Ronnie O'Sullivan - the greatest showman in snooker

WORLD SNOOKER CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL
THE CRUCIBLE • 1-2 MAY
[2] RONNIE O'SULLIVAN 18-13 JUDD TRUMP [4]

[1]	5-3	Sun 1pm 0-98 (72), 120-0 (120), 78-1 (68), 73-66 (JT 52) 62-13, 105-4 (105), 0-98 (97), 50-79
[2]	7-2	Sun 7pm 36-100 (73), 117-7 (66, 50), 122-9 (118) 107-15 (97), 77-0, 94-26 (87), 4-80 (80), 79-0 (60), 88-33 (88)
[3]	2-6	Mon 1pm 22-115 (107), 25-90 (59), 0-81, 71-45 (64), 20-66, 51-60, 68-1 (55), 0-126 (105)
[4]	4-2	Mon 7pm 82-12 (82), 88-12 (88), 27-72 (64), 91-1 (75), 0-151 (109), 93-0 (85)

RONNIE O'SULLIVAN joined Stephen Hendry on a record seven World Snooker Championship titles with a scintillating performance against Judd Trump at the Crucible.

O'Sullivan beat Trump 18-13 to go level with Hendry, and one world title clear of Steve Davis and Ray Reardon. At the age of 46, the Rocket also became the oldest Crucible champion ahead of former mentor Reardon.

"I think it meant more to him [Hendry] than me to have seven world titles but we will share it," O'Sullivan said.

"Hendry is an absolute legend of the game. It is just a number - I do not get too caught up in that."

Nevertheless, it was an extremely emotional O'Sullivan who picked up the trophy on Monday night, having first made time to give Trump a huge bear-hug and words of encouragement.

Trump, for his part, admitted that he had left himself with far too much to do after the first day of the contest at the end of which he found himself 12-5 down.

The 32-year-old Bristolian, appearing in his third world final, took the first frame of the match - but, ultimately, that would be the last time he led.

O'Sullivan responded immediately in the second frame with a 120 break and then took advantage of some sloppy Trump play to stride into a 5-1 lead.

In an early critical moment, the Rocket won the fourth on a re-spotted black with a cocked-hat double after having needed a snooker.

But, somehow, the opening session ended with Trump recovering to trail only 5-3 - while the Rocket was rocked after receiving an official warning from match referee Olivier Marteel.

It remains unclear what exactly happened at the end of the eighth frame after O'Sullivan ran out of position and failed to get out of a self-imposed snooker.

However, the Chigwell man has previously expressed his displeasure at his mistakes by making lewd gestures - although, on this occasion, he vehemently protested his innocence.

There had been an earlier minor flash-point in the third frame when Marteel failed to re-spot the cue ball correctly so that it unquestionably had a material impact on the options available to O'Sullivan.

But the incident at the end of the first afternoon made for altogether far more uncomfortable viewing - and the Rocket walked out of the arena without shaking hands with Marteel.

At the start of the second session on Sunday night, O'Sullivan did shake hands with the official, and the friction from the end of the afternoon thankfully appeared to dissipate.

Still, it made for interesting footage for the producers with whom O'Sullivan has agreed to make a Netflix-style documentary...

Back to the snooker - and Trump again took the first frame to reduce arrears further to 5-4.

From then on, though, O'Sullivan preyed on Trump's evident discomfort to achieve an ultimately unassailable advantage.

The Rocket took the 10th frame after a bad Trump error in the balls, won the 11th with a century break, and took the 12th after Trump messed up another big chance by missing a black off the spot.

In an error-strewn 13th frame, immediately after the mid-session interval, O'Sullivan again got the better of the early exchanges against an increasingly-forlorn Trump whose game was "in tatters", according to Hendry on BBC commentary duties.

O'Sullivan also took the 14th with an 87 break - and so it was to the great credit to Trump that he made a run of 80 in the 15th frame to stop the rot.

The last two frames of the session went to form, though - O'Sullivan took the 16th following an extremely unfortunate in-off by Trump with cue ball deflecting off a red into the pocket.

And, while he was nowhere near as unlucky as that in the 17th, it will have felt just as agonising for Trump to lose after he had again got in first.

Resuming on the second day, there was a fairly widespread anticipation that O'Sullivan might win with a session spare, given Trump's struggles.

Instead, the Ace produced by far his best snooker of the Final, bookending the session with century breaks of 107 and 105, and taking six of the eight frames to close back to 14-11.

This Final had finally sparked into life - and now at least it was on the baize.

All eyes again were on O'Sullivan ahead of the evening denouement - from the talk of winning with a session to spare, suddenly a momentous Trump comeback was on the cards.

The doubts about O'Sullivan did not last for long, though - and, at the final mid-session interval, he had extended his lead back to five frames at 17-12 with a trio of half-century breaks.

On each occasion, O'Sullivan appeared to be in with a good chance of a 16th ton at the Championship, which would have equalled a Crucible record held by Hendry and Mark Williams, only to break down with the frame already won.

Nevertheless, the Rocket still made three centuries in a largely free-flowing Final - including his 200th at the Crucible in the second frame.

Trump also made three tons, including a 109 in frame 30 which, coincidentally, set a new record of 109 centuries at this World Snooker Championship, one more than in 2021.

That effort pulled the score back to 17-13 - but, with still so much breathing room, there was no way that O'Sullivan was going to be denied.

In the 31st frame, the Rocket worked an opening by forcing Trump to play a containing safety shot which left a chance on a red along the cushion.

It was Trump's last shot of the Championship, as O'Sullivan then triumphantly breezed to a break of 85 to charge over the finish line amid a jubilant atmosphere.

Pertinently, in the evening mid-session interval, the BBC had shown an excellent feature about success and failure, something which O'Sullivan especially has had to deal with throughout his career.

Of course, he would be the first to admit he has failed to act in an appropriate manner in some of the situations in which he has found himself.

Nevertheless, for many years now, he has been acknowledged as the most talented player to have picked up a cue - the greatest of all time, if you like.

The difference now is that, whether he actually really cares about the numbers or not, O'Sullivan finally has the seven world titles with which to prove it.

WORLD SNOOKER CHAMPIONSHIP
THE CRUCIBLE THEATRE

FIRST ROUND [Best of 19 frames]

	[1]	Mark Selby	10-7	Jamie Jones
	[16]	Yan Bingtao	10-6	Chris Wakelin
	[9]	Barry Hawkins	7-10	Jackson Page
	[8]	Mark Williams	10-3	Michael White

	[5]	Kyren Wilson	10-8	Ding Junhui
	[12]	Stuart Bingham	10-5	Lyu Haotian
	[13]	Anthony McGill	10-7	Liam Highfield
	[4]	Judd Trump	10-4	Hossein Vafaei

	[3]	Neil Robertson	10-5	Ashley Hugill
	[14]	Jack Lisowski	10-8	Matthew Stevens
	[11]	Luca Brecel	5-10	Noppon Saengkham
	[6]	John Higgins	10-7	Thepchaiya Un-Nooh

	[7]	Zhao Xintong	10-2	Jamie Clarke
	[10]	Shaun Murphy	8-10	Stephen Maguire
	[15]	Mark Allen	10-7	Scott Donaldson
	[2]	Ronnie O'Sullivan	10-5	David Gilbert

SECOND ROUND [Best of 25 frames]

	[1]	Mark Selby	10-13	Yan Bingtao	[16]
		Jackson Page	3-13	Mark Williams	[8]
	[5]	Kyren Wilson	9-13	Stuart Bingham	[12]
	[13]	Anthony McGill	11-13	Judd Trump	[4]

	[3]	Neil Robertson	12-13	Jack Lisowski	[14]
		Noppon Saengkham	7-13	John Higgins	[6]
	[7]	Zhao Xintong	9-13	Stephen Maguire
	[15]	Mark Allen	4-13	Ronnie O'Sullivan	[2]

QUARTER FINALS [Best of 25 frames]

	[16]	Yan Bingtao	11-13	Mark Williams	[8]
	[12]	Stuart Bingham	8-13	Judd Trump	[4]
	[14]	Jack Lisowski	12-13	John Higgins	[6]
		Stephen Maguire	5-13	Ronnie O'Sullivan	[2]

SEMI FINALS [Best of 33 frames]

	[8]	Mark Williams	16-17	Judd Trump	[4]
	[6]	John Higgins	11-17	Ronnie O'Sullivan	[2]

CENTURIES 109
147 Neil Robertson 

140 Stuart Bingham
138 Mark Williams (2)

137 Mark Selby, Jack Lisowski, Mark Williams (2)

136 Zhao Xintong
135 Jackson Page, Mark Williams

134 Mark Selby, Ronnie O'Sullivan

132 Neil Robertson, Mark Selby
131 Mark Selby, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Neil Robertson
130 Shaun Murphy, Chris Wakelin

129 Mark Selby, Anthony McGill

128 Jackson Page, John Higgins

127 Neil Robertson, Mark Williams, Noppon Saengkham
126 Kyren Wilson, Ronnie O'Sullivan
125 Mark Williams, John Higgins
124 Anthony McGill
123 Ronnie O'Sullivan, John Higgins
122 Ronnie O'Sullivan, Ding Junhui, Jack Lisowski

121 Mark Williams (3), Hossein Vafaei, Ronnie O'Sullivan
120 Judd Trump, Ronnie O'Sullivan

119 Jack Lisowski, Mark Williams
117 Mark Williams, Ding Junhui, Mark Selby, Neil Robertson

116 Mark Williams, Ronnie O'Sullivan
114 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, Judd Trump

113 Judd Trump
112 Yan Bingtao, Noppon Saengkham
110 Mark Williams, Noppon Saengkham, Ding Junhui, Mark Allen, Judd Trump
109 Zhao Xintong, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Mark Allen, Neil Robertson (2), Luca Brecel, Judd Trump

108 Matthew Stevens
107 Mark Allen, Stephen Maguire, Judd Trump, Ronnie O'Sullivan

106 John Higgins, Yan Bingtao, Jack Lisowski, Anthony McGill, Mark Williams, Stuart Bingham
105 Judd Trump (3), John Higgins, Ronnie O'Sullivan
104 Ronnie O'Sullivan, Yan Bingtao, Stuart Bingham
103 Zhao Xintong, Lyu Haotian, Judd Trump, Kyren Wilson, Yan Bingtao, John Higgins
102 Jackson Page Stephen Maguire, Yan Bingtao (2)
101 Kyren Wilson, Yan Bingtao, Ronnie O'Sullivan
100 Yan Bingtao, Mark Williams, Ronnie O'Sullivan, John Higgins (2), Jack Lisowski, Judd Trump

Days of Thunder at the Crucible

NEIL ROBERTSON will carry the tag of favourite as the World Snooker Championship begins tomorrow morning at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.

The Australian left-hander won his only world crown way back in 2010 - but enters the tournament in red-hot form after winning the English Open, Players Championship and the longer-format Tour Championship this season.

Indeed, Robertson's array of triumphs have left some pundits collectively scratching their heads at just why he has not had more success at the Crucible.

Altogether, the 40-year-old has won six Triple Crown events - with three victories in the UK Championship and two Masters titles in addition to his 2010 triumph in Sheffield.

Furthermore, the Thunder from Down Under has an unmatched record on the circuit of having won a major pro-title in every calendar year going back to 2006.

So, what can possibly explain his extremely modest World Championship record which shows just one appearance in the semi finals in the last 11 years?

In an actual fact, part of the reasoning was provided by Robertson himself in an interview last year - namely, that the Crucible Theatre, for all of its legend, is far from his favourite venue.

"I don’t like the venue, from a technical point of view it’s very difficult for me to walk into my shot properly, it’s actually almost impossible to do," said Robertson.

"To get to the one-table set-up I need to negotiate that and it’s something that I have to work on.

"Whether it’s change my technique slightly so I’m not always backing into those walls. I know a lot of players don’t like the set-up, it’s very cramped."

Taking this account - and, especially considering the gruelling format has a pre-requisite of a more positive mindset than that, it would suggest that his position as favourite is rather misplaced.

Nevertheless, the Aussie should have enough to deal with Crucible debutant Ashley Hugill, ranked 77 in the world - and, indeed, should have enough to make it to the quarter finals where he is slated to meet John Higgins.

The two other players on debut, Jackson Page and Hossein Vafaei, face Barry Hawkins and Judd Trump respectively - but, otherwise, the 16 successful qualifiers feature an array of players who know their way around a snooker table in a South Yorkshire theatre.

Michael White, for instance, takes on fellow Welshman - three-time champion Mark Williams - while officially classed as an amateur even though he is, in fact, a two-time ranking event winner who spent 12 years on tour, and was once ranked inside the top 16.

For the record, White and Williams are part of a cohort of six Welsh players, with the Red Dragon also represented by Page, Jamie Jones, Matthew Stevens, and Jamie Clarke.

Carmarthen man Stevens brings with him plenty of Crucible experience after no fewer than 17 previous appearances, including runs all the way to the Final in 2000 and 2005 - so could present Jack Lisowski with a strong challenge.

Meanwhile, Clarke - in taking on Chinese protégé Zhao Xintong - will be undoubtedly indebted to his previous visit to Sheffield in 2020 when he beat Mark Allen before losing a tense match against Anthony McGill in a decider.

On that note, the runner-up from last year, 2005 champion Shaun Murphy, resumes his rivalry with Stephen Maguire in probably the spiciest of the 16 ties.

Back in 2004, in a match eventually won by Maguire, the Scotsman realised he had forgotten to bring his chalk with him so he asked the referee for permission to leave the arena.

Murphy spoke to the referee while Maguire was away, the tournament director was summoned, and Maguire was docked a frame for not being ready to start at the scheduled time.

Most recently, Maguire beat Murphy 5-4 in the 2021 Welsh Open quarter finals - and it would be fair to say that the friction between the pair has not completely gone away.

Elsewhere, Ronnie O'Sullivan will be happy, for once, if he can go under the radar somewhat as he resumes his quest for a record-equalling seventh world crown with a tough match against the Angry Farmer, David Gilbert, who reached the semi finals in 2019.

Kyren Wilson, the 2020 finalist, must overcome former world number one - the great Chinese underachiever Ding Junhui - whose best result was runner-up in 2016.

And four-time champion Higgins faces Thepchaiya Un-Nooh - with fellow Thai talent, Noppon Saengkham, taking on Belgian hopeful Luca Brecel in the same section of the draw.

In total, nine different nationalities will be represented at this World Championship - with the Iranian, Vafaei, increasing the all-time Crucible number to 20.

Already, Snooker Shoot Out champion Vafaei has stirred the pot a little by suggesting the Rocket, O’Sullivan, should retire and let the younger generation grow snooker.

The Prince of Persia told the Metro newspaper: "I don’t want to get involved in that kind of conversation really. I like him a lot, I am his fan, I love what he does but sometimes he’s disrespectful, he’s not good for the game."

All of this has made good copy for the journalists in the build-up - but it would take both players to go all the way to the Final on the May Day Bank Holiday for them to meet so it is difficult to see this one going too much further.

Of course, it would be wrong not to mention defending champion Mark Selby anywhere in this write-up.

The Jester from Leicester has struggled throughout the 2021-22 campaign with only one semi final appearance in the World Grand Prix coming back in December.

More worryingly, excluding two wins in the points-based Snooker Shoot Out, the troubled four-time winner has only won two other matches since the turn of the year.

Nevertheless, this long-form competition of multiple sessions will always be a Selby speciality.

Now, the 38-year-old - however talented he actually is - will never be a Crucible fan favourite.

His nickname almost makes a mockery of nominative determinism as he churns out the frames - painfully at times, having even carried on with five snookers required.

But, while out-of-form and out-of-match practice at the moment, Selby could easily use these favoured longer games to play himself scratchily back into shape.

Live match coverage on BBC Two/BBC Four and Eurosport.

Trump targets second World Snooker title

WORLD number one Judd Trump has to wait until Tuesday afternoon to begin his quest for a second World Snooker title against Liam Highfield at the Crucible.

Second seed Trump won the world title two years ago, beating John Higgins 18-9 in the Final, to fulfil years of promise, the first spark of which came back in 2011 when he was beaten 18-15 in the Final by Higgins.

Last year, though, the tournament - which was delayed until August by the coronavirus pandemic - was won by the familiar face of Ronnie O'Sullivan.

The Rocket clocked up his sixth world title to rank alongside Ray Reardon and Steve Davis, and sit just one behind all-time record holder Stephen Hendry.

Of course, Trump - at the age of 31 - has plenty of time yet to win a few more Crucible crowns himself, and he heads into the tournament having won 11 ranking events in the 23 months since his world title.

Unsurprisingly then, the Bristolian starts off as favourite with the bookmakers - and he has expressed his delight at the gradual return of crowds to the Crucible.

Matches at the Sheffield venue will be one-third full as part of a government pilot on the roadmap out of the lockdown in England.

Meanwhile, there are plans for a capacity crowd to be able to attend the Final on May Bank Holiday weekend.

"You miss the coughing and the mobile phones going off," Trump said following the draw on Thursday.

"When you are losing and you get a frame or two behind, it is so much easier to give up because you feel nobody is there to see it.

"When you've got a crowd you sometimes take a toilet break just to get the roar of the fans and get them calling your name to get you back in the game.

"I need the fans there just to bring out the best in me. Just adding more nerves and excitement helps my concentration."

Defending champion, and previously a perennial favourite for the title, number one seed O'Sullivan is at the top of the draw in the opposite half to Trump.

O'Sullivan has already had enough in his locker to deal with snooker journeyman Mark Joyce who, after qualifying at the 18th attempt, was one of only two debutants this year alongside Sam Craigie.

Geordie lad Craigie faces another of the famous Class of 92 in Mark Williams while the third of that remarkable cohort, Higgins, takes on Tian Pengfei, one of five Chinese players in the draw.

Higgins and Williams could meet in the Last 16 with the winner potentially going onto meet O'Sullivan in the semi finals. 

However, three-time winner Mark Selby is in the same quarter of the draw as the Wizard from Wishaw and the Welsh Potting Machine, and so will no doubt have plenty to say about that.

Among the qualifiers, 2015 champion Stuart Bingham will fancy his chances against Ding Junhui who has never won the biggest prize in snooker, and twice runner-up Ali Carter has a good chance against the inconsistent Jack Lisowski.

For sure, there have been a number of big shocks over the years - and there are always a few seeds who are defeated unexpectedly. 

But a strong pedigree at the Crucible generally counts for something as players are required to cope with matches of multiple sessions in a far longer format than in other tournaments across the season.

On that basis, the hugely underrated Barry Hawkins can be expected to have another good run in Sheffield having reached at least the last four stage on five occasions out of six between 2013 and 2018.

The Hawk also heads to the Crucible in decent form with three semi final appearances in ranking events. 

However, the last four is clearly a stage beyond which Hawkins struggles to progress, something with which a bullish Trump has no such trouble.

"I feel my game is there for another win," said Trump. "It is such a long time, 17 days, that you can't peak for every single game.

"You've got to be mentally prepared to go through hell to win the tournament."

Rocket races to sixth world title

WORLD SNOOKER CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL
CRUCIBLE THEATRE, SHEFFIELD

[8]

Kyren Wilson

8-18

Ronnie O'Sullivan

[6]

1 2-6 0-81 (56), 62-55, 0-80 (80), 23-75 (75), 67-13 (63), 9-69, 17-106 (106), 49-60
2 5-4 53-61 (KW 53), 19-77 (51), 92-0 (92), 79-53 (KW 50), 82-25, 86-0 (58), 17-82, 101-0 (100), 60-68
3 1-7 74-0 (73), 15-113 (53), 33-109 (61), 17-88 (57), 12-65 (60), 28-71 (71), 15-72 (72), 7-69
4 0-1 1-104 (96)

RONNIE O'SULLIVAN ran away with the final of the World Snooker Championships to seal a sixth title - and he now stands just one short of all-time Crucible leader Stephen Hendry.

The Rocket won 18-8 against Kyren Wilson to go level in the record books on six alongside Steve Davis and his former coach Ray Reardon. 

For his part, Wilson was making his first appearance in this showpiece final - but, in fairness to him, far more experienced players would have similarly wilted in the face of O'Sullivan's onslaught in the third session. 

Oddly, the second day of the final began with high hopes of a close match - and Wilson took the opening frame of the third session with a break of 73 to close the gap to 10-8.

That was quite some achievement for the Warrior, considering he had trailed 8-2 early on - and, at 10-8, O'Sullivan could have been forgiven for being consumed by self-doubt, despite his lead. 

After all, the Rocket had complained about the struggles with his cue action throughout the tournament and he fidgeted regularly with his cue during the second session while Wilson was chipping away at the lead.

Certainly, there would have been long odds offered at 10-8 on the 28-year-old from Kettering failing to win another frame in the match - but, incredibly, that is exactly what transpired. 

O'Sullivan was still not in top gear by his own ridiculous standards but - in the third session - six consecutive half centuries extended his advantage to an impregnable 16-8.

Wilson was a goner - and, at the end of the 24th frame, he picked up his extension and asked match referee Marcus Eckardt if it was the end of the session. 

Unfortunately for Wilson, there was still another frame of pain to go in the afternoon - and, inevitably, O'Sullivan took it to make it 17-8.

The final session of the tournament therefore began without any semblance of tension and in fact lasted just 11 minutes as O'Sullivan confirmed his complete dominance with a closing break of 98, only narrowly missing out on a century.

Wilson was left to rue several missed opportunities on the first day when O'Sullivan stole some unlikely frames despite feeling unsure of himself.

Both the last frame of the first session and the first frame of the second session were won by the Rocket on the black - while Wilson also had the chance to close to 9-8 overnight but missed a straightforward red.

So, it easily could have been 10-7 in reverse if Wilson had taken those chances - and, if that had been the case, it seems unlikely that O'Sullivan would have dominated the second day in the way he did.

But competitions are not played on a hypothetical basis, something to which the Warrior can attest following his incredible semi final against Anthony McGill.

Wilson trailed 6-2, led 14-11, and trailed again 16-15 in the first-to-17 encounter - but forced a decider which went on to become perhaps the craziest frame ever played.

McGill got in first and was extremely unfortunate to make just 39 after smashing into the pack of reds and being left with a tough shot to the right-centre.

Wilson responded with 47 before missing a far easier red to the left-centre - but was saved by the final red which was tight to the left cushion. 

And so, the madness began. 

The Warrior controlled the early safety exchanges with McGill in-off twice before a beauty of a shot from Wilson left his Scottish opponent in all sorts of bother. 

McGill was left behind a full-ball snooker with the cue ball between the left-centre jaw and the yellow which was off its spot. The last remaining red ball was positioned towards the right-corner pocket, which itself had been blocked by the black.

Ultimately, the qualifier - playing off two cushions - missed the red on seven occasions and potted the black with another attempt to concede 35 points in fouls and leave himself needing a snooker.

However, McGill got the snooker straightaway when Wilson - in trying to put his opponent back in the same position - instead went in-off in the left-centre pocket.

Bizarrely, Wilson then went in-off in the right-centre pocket with his very next shot to gift another four points to McGill. 

Yet still, the next big chance fell to the Warrior with the red now precariously close to the right-centre. 

Unfortunately for Wilson, though, it was not close enough to knock in from the baulk cushion and the obstinate ball was merely left even nearer to the jaw of the pocket following his attempt. 

The two players then played almost identical shots off the baulk rail but both missed the red altogether to trade fouls and leave the frame score standing at 94-64 to Wilson. 

McGill eventually got the shot right and potted the black over the pocket as well as the yellow - but then snookered himself behind the pink when on the green.

The Scotsman escaped but, having accrued so many points through fouls, Wilson needed just the green to leave his opponent once again needing a snooker. 

Wilson duly potted the green following another high-quality prolonged exchange of safety - and only then through an outrageous fluke.

Intending to play another safety shot, Wilson instead knocked the ball off three cushions around baulk and up the table into the top-left pocket. 

Unsurprisingly, it had all got too much - and a clearly emotional Wilson had to compose himself in his seat before taking on his next shot, another safety on the brown.

McGill - needing a snooker - potted brown and blue before making several reasonable attempts with only pink and black remaining.

It was, quite frankly, a hopeless pursuit - but the frame had been so mind-boggling, it was surely worth a go.

Eventually, though, Wilson sank the pink to close out the longest frame of the 2020 World Championships and, more importantly, put an end to the most incredible decider ever seen to make it into the final.

 

The final frame score stood at 103-83 - an aggregate of 186 points which, unsurprisingly, is a Crucible record.

As if that was not enough drama, O'Sullivan's semi final match against three-time champion Mark Selby - later in the same day - also went into a deciding frame. 

The Rocket had done well to get that far having been 13-9 and 16-14 down - and was reduced simply to smacking the cue ball on occasions, most notably when trying to hit a pink nestled behind the black in the 30th frame. 

But a brilliant 138 break from O'Sullivan in the next prompted a run of three straight frames to which Selby had no reply - except, that is, for a severe case of sour grapes.

“I just felt like it was obviously a bit disrespectful to me and the game,” Selby said afterwards.

“Obviously if you are playing anybody else, there’s not many players who will get down and just hit them 100 miles per hour when you put them in a snooker.

“Sometimes they will try and work it out, try and play safe or try and get you in trouble back but I just felt he was doing that throughout the match really."

 

As usual, that was not the only time the Rocket ruffled some feathers in the 17 days in Sheffield.

Earlier, in his post-match interview after beating Ding Junhui in the second round, O'Sullivan claimed he would need to "lose an arm and a leg" to fall out of the top 50.

 

The comments were condemned by some former and current players including Mark Williams who O'Sullivan went on to beat 13-10 in the quarter finals after trailing 6-2.

 

But O'Sullivan would have felt justified in his view if he had seen much of a dreadful contest between McGill and Welsh debutant Jamie Clarke.

At one stage, a boxing match seemed more likely to break out than a snooker match with the pair coming close to blows over an accusation by McGill that Clarke was standing in his eyeline.

Clarke, at the time, was 7-2 up and went 8-2 ahead in the frame immediately following the stand-off.

Inadvisably, though, the Llanelli youngster appeared to pile undue pressure on himself by taking to Twitter at the mid-session interval and at the end of the second session, and - coincidentally - he went on to lose to McGill in a decider.

Of course, it would be harsh to judge the quality of these Championships on the basis of a single second round match - and, elsewhere, there was plenty of quality stuff on the baize.

 

John Higgins completed a 147 for his first maximum in Sheffield - and the first by anyone in eight years - but still then lost 13-11 in his second round the match to qualifier Kurt Maflin.

Meanwhile, defending champion Judd Trump fell victim to the Crucible Curse which, for the past 43 years, has dictated that no first-time winner at the venue has gone on to retain the title.

More annoyingly still for him, the Bristolian went out in the quarter finals against eventual runner-up and sworn enemy Wilson.

 

Perhaps the final thought in this piece should go out to the legion of snooker fans, of which a limited number eventually got to watch the action live at the venue itself.

 

Supporters had also been allowed to attend the opening day - a move which led to the withdrawal of asthmatic Anthony Hamilton and met with criticism from O'Sullivan.

But, while that was quickly ended in any case by a change in government guidance, the decision to allow the public back into the Crucible for the final appeared to be managed well and felt justified.

Sadly, it was not a classic - but O'Sullivan will not care a jot - and nor, indeed, will Wilson eventually, if he learns the lessons from his incredible last few days on the baize.

 

THE PANTHEON OF CHAMPIONS
OPEN ERA (1969-PRESENT)

7 Stephen HENDRY - 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1999
6 Ray REARDON - 1970, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1978
6 Steve DAVIS - 1981, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1988, 1989
6 Ronnie O'SULLIVAN - 2001, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2020
4 John HIGGINS - 1998, 2007, 2009, 2011
3 Mark J WILLIAMS - 2000, 2003, 2018
3 Mark SELBY - 2014, 2016, 2017
3 John SPENCER - 1969, 1971, 1977
2 Alex HIGGINS - 1972, 1982

WORLD SNOOKER CHAMPIONSHIP 2020
THE FULL RESULTS

FIRST ROUND

Seed		(19)
[1]	Judd Trump	10-8	Tom Ford
[16]	Yan Bingtao	10-7	Elliot Slessor
[9]	Stephen Maguire	3-10	Martin Gould
[8]	Kyren Wilson	w/o	Anthony Hamilton
[5]	John Higgins	10-5	Matthew Stevens
[12]	David Gilbert	8-10	Kurt Maflin
[13]	Jack Lisowski	9-10	Anthony McGill
[4]	Mark Allen	8-10	Jamie Clarke
[3]	Mark Williams	10-5	Alan McManus
[14]	Stuart Bingham	10-7	Ashley Carty
[11]	Ding Junhui	10-9	Mark King
[6]	Ronnie O'Sullivan	10-1	Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
[7]	Mark Selby	10-6	Jordan Brown
[10]	Shaun Murphy	4-10	Noppon Saengkham
[15]	Barry Hawkins	10-2	Alexander Ursenbacher
[2]	Neil Robertson	10-5	Liang Wenbo

SECOND ROUND

Seed		(25)
[1]	Judd Trump	13-11	Yan Bingtao	[16]
	Martin Gould	9-13	Kyren Wilson	[8]
[5]	John Higgins	11-13	Kurt Maflin
	Anthony McGill	13-12	Jamie Clarke
[3]	Mark Williams	13-11	Stuart Bingham	[14]
[11]	Ding Junhui	10-13	Ronnie O'Sullivan	[6]
[7]	Mark Selby	13-12	Noppon Saengkham
[15]	Barry Hawkins	9-13	Neil Robertson	[2]

QUARTER FINALS

Seed		(25)
[1]	Judd Trump	9-13	Kyren Wilson	[8]
	Kurt Maflin	10-13	Anthony McGill
[3]	Mark Williams	10-13	Ronnie O'Sullivan	[6]
[7]	Mark Selby	13-7	Neil Robertson	[2]

SEMI FINALS

Seed		(33)
[8]	Kyren Wilson	17-16	Anthony McGill
[6]	Ronnie O'Sullivan	17-16	Mark Selby	[7]

CENTURIES (79)

147 JOHN HIGGINS
140 Tom Ford, Neil Robertson

138 Matthew Stevens, Ronnie O'Sullivan

136 Jamie Clarke, Mark Allen, Anthony McGill

133 Yan Bingtao, Ronnie O'Sullivan

132 Neil Robertson

131 Judd Trump, David Gilbert

130 Yan Bingtao, Mark Williams

129 Martin Gould

127 Judd Trump
125 Ding Junhui

124 Kurt Maflin, Mark Selby

123 Elliot Slessor

122 Neil Robertson, Mark Allen, Noppon Saengkham, Anthony McGill

120 Mark Selby

119 Ding Junhui, Yan Bingtao, Mark Selby

118 Ashley Carty, Ding Junhui

117 Barry Hawkins, Ronnie O'Sullivan

116 Kyren Wilson (2)

115 Ronnie O'Sullivan, Stuart Bingham

114 Ronnie O'Sullivan

113 Liang Wenbo, Kyren Wilson

112 Ronnie O'Sullivan

111 Mark King, Barry Hawkins

109 Stuart Bingham, Kyren Wilson

107 Jack Lisowski

106 Ronnie O'Sullivan

105 Alan McManus, Kurt Maflin, Mark Allen (2), Noppon Saengkham, Neil Robertson, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Kyren Wilson

104 Judd Trump, Ding Junhui, Mark Allen, Barry Hawkins, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Kyren Wilson

103 Martin Gould (3)

102 David Gilbert, Jack Lisowski, Kurt Maflin, Mark Selby

101 Kurt Maflin, Ronnie O'Sullivan (3), Shaun Murphy, John Higgins, Ding Junhui

100 Martin Gould, Judd Trump, Kyren Wilson (2)

Trump takes on the Crucible curse

Year	Defending champion		Defence
1980	Terry Griffiths	R2	lost 10-13 to Steve Davis
1981	Cliff Thorburn	SF	lost 10-16 to Steve Davis
1982	Steve Davis	R1	lost 1-10 to Tony Knowles
1986	Dennis Taylor	R1	lost 6-10 to Mike Hallett
1987	Joe Johnson	F	lost 14-18 to Steve Davis
1991	Stephen Hendry	QF	lost 11-13 to Steve James
1992	John Parrott	QF	lost 12-13 to Alan McManus
1998	Ken Doherty	F	lost 12-18 to John Higgins
1999	John Higgins	SF	lost 10-17 to Mark Williams
2001	Mark Williams	R2	lost 12-13 to Joe Swail
2002	Ronnie O'Sullivan	SF	lost 13-17 to Stephen Hendry
2003	Peter Ebdon	QF	lost 12-13 to Paul Hunter
2006	Shaun Murphy	QF	lost 7-13 to Peter Ebdon
2007	Graeme Dott	R1	lost 7-10 to Ian McCulloch
2011	Neil Robertson	R1	lost 8-10 to Judd Trump
2015	Mark Selby	R2	lost 9-13 to Anthony McGill
2016	Stuart Bingham	R1	lost 9-10 to Ali Carter
2020	Judd Trump	QF	lost 9-13 to Kyren Wilson

JUDD TRUMP will take on Tom Ford - and the weight of history - as he belatedly begins the defence of his World Snooker title at the Crucible Theatre today. 

The 30-year-old Bristolian won his maiden world crown in Sheffield last May in a high-quality, century-laden Final against John Higgins.

But the tournament this year was scheduled for weeks in which the country was gripped most tightly in the clutches of the coronavirus - and so it was postponed on 20 March. 

Arguably, governing body World Snooker was actually a little slow to react to the extent of the crisis and the Gibraltar Open went ahead as scheduled in mid-March despite the withdrawal of several big-name players and some officials. 

Indeed, the shortage of match referees led to near-farcical scenes in which some matches were played without referees, with players respotting balls for their opponents.

Nevertheless, this strangest of events had a familiar conclusion as Trump beat rival Kyren Wilson 4-3 in the Final to win a record sixth ranking title of the season. 

For sure, Trump has only gone from strength to strength since taking the world title last year with his other ranking wins this season coming in the International Championship, the World Open, the Northern Ireland Open, the German Masters, and the Players Championship. 

It is no surprise then that, in the bookmakers' view, Trump starts as a strong favourite at 11/4 to retain his crown ahead of Ronnie O'Sullivan (4/1) and Neil Robertson (13/2).

But, with not a huge amount of snooker played since lockdown, this edition of the World Snooker Championships promises to be even more unpredictable than usual. 

Trump faces another threat - that of the Crucible Curse which, for the past 42 years, has dictated that no first-time winner at the venue has gone on to retain the title. 

Joe Johnson in 1987 and Ken Doherty in 1998 have come closest to beating the Curse, reaching the Final before losing to Steve Davis and John Higgins respectively.

However, the fact that only Davis, Stephen Hendry, O'Sullivan, and Mark Selby have won back-to-back titles at the Sheffield venue shows just how difficult it is in general.

They all still fell victim to the Crucible Curse, of course - with Davis one of six first-time champions to be eliminated in their first match of the following year.

As such, Ford - despite his tough draw and failure to win on any of his previous three Crucible appearances - should not discount himself just yet, especially as he has already been able to hold his nerve in qualifying. 

Other highlights of the first round draw include what should be a fast-paced encounter between five-time champion O'Sullivan and Thailand's Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, both of whom average less than 17 seconds a shot.

Four-time champion Higgins - who has been runner-up in each of the last three years to Selby, Mark Williams and Trump - faces the Welsh Dragon, Matthew Stevens. 

Stevens knows exactly what Higgins has felt over the last few years, having lost both his appearances in Crucible finals in 2000 and 2005 - although he has not been a regular qualifier in recent times.

Two more players approaching veteran age - Williams and Alan McManus - have been paired together, while reigning UK champion Ding Junhui takes on Mark King and Masters champion Stuart Bingham faces Ashley Carty. 

Bingham is one of eight former champions in the draw along with Trump, Higgins, Williams, O'Sullivan, Selby, Robertson and Shaun Murphy. 

By contrast, world number 82 Carty, of Rotherham, is one of five Crucible debutants with his lowly ranking requiring him to come through three preliminary rounds. 

The other debutants are Elliot Slessor, Alexander Ursenbacher, Jordan Brown, and Jamie Clarke - who take on Yan Bingtao, former finalist Barry Hawkins, Selby, and Mark Allen respectively.

Gateshead-born Slessor flies the flag for Tyneside in the absence of Wallsend's Gary Wilson who was beaten by Ursenbacher as the Swiss number one ensures his nation becomes the 19th country to be represented in Crucible history. 

Meanwhile, Clarke - at 89, the lowest-ranked player in the draw - completed this year's line-up as he fended off a comeback from Sunny Akani to become the 16th, and final, qualifier.

The line-up is complete then - but there has already been a result with Kyren Wilson awarded a walkover victory over Anthony Hamilton who has withdrawn. 

Hamilton, who has severe asthma, had criticised the decision by World Snooker to allow 300 spectators to attend. 

"I am absolutely gutted not to be playing," said the Sheriff of Pottingham. "It is the best tournament and the Crucible is the home of snooker.

"It has been a really difficult decision for me. However, due to my health condition, after careful consideration I have decided not to play in the final stages."

If anything, O'Sullivan has been even more critical of the playing conditions, and likened him and his fellow professionals to" "lab-rats". 

O'Sullivan said: "I defy anybody if they have been keeping their distance from people for four months to say, oh right, now you've got to go into a room full of people - unless you have got a death wish, and some people have in many ways and they just don't care.

"So I totally respect where Anthony is coming from, and where other people are coming from - they want crowds in there, they want things back to normal. We have a choice - we don't have to go and play. We all run a bit of a risk.

"I have the option not to play but I've decided to play. Maybe with 5,000 fans I could see it's a bit of an income you're going to lose, but 200 fans, is it really?

"Maybe they have to start doing a test on crowds at some point and I've heard people say they're treating the snooker event a little bit like lab rats - you've got to start somewhere, start with snooker players.

"Less insurance to pay out for Anthony Hamilton than there is for Lewis Hamilton." 

For their part, World Snooker responded in a statement: “For the Betfred World Championship to be designated as the first indoor sporting event to be held with a crowd within the UK is a fantastic triumph for not only the World Snooker Tour but all of our partners. 

"Independent and government advisers will be on site supporting WST and Sheffield Theatres, observing and assisting in ensuring that the measures which we have put in place are effective.”

But, with the coronavirus continuing to wreak havoc across England and beyond, this will be a World Snooker Championship like no other.

As such, a wise old head like Higgins - who has seen it all before, good and bad - would seem like a solid enough bet to go one better than in the previous three years.

Champion Trump triumphs in record-breaking Crucible final

WORLD SNOOKER CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL
CRUCIBLE THEATRE, SHEFFIELD

(5)

John Higgins

9-18

Judd Trump

(7)

1 4-4 1-66 (51), 45-72 (63), 139-0 (139), 0-105 (105), 70-8 (69), 74-0, 101-0 (101), 4-103 (103)
2 1-8 125-1 (125), 0-66, 4-139 (135), 45-67, 0-118 (114), 30-64, 28-95 (71), 20-70 (58), 19-85 (70)
3 4-4 113-0 (113), 60-35, 0-101 (101), 0-72 (71), 0-126 (126), 92-16 (67), 79-11 (70), 0-104 (104)
4 0-2 0-94 (94), 1-63 (62)

JUDD TRUMP won his maiden World Snooker title after beating four-time champion John Higgins in a record-breaking century-laden classic at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.

Trump took only two frames and just over half-an-hour yesterday evening to seal victory after one of the most dominant performances ever seen at the famous old venue.

In fairness, in the early stages of the Final, it had not looked anywhere near as clear-cut as it eventually became.

The contest was a re-match of the 2011 Final which Higgins won 18-15 - and the first session on Sunday afternoon was pure quality from both players as they shared the eight frames and made two centuries each.

Trump settled better initially, taking the first two frames before Higgins fought back with a 139 break.

Bristolian Trump immediately bit back with a century of his own to lead 3-1 at the mid-session interval but then Higgins produced a run of three frames on the bounce to appear to turn the match in his favour at 4-3.

The seventh frame featured a fine contribution of 101 from the Scotsman - but, for the second time, Trump responded immediately with a century of his own to make it 4-4 after the first session.

It always looked likely, therefore, that the second session was going to be a key phase of the match - and Higgins seemed to take that message on board.

The Wizard from Wishaw produced some magic to knock in a 125 break and take his fourth frame out of five to lead 5-4.

Trump, however, again responded brilliantly. Having run out of position, the Ace came up with the pot of the tournament by rocketing in a red with a deep screw to set himself up for the 10th frame.

In the 11th frame, Trump compiled a 135 break, considered by some to be the best they had ever seen - and, suddenly, he had regained the lead at 6-5.

It was the early in the contest but it was also the decisive point of the match. For, from that point onwards, Trump played not only with the utmost confidence but also with consummate professionalism.

Barely offering even a sniff of a chance to Higgins with perhaps the tightest safety play he has ever produced, Trump was regularly in position to take advantage of any sort of slip-up by his opponent.

By the end of the second session, breaks of 114, 71, 58, and 70 from Trump had helped him win eight consecutive frames and establish a 12-5 overnight lead.

Heading into day two, it felt then as if Higgins's only chance was the fact that Trump had to sleep on his big lead and upon the prospect of becoming a world champion for the first time.

To suggest it started well in the third session for the Wizard would be quite an understatement as he quickly went about his business by potting 14 reds and 14 blacks in an audacious 147 bid.

Unfortunately for Higgins, the final red was glued to the side cushion.

But, amazingly, the chance was not over after the 43-year-old doubled the red into the corner and found himself in a good position on the black. Inevitably, he missed the colour off the spot and the chance had indeed gone.

Trump - to his credit - had not dropped away from his own extraordinary standard either - and, retaining a determined poker face throughout, the 29-year-old never looked like panicking.

Instead, Trump took the next the next three frames to extend his lead to an eight-frame advantage at 15-7 either side of the afternoon mid-session interval.

Further runs of 101 and 126 brought the century count up a total of 10 in a Crucible final, an amount which clearly beat the record of eight set by Stephen Hendry and Peter Ebdon in 2002, and Ronnie O'Sullivan and Barry Hawkins in 2013.

It also made it 99 tons for the tournament as a whole, far in excess of the previous record of 86, set in 2015 and 2016.

Seriously, this was unmissable high quality stuff from both players and breaks of 67 and 70 were enough to keep Higgins just about in with a shout of making an unlikely comeback.

But Trump snuffed out any chance of that by launching a maximum bid of his own in the final frame of the play in the afternoon.

Again, this was not just a minor chance of a 147 - in fact, for a while, it looked on - but, unfortunately for Trump, he broke down on 104 after 13 reds and 13 blacks.

Nevertheless, the 104 became a landmark moment at the Crucible in that it was the 100th century of the tournament - a remarkable ton of tons.

Far more importantly to Trump, though, was the fact that he had retained his overnight lead of seven frames by squaring the session, and so needed just two more for victory.

At this stage, Higgins perhaps was just happy to have actually forced the match into a fourth session - and he later graciously admitted considered himself as "the lucky one" in the arena as he had not had to pay for a ticket.

For sure, it would be fair to suggest Higgins still lived up to his granite reputation and fought tooth and nail throughout as he lost in the Crucible Final for a third year in a row.

And, following defeats to Mark Selby and Mark Williams in the last two years, one more Trump surge was too much to handle.

At 7.32pm last night, the Final was over. Trump had won 18-9 and so deservedly became the 21st man in modern era to become world snooker champion.

It was the biggest margin of victory since Higgins himself had beaten Shaun Murphy by the same scoreline in 2009.

Meanwhile, Trump also became just the 11th man to win the Triple Crown of the World Championship, UK Championship, and the Masters having won the latter this year in January.

It is this glorious performance more than any other which has really made those in the know forecast even more success for Trump in the coming years.

Seven-time champion Hendry - who dominated the sport in the 1990s - has suggested that the snooker world may have to get used to a new "era of dominance from one player".

Elsewhere, five-time winner O'Sullivan - who exited this year's tournament in a shock first round defeat to amateur James Cahill - said Trump's performance had taken the sport "to another level".

That comment is a far cry from the Rocket's stinging criticism of Trump's game in his 2014 autobiography Running.

Back then, O'Sullivan wrote: "Sometimes I think [Trump] lacks the killer instinct.

"He seems as if he's just happy to be there - he's got a bit of money, enjoys the lifestyle, wins a few matches and the odd tournament, but what he really should be doing is trying to write his way into the history books.

In fairness to O'Sullivan, though, that assessment was pretty reasonable at the time - and Trump is now the first to admit his game needed a lot of work after he burst onto the scene.

"The concentration that hasn’t been there in the past was there,” Trump said last night. “From a young age, people have been touting me as a future world champion and it’s nice to get that out of the way.”

Never again will Trump be asked if he is ever going to achieve his dream. Instead, it is now just a question of quite how much he can achieve.

For now, though, Trump deserves to bask in the glory of his status as a first-time world champion following his efforts of the past two weeks.

And, of course, there is also the not insignificant matter of £500,000 in prize money.

“Not yet,” Trump replied when asked if he had already decided what he was going to spend his winnings on. “But when it hits my bank account, I think I’ll go a bit wild.”

WORLD SNOOKER CHAMPIONSHIPS 2019
THE FULL RESULTS

FIRST ROUND   Best of 19 frames

	(1)	Mark Williams	10-7	Martin Gould
	(16)	David Gilbert	10-7	Joe Perry
	(9)	Barry Hawkins	10-1	Li Hang
	(8)	Kyren Wilson	10-4	Scott Donaldson
	(5)	John Higgins	10-7	Mark Davis
	(12)	Stuart Bingham	10-9	Graeme Dott
	(13)	Shaun Murphy	10-0	Luo Honghao
	(4)	Neil Robertson	10-1	Michael Georgiou
	(3)	Mark Selby	10-7	Zhao Xintong
	(14)	Luca Brecel	9-10	Gary Wilson
	(11)	Jack Lisowski	6-10	Ali Carter
	(6)	Mark Allen	7-10	Zhou Yuelong
	(7)	Judd Trump	10-9	Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
	(10)	Ding Junhui	10-7	Anthony McGill
	(15)	Stephen Maguire	10-9	Tian Pengfei
	(2)	Ronnie O'Sullivan	8-10	James Cahill (a)

SECOND ROUND   Best of 25 frames

	(1)	Mark Williams	9-13	David Gilbert	(16)
	(9)	Barry Hawkins	11-13	Kyren Wilson	(8)
	(5)	John Higgins	13-11	Stuart Bingham	(12)
	(13)	Shaun Murphy	6-13	Neil Robertson	(4)
	(3)	Mark Selby	10-13	Gary Wilson
		Ali Carter	13-9	Zhou Yuelong
	(7)	Judd Trump	13-9	Ding Junhui	(10)
	(15)	Stephen Maguire	13-12	James Cahill (a)

QUARTER FINALS   Best of 25 frames

	(16)	David Gilbert	13-8	Kyren Wilson	(8)
	(5)	John Higgins	13-10	Neil Robertson	(4)
		Gary Wilson	13-9	Ali Carter
	(7)	Judd Trump	13-6	Stephen Maguire	(15)

SEMI FINALS   Best of 33 frames

	(16)	David Gilbert	16-17	John Higgins	(5)
		Gary Wilson	11-17	Judd Trump	(7)

CENTURY BREAKS 100
143 John Higgins
141 Judd Trump
140 Gary Wilson
139 David Gilbert, John Higgins (2)
138 Shaun Murphy, Kyren Wilson
137 Barry Hawkins
136 Joe Perry, Barry Hawkins
135 John Higgins, Ali Carter, Judd Trump
134 Ding Junhui, Gary Wilson (2)
132 John Higgins (2), Kyren Wilson
131 Luca Brecel, Stephen Maguire, Mark Selby (2), Mark Allen, Kyren Wilson, Judd Trump
130 Barry Hawkins, John Higgins
129 Mark Williams, Ding Junhui
128 Ali Carter
127 Neil Robertson
126 Judd Trump
125 Stephen Maguire, Kyren Wilson, David Gilbert, John Higgins
124 Jack Lisowski
123 Shaun Murphy, Judd Trump
122 Stephen Maguire
121 Stephen Maguire
120 Neil Robertson (2), Mark Selby
117 Gary Wilson
115 Gary Wilson
114 Graeme Dott, Neil Robertson, Judd Trump
113 David Gilbert, John Higgins
112 Shaun Murphy, Stuart Bingham
111 Kyren Wilson
110 Stephen Maguire
109 Shaun Murphy, David Gilbert, Gary Wilson
107 Stuart Bingham
106 Gary Wilson, Ding Junhui, Neil Robertson, Stuart Bingham, Zhou Yuelong, Judd Trump
105 Stephen Maguire, Mark Williams, Zhou Yuelong, Barry Hawkins, David Gilbert, Judd Trump
104 Tian Pengfei, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Kyren Wilson, Judd Trump
103 Stephen Maguire, Judd Trump (2)
102 Shaun Murphy, Mark Selby, David Gilbert, Ali Carter
101 Shaun Murphy, Zhou Yuelong, Jack Lisowski, Mark Williams, James Cahill, Judd Trump (2), John Higgins (2)
100 Neil Robertson, Tian Pengfei, John Higgins, Kyren Wilson, Gary Wilson, David Gilbert