John Higgins became the first man to reach the quarter-finals of the Welsh Open as he beat Dave Harold 4-1 this afternoon.

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.

Ryan Day became the third seeded player to crash out in the first round at the Betfred.com World Championship as Mark Davis followed namesake Steve into the last 16.

Ding Junhui made short work of wrapping up victory over Stuart Pettman as he breezed into the second round of the Betfred.com World Championship.

Ding Junhui moved to within touching distance of a place in the second round of the Betfred.com World Championship today.

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

Stephen Hendry believes leaving the Crucible on a permanent basis should be out of the question as the Betfred.com World Championship organisers consider the future of their event.

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.

Ken Doherty's in action later this evening at the Northern Ireland Trophy.

ONE hundred miles west of Cork city in beautiful Cahermore, two of Beara’s great rivals fought themselves to a standstill for the right to meet Kildorrery in the IFC semi-final.

It is semi-finals day at the Northern Ireland Trophy. Mark Allen will take on Irishman Fergal O'Brien.

Fergal O’Brien caused the biggest upset of this year’s Northern Ireland Trophy so far by dumping out crowd favourite Ronnie O’Sullivan.

WORLD champion John Higgins crashed to a shock defeat at the Northern Ireland Trophy yesterday.

Ronnie O'Sullivan is on track for a 19th career ranking title after winning through to the final of snooker's Grand Prix.

Ronnie O'Sullivan has turned on the style to reach the final of the Royal London Watches Snooker Grand Prix in Aberdeen.

Ronnie O’Sullivan became the first player through to the semi-finals of this year’s Royal London Watches Grand Prix today.

Two-time world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan and qualifier Gerard Greene today became the first players to secure their place in the quarter-finals of the Royal London Watches Grand Prix.

Ireland's Ken Doherty has suffered defeat to fellow Dubliner Michael Judge in his opening game of the Snooker Grand Prix.

Ken Doherty moved a step closer to retaining the vcpoker.ie Irish Professional Championship by beating Gerard Greene 6-2 to reach the final in Dublin today.

Fergal O’Brien held his nerve to clinch a place in the vcpoker.ie Irish Professional Championship semi-finals in Dublin today.

JOHN HIGGINS dug deep to book his place in the Kilkenny Irish Masters quarter-finals at the Ormonde Hotel last night.

John Higgins dug deep to book his place in the quarter-finals of this year’s Kilkenny Irish Masters tonight.

Neil Robertson made a winning return to the table today with victory in his opening match at the Kilkenny Irish Masters.

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.

Joe Perry negotiated his first hurdle at the Welsh Open by beating former world champion John Parrott 5-2 in the first round in Newport tonight.

Joe Delaney, Joe Swail and Gerard Greene are the Irish players in action on Day One of the Welsh Open.

Ronnie O’Sullivan feels he is losing the killer instinct that has made him snooker’s most feared opponent.

SHAUN MURPHY and Neil Robertson, two of snooker’s hottest young properties, crashed out at the opening hurdle of the Maplin UK Championship in York last night.

Ricky Waldon refused to let Ronnie O’Sullivan have it all his own way as the second round of the Maplin UK Championship got under way in York.

Defending champion Joe Swail will take on Martin McCrudden in the first round of the Irish Professional Snooker Championship in Dublin next month.

World champion Graeme Dott battled back from behind to book a quarter-final berth at the Northern Ireland Trophy today.

Local favourite Gerard Greene dumped six-time world champion Steve Davis out of the Northern Ireland Trophy this afternoon.

WATERFORD County Council has a new mayor. Cllr Mary Greene is the fourth representative from the Suir Electoral Area to wear the civic chain and lead the local authority.

Graeme Dott is not traditionally renowned as a good traveller but the diminutive Scot came within only two frames of landing the Malta Cup title 12 months ago and will be looking to go one better as he starts his Portomaso campaign tonight.

Paul Hunter, who has been battling against cancer, returned to action at the Travis Perkins UK Championship in York today as the big names entered the fray.

World number 18 Barry Pinches was in danger of a shock first-round exit as the Travis Perkins UK Championship got under way in York today.

Despite being on top of the snooker world, Shaun Murphy will have to make way for some of the sport’s elder statesmen tonight.

Last year’s runner-up Ian McCulloch was sent crashing out of the Grand Prix in Preston tonight after defeat at the hands of an in-form John Higgins.

World champion Shaun Murphy is through to the second of the Preston Grand Prix after a convincing 5-2 victory over Leicester’s Mark Selby.

Steve Davis may not be a genuine Crucible title contender anymore, but he’s still the ultimate competitor.

Steve Davis left it late before booking his place in the second round of the Embassy World Championship last night.

Steve Davis produced a vital finish to the opening session of his 25th appearance at the Crucible to revive his chances of staying among the game’s elite for next season.

RONNIE O’SULLIVAN faces the toughest possible start to his defence of the Embassy world title next month.