Furious Ali Carter hit out at what he called the worst conditions of his career after crashing out of the World Snooker Championship in the second round today.

Retail recovering on Irish high streets, Cork's oldest gay bar closes, Bingham wins World snooker championship and Bressie writes about marriage equality. These are some of the latest and most read news stories on irishexaminer.com this morning.

Ronnie O’Sullivan admitted his motivations have changed when it comes to winning the World Snooker Championship after easing into the quarter-finals with a 13-5 victory over Matthew Stevens.

Alex Ferguson leaves Manchester United in an era very different to the one in which he started the job.

As Bart Simpson — and latterly thousands of football fans — have said, you can actually pinpoint the second his heart rips in half.

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

Former Crucible runner-up Matthew Stevens booked a return to the World Snooker Championship with a nail-biting 10-9 victory over Ireland’s Fergal O’Brien in a match decided on the final black.

Neil Robertson has vowed to be a role model for snooker after clinching Crucible glory and striking a fresh blow for Australia in his country’s sporting rivalry with Britain.

Title favourite Mark Selby was today looking to chase down fast starter Graeme Dott in his semi-final at the Betfred.com World Snooker Championship.

Northern Ireland’s Mark Allen tonight has become the first man to reach the quarter-finals of the World Snooker Championship as he completed a thumping 13-5 win against England’s Mark Davis.

Ken Doherty will play England's Mark Selby in the first round of the Betfred.com World Snooker Championship, it was announced today.

Wales' Matthew Stevens proved too strong for Ireland’s Mark Allen at the Roewe Shanghai Masters today.

Ireland’s Mark Allen joined Murphy in the World Snooker Championship semi-finals today after a 13-11 victory over Welshman Ryan Day.

The North's Mark Allen has opened up a 5-3 lead in his quarter-final clash at the World Snooker Championship.

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.

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.

The World Snooker Championship has received a financial boost after a new title sponsor for the tournament was revealed in London today.

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.

The World Snooker Championship could be taken to China from 2011 to exploit the country’s exploding market for the sport, according to the head of the game’s governing body.

Northern Ireland's Joe Swail is out of the World Snooker Championship after a final frame thriller against Liang Wenbo last night.

Ireland's Ken Doherty is due to his World Snooker Championship campaign underway later today.

Dubliner Michael Judge is out of the World Snooker Championships after losing 10-6 to Welshman Ryan Day this morning.

Glasgow's Stephen Maguire holds a 14-10 lead over former champion John Higgins at the 888.com World Snooker championship semi-finals.

Ireland's Ken Doherty is facing an uphill battle to qualify for the second round of the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield today.

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

Matthew Stevens reached the final of the World Snooker Championship when he defeated Ian McCulloch at the Crucible this evening.

Jimmy White sent Ireland's Fergal O'Brien crashing out of the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible in Sheffield today.

Ken Doherty is facing a tough job to stay in the World Snooker Championship tonight as he trails England's Barry Pinches.

Ken Doherty is facing an uphill struggle to reach the second round of the World Snooker Championship against Barry Pinches today.

Ken Doherty has won four frames on the trot to haul himself back into contention in the final of the World Snooker Championship at The Crucible.

Mark Williams 10 Ken Doherty 2

Ken Doherty trails 13-9 at the World Snooker Championship semi-final at the Crucible.

Thailand's James Wattana leads Jimmy White (pictured) 6-3 after today's first session at the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England.