O’Brien close to Crucible qualification

Fergal O’Brien, in the doldrums for the last three years, returned to form to secure a place in the final qualifying round of the Embassy World Snooker Championship at Prestatyn last night.

O’Brien, the 1999 British Open champion, was once as high as ninth in the world but has slipped to 47th on the latest provisional list.

But the 32-year-old Dubliner produced a top drawer performance to beat Joe Delaney 10-3 and move to within one round of the Crucible.