Former world snooker champion Alex Higgins is about to return to snooker action, it was reported today.

Steve Davis clung onto Robin Hull’s coat-tails at Newport today but the six-times world champion remains in real danger of missing out on a Crucible appearance for only the second time in 24 years.

Dean Reynolds got himself in a froth at the Benson and Hedges Championship in Mansfield when he fell foul of snooker’s tough new drink regulations.

Jimmy White has one last throw of the dice in a season that promised so much but is now in serious danger of fizzling out.