John Higgins labelled himself nothing more than “a journeyman” after a second successive first-round exit at the Dafabet World Championship.

Ronnie O’Sullivan will launch the defence of his Dafabet World Championship title against Finland’s Robin Hull on Saturday morning.

Shaun Murphy believes Ronnie O’Sullivan is already showing “ominous” form the in defence of his title at the Betfair World Championship.

John Higgins is today facing an uphill struggle to stay in the Betfair World Championship as the prospect of a major first-round upset loomed.

Stiffer tests lie ahead but Ronnie O’Sullivan returned to snooker today with a victory and a performance that suggests he will take some stopping in the Betfair World Championship.

Ronnie O’Sullivan will begin the defence of his Betfair World Championship title against Scotland’s Marcus Campbell.

Fourth seed Mark Williams was dumped out of the International Championship at the first round stage today as Mark Davis produced an impressive performance in Chengdu.

Luca Brecel today served up compelling evidence of his rich talent as he became the youngest ever Crucible debutant.

Stephen Hendry shrugged off the effects of a 10,000-mile round trip to China as he fired in a thrilling 147 maximum break on day one of the Betfred.com World Championship today.

John Higgins made a shaky start to his Betfred.com World Championship title defence this morning but still took three of the opening four frames against Liang Wenbo.

Ken Doherty is "over the moon" to be back in Sheffield for the Betfred.com World Championship after twice sampling the pain of missing out.

Jimmy White booked a first-round China Open clash with Judd Trump by coming through qualifying today,

It’s been Ireland’s best kept sporting secret but from tomorrow through to Sunday, snooker’s version of the Champions League final takes place in Galway — and over 40 million people will tune in to watch it.

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

Stephen Hendry was poised to lose his place in the world’s top 16 after defeat by Robert Milkins in the first round of the Shanghai Masters.

An emotional John Higgins claimed his fourth Betfred.com World Championship title tonight as the most harrowing 12 months of his life ended in triumph.

John Higgins won four frames in a row to nose ahead of Judd Trump in the Betfred.com World Championship final.

Judd Trump had John Higgins running scared tonight as he raced ahead in the Betfred.com World Championship final.

John Higgins came from behind to take a 3-2 lead over Judd Trump as the Crucible veteran and the young maestro began the Betfred.com World Championship final.

Judd Trump might come a close second in the popularity stakes to Ding Junhui in China but in Sheffield it is a no-contest.

Ding Junhui gained control of his Betfred.com World Championship semi-final against Judd Trump as he won six out of eight frames in the second session this afternoon.

Judd Trump believes his biggest test of the Betfred.com World Championship will come if he falls behind in his semi-final against Ding Junhui.

Judd Trump brought power snooker to the Betfred.com World Championship as he blasted out into an overnight lead in his semi-final against Ding Junhui.

Judd Trump has warned it will take a lot to stop him after powering past another former world champion to reach the Crucible semi-finals thi afternoon.

Ronnie O’Sullivan has saluted the sports psychiatrist he turned to at a time of need after rediscovering his passion for snooker and his best form.

Judd Trump marched towards a quarter-final place at the Betfred.com World Championship as he sped into an 11-5 lead against Martin Gould.

John Higgins began what could be an emotional journey to a fourth Crucible title with a hint of early anxiety followed by a masterclass this evening.

Marco Fu was taking revenge for last year’s first-round defeat by Martin Gould as he opened up a 6-3 lead in their re-match at the Betfred.com World Championship.

Judd Trump ended Neil Robertson’s defence of his Betfred.com World Championship title with a stunning performance on day one at the Crucible 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.

Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins were today handed tough-looking first-round draws for this year’s Betfred.com World Snooker Championship.

Shaun Murphy won the inaugural Players Tour Championship title tonight when he whitewashed surprise finalist Martin Gould in Dublin.

Mark Selby gained a measure of revenge for his defeat to Mark Williams in last month's German Masters final as he knocked the Welshman out of the Partycasino.com Players Tour Championship Grand Finals in Dublin last night.

Mark Williams cruised into the quarter-finals of the Players Tour Championship Grand Finals in Dublin with a 4-0 win over Anthony Hamilton.

Shaun Murphy came through his first test at the Players Tour Championship Grand Finals as he saw off Ricky Walden’s challenge in Dublin.

Six-time winner Steve Davis tonight failed to qualify for the World Championship after he was thrashed in the final round of qualifying by Stephen Lee.

John Higgins made a winning return to competitive action in Britain today with a 9-6 victory over Stephen Lee at the UK Championship in Telford.

Peter Ebdon believes he can stun world champion Neil Robertson at the Shanghai Masters – six weeks after playing down his chances of even qualifying for the tournament.

Neil Robertson wrapped up victory over Steve Davis this afternoon to clinch a place in the Betfred.com World Championship semi-finals.

NEIL Robertson acted the part of the villain at the Crucible Theatre last night as he closed in on the kill against Steve Davis.

Mark Allen made sure of his place in the Betfred.com World Championship quarter-finals as the seeds looked set to be scattered in Sheffield.

Neil Robertson avoided a sticky end to his Betfred.com World Championship campaign but admitted knocking out Fergal O'Brien was as tough as extracting chewing gum from a carpet.

NEIL ROBERTSON avoided a sticky end to his Betfred.com World Championship campaign but admitted knocking out Ireland’s Fergal O’Brien was as tough as extracting chewing gum from a carpet.

Ronnie O’Sullivan will need to be on his best behaviour when he returns for the conclusion of his opening match this afternoon at the Betfred.com World Championship.