Ronnie O’Sullivan was straight into an ominous groove as he opened a commanding lead over Robin Hull in their Dafabet World Championship first-round clash.

Ronnie O’Sullivan will launch the defence of his Dafabet World Championship title against Finland’s Robin Hull on Saturday 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 has revealed the warmth of his relationship with artist Damien Hirst was a major factor behind his decision to return to snooker after almost a year out.

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.

A run of four frames in a row from Neil Robertson helped him take charge of his International Championship semi-final with Shaun Murphy in Chengdu.

Judd Trump booked a semi-final against Peter Ebdon after edging out Mark Allen in a thrilling 6-5 victory at the International Championship in Chengdu today.

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.

Ronnie O’Sullivan tonight put the seal on his glorious tournament – and perhaps one of snooker’s great careers too – by carrying off the Betfred.com World Championship title for a fourth time.

Ronnie O’Sullivan claims he has never known a Crucible campaign so gruelling but a fourth world title should be his reward tomorrow for lasting the pace.

Ronnie O’Sullivan hit a streak of devastating form to surge ahead of Ali Carter in the Betfred.com World Championship final.

Ronnie O'Sullivan has never lost in a final of the Betfred.com World Championship and a fourth appearance in the showpiece match of the snooker season is in his sights this morning.

Stephen Maguire's frustrations spilled over and his hopes of reaching a first Betfred.com World Championship final took a major hit today.

Ronnie O’Sullivan has not seemed like a man in need of a helping hand as he pursues a fourth Betfred.com World Championship title but he benefited from the sportsmanship of Matthew Stevens tonight.

Ali Carter has vowed to win his battles on and off the table as he closes in on Crucible glory.

Ali Carter edged ahead of Stephen Maguire after an underwhelming opening session of their Betfred.com World Championship semi-final.

Judd Trump branded Ali Carter's behaviour "childish" after being dumped out of the Betfred.com World Championship last night.

Ronnie O’Sullivan was a cut above Peter Ebdon as he raced through to the second round of the Betfred.com World Championship today

Ronnie O’Sullivan turned the most keenly-anticipated first-round match at the Betfred.com World Championship into a procession as he surged 7-2 ahead of Peter Ebdon.

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.

Ronnie O’Sullivan will tackle his Crucible nemesis Peter Ebdon in the first round of the Betfred.com World Championship.

Stephen Maguire triumphed on a re-spotted black in the final frame to see off Ronnie O’Sullivan in the China Open quarter-finals in Beijing yesterday.

Stephen Maguire triumphed on a re-spotted black in the final frame to see off Ronnie O’Sullivan in the quarter-finals the China Open in Beijing today.

Stephen Maguire triumphed on a re-spotted black in the final frame to see off Ronnie O'Sullivan at the China Open in Beijing today.

Ireland's Mark Allen suffered a surprise exit at the hands of Ricky Walden in the first round of the China Open in Beijing today.

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

World champion John Higgins admits he “needs to knuckle down” after his shock first-round elimination from the Australian Goldfields Open in Bendigo today.

World champion John Higgins crashed out of the Australian Goldfields Open in Bendigo today.

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.

John Higgins hauled himself level at the mid-session interval of an arduous battle with Rory McLeod at the Betfred.com World Championship.

Ronnie O'Sullivan was today setting out to seal his place in the second round of the Betfred.com World Championship after launching his title bid in impressive style.

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.

JOHN HIGGINS claimed Shaun Murphy was in the form of his life after the world number one was knocked out of the China Open at the quarter-final stage yesterday.

World number one John Higgins was knocked out of the China Open at the quarter-final stage this morning, falling to former world champion Shaun Murphy.

World champion Neil Robertson bowed out of the China Open to continue his poor run in the country.

Ronnie O'Sullivan's miserable run continued today as he was eliminated from the Bank of Beijing China Open at the first-round stage.

John Higgins battled past Nigel Bond today to seal his place in the second round of the Bank of Beijing China Open.

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

China's Ding Junhui and Marco Fu of Hong Kong made history at Wembley today as they set up the first all-Asian final in the history of snooker's marquee tournaments.

Marco Fu produced a stunning comeback to see off Irishman Mark Allen and reach his first Wembley final.

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.