the opening morning of the 888.com World Championship in Sheffield today.

Defending champion John Higgins believes his opening match with Matthew Stevens in the 888.com World Championship is “too tough to call.”

Ryan Day and Stephen Maguire will lock horns in the first of this year’s semi-finals at the Honghe Industrial China Open.

Ireland's Ken Doherty is through to round two of the China Open after beating England's Mike Dunn 5-2 in his opening game this morning.

Graeme Dott’s miserable season continued as the defending champion crashed out of the Honghe Industrial China Open at the first hurdle.

Mark Williams and Shaun Murphy are the first two players to qualify for the quarter-finals of this year's Maplin UK Championship.

Former champion Ding Junhui wasted little time in booking his place in the second round of this year’s Maplin UK Championship in Telford today.

Stephen Hendry’s bid to equal Steve Davis’ record of six Maplin UK Championship titles hangs by a thread after a disastrous opening session against Mark Allen at Telford.

Last year’s runner-up Ronnie O’Sullivan avoided a shock defeat in his opening match at this year’s Northern Ireland Trophy tonight after being taken the distance by Leicester qualifier Tom Ford.

Stephen Hendry averted a second consecutive first-round exit from the 888.com World Championship in Sheffield as he fought back for a 10-7 victory against little-known David Gilbert.

Ireland's Ken Doherty gets his campaign underway today at the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield.

Last year’s runner-up Peter Ebdon requires just one frame to secure his place in the second round of this year’s 888.com World Championship.

RONNIE O’SULLIVAN will meet Chinese teenager Ding Junhui in the first round of this year’s World Championship.

Ronnie O’Sullivan will meet Chinese teenager Ding Junhui in the first round of this year’s World Championship.

Jimmy White admitted he was “devastated” after missing out on a place in the final stages of the 888.com World Championship for only the second time in his 27-year career in Prestatyn tonight.

Neil Robertson earned the respect of Stephen Hendry after keeping his cool to beat the seven-times world champion in Newport tonight.

Dave Harold expects nothing less than a “battle” with UK champion Peter Ebdon at the Welsh Open today.

KEN DOHERTY secured his passage through to the last 16 of the Welsh Open at the Newport Centre yesterday with a 5-3 victory over Belfast’s Joe Swail.

Andrew Higginson did John Higgins a friendly favour on the Scot’s arrival in Newport but hopes to be firmly in the driving seat when they clash in the second round of the Welsh Open tonight.

Nigel Bond gained revenge against Liang Wenbo by completing a 5-3 victory over the Chinese teenager to reach the second round of the Welsh Open in Newport today.

KEN DOHERTY dug deep for a 5-3 victory over Nigel Bond, to secure his passage through to the next round of the Malta Cup.

Stephen Lee has high hopes that this week’s Malta Cup will prove to be a happy hunting ground in his search for a fifth ranking-event title.

Stephen Hendry has revealed he is treading a lonely road in the bid to maintain his position at the top of the sport.

Stephen Maguire will be hoping history repeats itself when he meets Ronnie O’Sullivan in the third round of the Maplin UK Championship in York tomorrow.

Alan McManus maintained his encouraging start to the season when he began his Maplin UK Championship campaign in York today.