Crucible thoroughbreds John Higgins and Graeme Dott led the Scottish charge on Sunday at the Betfred World Championship.

Mark Selby knows he has to not only defeat 31 other players vying to cause an upset at the BetFred World Snooker Championship but he must also conquer the ’Curse of the Crucible’.

Mark Selby has been backed to win multiple Crucible titles after stunning Ronnie O’Sullivan to land his maiden triumph at the Dafabet World Championship.

Mark Selby has been backed to win multiple Crucible titles after stunning Ronnie O’Sullivan to land his maiden triumph at the Dafabet World Championship.

Ronnie O'Sullivan marks his 38th birthday today with a UK Championship quarter-final appearance - but any celebrations will be reserved for if he beats Stuart Bingham.

Ronnie O'Sullivan advanced to the last 32 of the UK Championship - then laid out his plans to again take another break from snooker.

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

Shaun Murphy swept ahead in his Betfair World Championship quarter-final against Judd Trump as the Crucible saw the best of the Magician.

Judd Trump stayed ahead of Marco Fu but rode his luck to carry a two-frame lead into the final session of their second-round tussle at the Betfair World Championship.

Ronnie O’Sullivan returns to the Crucible today after a week in which many pretenders to his crown have fallen at the first hurdle.

Shaun Murphy felt the full force of an electrified Graeme Dott as the Scot hauled himself level in their high-stakes Crucible battle.

Six seeds have already lost at the Betfair World Championship but it was an entirely different sort of shock affecting a former Crucible champion this morning.

Judd Trump looked the part as he reached the second round of the Betfair World Championship this morning.

Judd Trump, Ding Junhui and world number one Mark Selby were today beginning their challenges at the Betfair World Championship as the seeds continued to fall.

Peter Ebdon and Graeme Dott took their gruelling Betfair World Championship first-round first-to-10 match into extra time today.

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.

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

John Higgins and defending champion Peter Ebdon both crashed out of the Bank of Beijing China Open in the first round today.

Ken Doherty, who had shown some good form this week in beating John Higgins and Tom Ford, bowed out of the Welsh Open yesterday after losing 5-3 to England’s Stuart Bingham in the quarter-final.

Mark Selby was thrilled to clinch his third Betfair Masters title and claim back-to-back major victories after a neck injury left him fearing for his career.

A horribly out-of-sorts Judd Trump bowed out of the Betfair Masters at the quarter-final stage today, losing 6-1 to Graeme Dott.

Stephen Maguire held off Joe Perry to reach the quarter-finals of the Betfred.com World Championship this morning.

Judd Trump almost threw in the towel on his Crucible campaign before it even started.

Graeme Dott today vowed to find a way out of the snooker doldrums but admitted the worst defeat of his career left him tempted to "chuck it".

Graeme Dott suffered his heaviest defeat at the Betfred.com World Championship this morning as Joe Perry completed a 10-1 demolition of the Scot.

Stephen Maguire put an emphatic end to Luca Brecel's first Betfred.com World Championship campaign this morning.

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.

Barry Hawkins lifted the 2012 Snooker Shoot Out trophy after beating Graeme Dott in tonight‘s final in Blackpool.

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

Ronnie O'Sullivan and John Higgins both crashed out of the williamhill.com UK Championship on a high-class day of action in York.

Ronnie O’Sullivan bowed out of the williamhill.com UK Championship in York today and claimed he needs to end his career if he is to have a life away from snooker.

DESPITE beating a hasty retreat following his surprise 4-1 defeat by Xiao Guadong at the PTC Snooker event in Killarney yesterday, Ronnie O’Sullivan’s recent comments about feeling ‘raped’ and ‘blackmailed’ into playing a lot of the World Snooker events at moment were a hot topic of conversation at the INEC.

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 shattered Chinese dreams as he became the youngest finalist this century at the Betfred.com World Championship.

Judd Trump today faced a cliffhanger of a closing session against Ding Junhui as he attempted to extend his fairytale run at the Betfred.com World Championship into the 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.

John Higgins was proclaimed snooker's "Terminator" after refusing to let his Betfred.com World Championship dream die.

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.