Barry Town United Hoping to Clip Bluebirds' Wings in Search of Europe

Barry Town United willl be looking to have a bumper crowd coming through the turnstiles at Jenner Park as they look to clip the wings of Haverfordwest County as the two sides face off against each other in the second of the JD Cymru Premier Play-Off semi-finals, with the winners set to pit their wits against Rhys Griffiths' Penybont who defeated high-flying and well-supported Colwyn Bay on penalties following a goalless draw in the first semi-final played on Saturday lunchtime.

Andy Legg and Steve Jenkins' squad will be quietly confident, having defeated the 'Bluebirds' in all three meetings between both teams this season. 

At the end of September, both teams fought put a closely contested match, with Barry edging out as 3-2 winners at County's Bridge Meadow ground. Barry went ahead through midfielder Ryan Kavanagh, before County hit back through former Town defender Rhys Abbruzzesse, before Barry again held the advantage through the very talented Ieuan Owen (who has stood out as one of the outstanding young talents in the Cymru Premier), County then levelled again thanks to a Corey Shepherd strike, but Barry claimed all three points thanks to a Ben Margetson goal.

At the beginning of November, the Town once again travelled to West Wales, having been drawn away to Haverfordwest in the quarter-final of the Nathaniel MG League Cup. A penalty from on-loan Cardiff City youngster Morgan Wigley early in the second half gave Barry the lead, before the win was secured thanks to an impressive move between defence and attack resulting in Owen netting the crucial second goal as Barry continud on their way to ultimately capturing the MG Cup on the last day of February with an impressive 2-0 triumph over The New Saints at Penybont's DragonBet Stadium.

Barry in action against Haverfordwest, November 2025, courtesy of @PerryDobbinsPhotography

The two sides met for the final time during the Cymru Premier season at the end of November, with Barry again coming out on top at Jenner Park. An own goal from ex-Barry stopper Luc Rees set the Town on their way, before Ben Margetson grabbed a second, Ieuan Owen added a third with fifteen minutes left, before Ollie Hulbert completed the scoring two minutes later.

Callum Sainty has been inspirational as Barry captain this season, courtesy of @PerryDobbinsPhotography

Haverfordwest's rather 'patchy' form, which at one point saw them drop to the foot of the Cymru Premier table, meant that they missed out on a place in the top six at the mid-season split, which was something of a surprise considering that the 'Bluebirds' had finished the 2024-25 season in third place. However, in the second half of the season, the 'Bluebirds' were by far the form team in the 'Play-Off Conference' and have won four out of their last five matches, so neither Legg, Jenkins, or the Barry players will be underestimating the threat that Tony Pennock's side undoubtedly posess.

Among the 'Bluebirds' squad include two players who played their part at Jenner Park during Gavin Chesterfield's time as manager - Abbruzzesse and Elliott Scotcher, who was part of the Barry squad when they made their original return to the Cymru Premier in the 2016-17 season. Chesterfield, now in charge of overseeing the development of young talent at Cardiff City, himself had a brief spell in charge at Haverfordwest, when, after having endured quite a lot (and that is putting it mildly) under Barry's then-chairman, he stepped into the managerial hot-seat at Bridge Meadow in November 2010 before making a return to Jenner Park at the start of the 2011-2012 season.

No-one could argue that, aside from a particularly difficult Phase One, former Swansea and Hull coach Tony Pennock hasn't done an excellent job. In his first season (2022-2023), the 'Bluebirds' achieved European football for the first time since 2004, having first overcoming Cardiff Met in the semi-final on penalties, it was precisely the same outcome against Newtown in the play-off final.

For Barry, success in these two matches would earn the club their first taste of European football since 2020 when, in a one-legged tie (two-legged ties having been dismissed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic), the Town suffered a heavy loss against NSI Runavik in a heavily misty Faroe Islands, with now-Academy supremo Kayne McLaggon scoring Barry's first European goal since Lee Jarman agains Vardar Skopje in July 2003. To do so, Barry will have to improve upon their record in the play-offs, qualfying for Europe in both 2019 and 2020 having been assured by their league position. In 2018, after having gone through the play-off conference unbeaten, the Town fell at the semi-final hurdle, losing 4-1 at Cyncoed Campus to Christian Edwards' strong Cardiff Met; in 2021, the Town were defeated 3-1 in the semi-final at Jenner Park by Caernarfon Town in a match which was played behind closed doors because of the aforementioned pandemic; and last season it was the Canaries who again thwarted Barry's European ambitions by securing a 5-2 win at the Oval.

Both teams will go into the game backed by tremendous support, with a large number of 'Bluebirds' fans set to make the 2 and a half hour journey from West to South Wales. Meanwhile, Barry's Michael George, who made his 200th appearance against The New Saints last Saturday, was on Bro Radio calling on the Town's faithful to continue the tremendous support that they have already given the club and to ensure they get them through to the play-off final.

It promises to be a rather exciting and, no-doubt, nerve-wracking match. Bring it on! Up the Town!

 

Marvellous Murphy Marches On Into Quarter-Final

 

2005 world champion, Shaun Murphy, was in tremendous form as he became the first player to reach the quarter-finals, defeating Xiao Guodong 13-3, winning the match in a session to spare. Murphy had started the match in excellent fashion, winning the first five frames, before Xiao got himself back into the match by winning the next two frames, before Murphy closed out the session to lead 6-2 going into Friday afternoon's session. After Murphy won the first two to go further ahead at 8-2, Xiao won the third and which turned out to be the final frame that he won, as Murphy closed out the match by winning four successive frames, making breaks of 103, 115, and another 103 to ensure that there would no evening session and Murphy could return home for a few days and put his feet up as he watched the others in his practice room.

Kyren Wilson, champion in 2024, began the second session of his clash with Anterim's Mark Allen just as he had ended the first, winning the first two frames, including a break of 112, to take a 6-5 lead, before Allen then claimed the next two to lead 7-6, Wilson then levelled with a break of 65, before Allen took the final two frames of the session, which included a high break of 140, and he leads 9-7 heading into their third and final session, beginning at 10am on Saturday morning.

A huge television audience would have been watching in China to see defending champion Zhao Xintong take on Chinese snooker's greatest player, Ding Junhui in a blockbuster clash and which sees both players level at 4-4 heading into Saturday afternoon's second session. In a session which ebbed and flowed, after Ding had gone 3-2 up, Zhao took advantage of errors which crept into his game to lead 4-3 before Ding took advantage after Zhao had somehow missed a routine black off the spot to clear up and make it all-square.

Mark Williams has it all to do after a particularly poor display on Friday evening saw him win only one of the eight frames on offer, while Barry Hawkins took firm control of the match and now requires only three frames in their concluding session, which takes place on Saturday evening.

Three other quarter-final matches will get under way on Saturday, with the highlight, of course, being a gigantic 'Class of 92' clash between Ronnie O'Sullivan and John Higgins; while on Saturday morning, Chris Wakelin takes on the 'Thunder from Down Under' in Neil Robertson, hoping for a repeat of his success over the Australian in the first round of last year's championship; finally, Judd Trump will be hoping to get off to a good start against Hossein Vafaei, who looked in excellent form in his 10-3 demolition of top 16 seed Si Jiahui.

ORDER OF PLAY

SATURDAY 25th APRIL 2026

10AM

Chris Wakelin v Neil Robertson

Kyren Wilson (7) v (9) Mark Allen

2.30PM

Zhao Xintong (4) v (4) Ding Junhui

Hossein Vafaei v Judd Trump

7PM

John Higgins v Ronnie O'Sullivan

Barry Hawkins (10) v (6) Mark J. Williams

Robertson and Vafaei Reach Last 16; Second Round Leads for Murphy and Allen

Hossein Vafaei and Neil Robertson were the last players to reach the last sixteen of the 2026 Halo World Snooker Championship, with fifteen of the sixteen top seeds having navigated through what appeared to be rather tricky and difficult matches.

Robertson, who took a narrow 5-4 lead going into Thursday evening's concluding session, impressed as he overcame a resilient challenge from Pang Junxu, winning five of the evening's seven frames, concluding with a century break, although it was Pang who had secured the highest break of the match, scoring a 122 in the final frame of the previous evening's opening session. Robertson now faces Scottish Open champion Chris Wakelin, and will be looking for revenge since Wakelin had knocked Robertson out at the first round of last year's World Championship, coming out as a 10-8 victor.

Iranian Vafaei, who has had far more pressing matters than snooker on his mind in recent times, looked very impressive as he overcame the challenge of 2023 semi-finalist Si Jiahui, coming from 1-3 down to win nine successive frames and defeat Jiahui 10-3, during which he made his highest break so far of the tournament of 105 and he now awaits a second round meeting with 2019 champion Judd Trump.

While the first round drew to a close, the second round got under way on Thursday afternoon, with 2005 champion Shaun Murphy looking in particularly fine form in establishing a 5-0 lead, which included a break of 103, before his opponent, Xiao Guodong, finally got into the match by claiming the next two frames, before Murphy established an overnight four-frame lead at 6-2.

With on-going problems with his cue and his tip seemingly getting the better of him in the first part of his opening session against Northern Ireland's Mark Allen, it looked at once stage as if Kyren Wilson might even struggle to get his name on the scoreboard, with Allen not really having to do very much in establishing a 5-0 lead, however Wilson soon got into gear and took the last three frames in succession to leave the Englishman in far better spirits than he had been during the mid-session interval.

ORDER OF PLAY - 2nd ROUND

FRIDAY 24th APRIL 2026

10AM

Xiao Guodong (2) v (6) Shaun Murphy

Barry Hawkins v Mark J. Williams

2.30PM

Zhao Xintong v Ding Junhui

Kyren Wilson (3) v (5) Mark Allen

7PM

Xiao Guodong v Shaun Murphy - Play to Finish

Barry Hawkins v Mark J. Williams

 

The World Championship and the Crucible - Part Two - 1986-1999

After Steve Davis had lost his grasp on the Embassy World Snooker Championship on the very last black ball of the 1985 Championship, unsurprisingly, many observers and spectators highly expected him to be hot favourite to regain the trophy. However, under the radar was Bradford-born Joe Johnson, who was rated by the bookmakers as 150-1 to win the title. 

The man who had actually dethroned Davis the previous April was himself unable to defend the title at the first time of asking, with the late BBC commentator and long-time editor of Snooker Scene magazine, the great Clive Everton suggesting that Taylor looked rather 'jaded' as he made a terrible start to his first round match against Mike Hallett, trailing 8-1 going into the concluding session. Despite Taylor making some sort of a recovery in winning five frames, he still exited the Crucible, losing 10-6; Johnson, on the other hand, defeated Dave Martin 10-3 and Davis was a 10-4 victor over Ray Edmunds. Eventually, at the semi-final stage, Johnson defeated Tony Knowles, who was making his second semi-final appearance (having lost to Cliff Thorburn in 1983), while Davis overcame Thorburn to set up a final in which most people had Davis as the overwhelming favourite, just as he was the previous year.

Johnson, on the other hand, had other ideas and finished the first session with a narrow 4-3 lead before the evening session saw the players level at 8-8. The next day, Johnson, by now wearing a rather snazzy pair of red, pink, and white leather shoes, took control of the five, winning a set of frames to go 12-8 and ending the session 13-11 ahead. In the fourth and final session, the popular Bradford player took three of the first four frames to lead 16-12 and then won the first two after the mid-session interval to take the title 18-12. After the match, Davis sportingly recognised that he had been completely outplayed by his opponent, while Johnson, quite rightly, said that he felt that Davis never got the credit he deserved from the public.

The next year - 1987 - saw a rather unusual look to the Crucible, with the usual pink design replaced by a blue background. For a second successive year, however, both Davis and Johnson reached the final, with Davis this time gaining revenge for his two previous final defeats, taking the title for a fourth time by overcoming Johnson 18-14 before spraying champagne all over the table after receiving the trophy.

1988 saw Davis gain the championship for a fifth time, defeating his friend Terry Griffiths 18-11, in a match which Clive Everton described as not having been a vintage final but, as the Benson and Hedges Snooker Year stated, it merely emphasised the dominance that Davis was then having on the sport.

This dominance Davis showed in rather stunning style when he demolished Liverpudlian John Parrott 18-3 in the most one-sided final that has been seen in the Crucible. Parrott himself had been affected partly by the Hillsborough Disaster which had taking place just a few miles from the Crucible on the opening Saturday of the championship - in his first round match against Steve James the following day, Parrott, a passionate Everton supporter, wore a black armband as a mark of respect for those Liverpool fans who had so tragically lost their lives - the following Saturday, 22nd April, the afternoon session was delayed from 3pm until 3.06pm so as to allow for a minute's silence to be held as a mark of respect.

No-one knew it at the time but Davis' conquest of Parrott would mark the last time that the Romford man would lift the world championship trophy. The following year, Jimmy White, who had succumbed to Davis in the 1984 final, got his revenge by defeating the defending champion 16-14 in the semi-final, waiting White in the final was a certain 21-year old Scot called Stephen Hendry. Hendry, then managed by the rather fiery Ian Doyle, became the youngest world champion at 21 years and 106 days by overcoming White 18-12, White's second Crucible final defeat. It was, alas, not to be his last.

Hendry, who had now taking the number one spot from Davis, was again highly fancied to triumph in Sheffield in 1991, but, to the surprise of many, he was beaten in the quarter-finals by Steve James, while White once again made his way to the final, this time coming up against John Parrott. Parrott, however, was in tremendous form and he proved this in the final, coming out as a comfortable 18-11 winner.

White became the second player, after Cliff Thorburn, to record a maximum break, hitting one against Tony Drago in the second round of the 1992 World Championship, and, once again, White reached the final. Unfortunately, for the Whirlwind, he came up against the one and only Stephen Hendry. This time, White at one point looked as if he might take the title, being 14-8 up and White later confessed that he was already thinking about what he might say in his winner's speech. However, Hendry came back in spectacular fashion, winning ten frames in a row and coming out as a 18-14 winner, winning his second world crown. Hendry and White met yet again in the following year's final, but this time White was no match for Hendry who won the title with a session to spare, crushing White 18-5, the last time that a final has been won without having to go to a fourth session.

Without doubt, 1994 was the year that Jimmy White should have been crowned Embassy World Champion. Again facing his old foe, Stephen Hendry, the final went all the way to a deciding frame, for the first time since that memorable final in 1985, and White was in among the balls, with even Hendry admitting that he thought that White was going to win, suddenly, White snatched at a black, missing it off its spot, and Hendry, who almost ran out of his chair to the table, cleared up to snatch the championship from White's grasp, devastating the vast majority of people both in the Crucible and those watching on television who were willing White to lift the trophy for the first time.

Hendry's domination of snooker, and, in particular, of the World Championship, continued unabated. Aside from Hendry's success, the 1995 World Championship saw the debut of a certain Scot by the name of John Higgins, who lost out at the first round to his friend and fellow compatriot, Alan McManus, while another debutant, Devon's Andy Hicks stunned the Crucible by defeating six-time world champion Steve Davis. Until the COVID-effect championship held in the summer of 2020, this marked the last time that the championship began on a Friday and concluded on a Sunday, rather than on a Bank Holiday Monday, as is traditional. For a change, it was not Jimmy White whom Hendry encountered in the final, but Nigel Bond, at first the match was close, but from 5-5, Hendry won nine frames in succession to lead 14-5 and eventually triumphed 18-9.

1996's tournament began with a hint of controversy in the first round match between Ronnie O'Sullivan and Belgian Alain Robidoux, in which Robidoux accused O'Sullivan of disrespect with the Londoner playing left-handed for the majority of the eleventh frame of their match, O'Sullivan rather petuantly responded that he played better with his left hand than Robidoux did with his right hand. O'Sullivan faced more trouble when following an alleged assault on tournament director, Mike Ganley, he received a two-year suspended ban and a fine of £20,000, plus another fine of £10,000 which was donated to charity.

Hendry again faced new opposition in the final, with Peter Ebdon attempting to becoming the first player to defeat Hendry in a world final, despite putting up a valiant fight, Hendry ultimately triumphed, defeating Ebdon 18-12, a final which also saw the end of legendary BBC commentator Ted Lowe's career, he had decided to retire at the conclusion of the championship.

Ronnie O'Sullivan lit up the 1997 World Championship by making a maximum 147 break in a record time of five minutes and eight seconds, the fastest recorded maximum in the history of snooker. However, despite his obvious talent, he did not reach the final, that was between Stephen Hendry and Dublin's Ken Doherty, and everyone presumed that Hendry would once again come out on top as the King of the Crucible. Doherty, however, stunned all by making a tremendous start and at one stage held an incredible 15-7 lead over the defending champion. Hendry, like all great champions, did not lie down, and hit back by winning five frames in a row to make it 15-12 before the popular Dubliner won the next three frames to claim his first title 18-12 and ending Hendry's extraordinary record of 29 unbeaten matches at the Crucible and the first time he had not ended the season as world champion since 1991.

Just like Joe Johnson in 1986, Doherty was the second player to come closest to breaking the 'Crucible Curse' when he reached the final for a second successive year, coming up against his good friend, Wishaw's John Higgins, who was appearing in his first world final. Higgins played magnificently, making five centuries as he defeated Doherty 18-12.

Higgins fell victim to the 'Crucible Curse' the following year (1999) when Cwm's Mark Williams, another member of the fabled 'Class of 1992', comfortably defeated the reigning champion 17-11 in the semi-final, while Hendry triumphed 17-13 over Ronnie O'Sullivan to reach his seventh final in nine years.

Hendry started the final, which was officiated by the late Colin Brinded, firmly on the front foot, taking all four frames of the first mini-session on Sunday afternoon, Williams won the fifth before Hendry took the next before Williams took the final two frames to trail 5-3 heading into Sunday evening's session. Hendry again started the session in fine form taking the first two frames to lead 7-3 before the next two frames were shared, Hendry making a 132 break. Williams then won the next two frames, before Hendry won the final two frames of the first day's play, leading 10-6, against any other player this would have not been an insurmountable hurdle for Williams, but Hendry was a man on a mission, aiming for a record-breaking seventh world crown.

Williams began the third session on Monday afternoon taking the first two frames before the next two frames were shared and then Hendry really began to dominate, making breaks of 106, 55 and 53 taking the the final four frames of the session to head into the evening session 15-9 and requiring only three frames to claim the title.

Hendry started the final session winning the first two frames with breaks of 66 and 62, before Williams won the next two frames to keep himself in touching distance. However, in the next frame, Williams, who had taken a 40-point lead, missed a red and up stepped Hendry to make a break of 88 and claim his record-breaking seventh world title. It would also turn out to be Hendry's last World Championship.

 

O'Sullivan and Selby Progress to Second Round

As the last of the thirty-two players began their campaign for the 2026 Halo World Snooker Championship, both Ronnie O'Sullivan and Mark Selby achieved comfortable victories in securing their places in the second round of the tournament at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre.

O'Sullivan barely took any time at all in securing the three frames he needed to defeat qualifer He Guqiang 10-2 and he now faces an absolute blockbuster of a second round clash with four-time world champion John Higgins, who had defeated Ali Carter 10-7. Higgins will be looking to seek revenge against O'Sullivan, with their most recent Crucible meeting being the 2022 semi-final where O'Sullivan came out on top as a comfortable 17-11 victor.

Selby also had a rather surprisingly comfortable 10-2 victory over another qualifer in Wales' Jak Jones, who was expected to have given the four-time world champion a much more difficult match than transpired. Jones' performance was a surprise given he was possibly the most difficult of the qualifers whom Selby could have drawn against, given that he performed so well in defeating Luca Brecel in last week's last qualifying round

Elsewhere, qualifer Liam Pullen could hold his head high after a fine performance in his Crucible debut, even though his dreams of progressing were brought to an end following a 10-6 defeat against friend and practice partner, Chris Wakelin.

Si Jiahui, who stunned much of the snooker world with his superb run to the 2023 World Championship semi-final, started off quite well against Iran's Hossein Vafaei, taking a 3-1 lead into the mid-session interval, but it was a different story after the interval when Vafaei all remaining five frames to take a 6-3 overnight lead heading into Thursday afternoon's concluding session.

Meanwhile, 2010 champion, Neil Robertson, shrugged off the extraordinary error of accidentally forfeiting the second frame to take a narrow 5-4 lead against Pang Junxu overnight. After Robertson had won a narrow first frame, Pang made a break of 54 and held a lead of 57-10 as the Australian came to the table in an attempt to claw back the defecit. Using the rest, Robertson attempted to pot the black into the top right pocket, before seeing his effort rattling the jaws. At this point, Robertson, completely unaware that he was still able to win, conceded the frame. As referee Terry Camilleri informed him, Robertson was actually 47 points behind with 51 still on the table, not even having to require any snookers if he tried to steal the frame. Conceding early, with still enough points on the table can incur penalties including a fine, which Camillieri told Robertson that he would be facing a fine for his indiscretion.

ORDER OF PLAY

THURSDAY 23rd APRIL 2026

1.15PM

Si Jiahui (3) v (6) Hossein Vafaei - Play to Finish

R2

Shaun Murphy v Xiao Guodong

7PM

Neil Robertson (5) v (4) Pang Junxu - Play to Finish

R2

Kyren Wilson v Mark Allen
 

The World Championship and the Crucible - Part One - 1977-1985

 

In the wake of the recent news that the World Championship will be remaining at its spiritual home of the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield until at least 2045, with an option to extend it to 2050, I thought it would be appropriate to look back at fifty years of top class snooker being played at the Crucible.

In 1976, the World Championship (which for the first time was being sponsored by the tobacco company W.D. & H.O. Wills using the Embassy brand) took place at two venues - Middlesborough Town Hall and Wythenshawe Forum in Manchester, where Ray Reardon would claim his fifth World Championship, defeating the enigmatic Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins 27-16 in the final. 

Mike Watterson, the highly respected sports promoter, and his wife, Carole, are the people that snooker are to thank for delivering the World Championship to the Crucible. Early in 1977, Carole had gone to watch a play at the Crucible and when she returned home she suggested to Mike that it would make the ideal venue for the World Championship which was in danger of not being played since no agreement had been reached on a venue. Mike then approached Arnold Eliman, the then-manager of the theatre, and after asking if he could hold the tournament there, renting the theatre £6,000 and then had to make a bid to the WPBSA, where he promised them £17,000 for the tournament, they agreed and, as the saying goes, the rest is history.

There were a total of sixteen players who participated in the first championship to be held at the Crucible, which took place from 18th-30th April, and which saw future WPBSA chairman and commentator John Spencer triumph, defeating Canadian Cliff Thorburn 25-21 in the final, which, in those early days at the Crucible, were played over the best of 49 frames. The following year, 1978, Ray Reardon claim his sixth and final world crown, defeating South African Perrie Mans (who had defeated reigning champion Spencer in the first round, thus heralding the start of the so-called 'Crucible Curse') 25-18 and becoming the oldest world champion at 45 years and 203 days, it would not be until 2018 when a player over forty claimed the title, with Mark Williams lifting the trophy at the age of 43.

1979 saw Terry Griffiths, who had only turned professional seven months previously, and had to win two qualifying stages to qualify for the Crucible, become the second Welshman to lift the trophy in a tournament which saw debuts for both Steve Davis and Kirk Stevens. Griffiths got through to the final following an epic semi-final battle against Australian cueist Eddie Charlton. Semi-finals at that time were the best of 37 frames and played over four sessions. The final session of the second day saw play conclude at 1.40am, having taken an incredible five hours and twenty-five minutes to play, which then set the record for the latest finish of any match in the championship. Griffiths eventually completed his 19-17 victory with a 97 after Charlton had missed an opportunity, while leading with a break of 48, to pot a red while using the half-butt. Immediately after the match, BBC presenter David Vine entered the arena to interview Griffiths, who could not hide his joy or disbelief when he simply said, 'I'm in the final now, you know!', causing the Crucible to erupt in laughter. Facing Griffiths in the final was a certain Dennis Taylor (at this time playing without his famous spectacles), who had triumphed over John Virgo in the other semi-final. The final, the best of forty-seven frames, was played over six sessions, Griffiths leading 5-2 at the end of the first session, before Griffiths finished the day leading 8-7. On the first session of the second day, Taylor led 11-9 and then 14-12 before Griffiths went on an incredible run, winning twelve of the next fourteen frames. Starting the final day's play level at 15-15, Griffiths took two of the next three frames to lead 17-16, before wining seven consecutive frames to claim the title 24-16.

The 1980 championship saw the number of players participating increase to twenty-four, with those who were seeded from nine to sixteen up against a qualifer in the the first round, with those triumphant pitting their wits against one of the top eight seeds in the second round, this was the year that the final was played in its current format, played over the best of thirty-five frames over three days. In the final, Canada's Cliff Thorburn took on Northern Ireland's fiery Alex Higgins, the two men having a rather 'testy' relationship, to say the very least, and it was the man who became known as the 'Grinder' who became the first non-British player to claim the title, breaks of 119 and 51 ensuring an 18-16 victory.

1981 saw Steve Davis installed as the man to beat and the heavy favourite to claim his first world crown. In the first round, he narrowly defeated Jimmy 'Whirlwind of London Town' White by 10 frames to 8 before defeating three former world champions on his way to defeating Welshman Doug Mountjoy by 18-12,  becoming then the youngest champion at the age of twenty-three and his moment of triumph being memorably shared by his manager, Barry Hearn, who virtually ran into the Crucible and bear-hugged Davis before punching the air in obvious delight.

The following year, 1982, however, Davis, found himself on the wrong end of one of the most incredible scorelines in the history of the championship at the Crucible, exiting the championship at the first round stage after being comprehensively demolished 10-1 by Bolton's Tony Knowles. Alex Higgins found himself reaching his third world championship final following a famous semi-final victory over his good friend, Jimmy White. After finding himself 14-15 down, White was  59-0 ahead when he missed a simple red and Higgins responded with one of the greatest clearances ever seen, with a brilliant 69 break before clinching the final frame to face six-time champion Ray Reardon in the final. At 15-15, it looked like the match could go either way, with Reardon looking to clinch a seventh title, but Higgins grabbed full control and took the next three frames, concluding with a break of 135 to win his second title and which resulted in emotional scenes with Higgins begging to have his then-baby daughter Lauren brought to him, cradling her in his arms at the same time as he was presented with the trophy.

1983 saw history made at the Crucible, as Cliff Thorburn became the first player to make a maximum 147 break, with BBC commentator Jack Karenham memorably uttering the words, 'Good luck, mate' just as Cliff was about to pot the final black, sinking to his knees when he did so before being congratulated by referee John Williams, opponent Terry Griffiths, and fellow Canadian Bill Werbeniuk, who had been silently watching from behind the dividing partition and came over to congratulate his fellow countryman. Thorburn's delight was instantly put into perspective when he shortly afterwards received a telephone call from his wife back in Canada telling him that he had suffered a miscarriage. Completely drained, both emotionally as well as physically and mentally, having beaten Griffiths in that same match, doing so at 3.51am in the morning, the latest ever finish to a match at the Crucible, it came as little surprise when he eventually succumbed 18-6 to Steve Davis in the final.

1984 saw Davis retain his title, defeating Jimmy White, who had reached his first world final. At the end of the first day it seemed as if Davis was once again strolling to another championship, leading the young Londoner 12-4. On the afternoon of the third session on the second day, however, a rejuvenated White got right back into the match, winning seven of the eight frames, before Davis got over the line in the evening session, winning by 18-16.

The following year, 1985, Davis once again found himself in the final, hoping to yet again retain his title, and in the final he faced Dennis Taylor, making his first appearance in the sport's showpiece match since his defeat to Terry Griffiths in 1979. Taylor was coming into the final on the back of having won the Rothmans Grand Prix the previous October, having been inspired following the tragic death of his mother and it was her inspiration which helped Taylor get all the way to the final. Over the course of the first seven frames, Taylor was firmly in his seat, where  he could be seen silently talking, not to himself, but, as he explained later, to his mother, as Davis took full control, winning all seven frames of the first session before taking the first of the second session on Saturday evening. The ninth frame proved to be something of a turning point as, after Davis had failed to pot a reasonably easy green, Taylor cleared to the pink to earn himself his first frame, a fact he acknowledged by pointing his finger in the air, a sign of relief as much as anything else. Taylor then proceeded to win six frames, to win the session, and head into the following day only trailing 9-7 overnight. After being level at 11-11 and 15-15, Davis won two frames on the bounce to take a 17-15 lead, requiring just one to claim a third consecutive title (and fourth overall) before Taylor again came back, winning frames 33 and 34, to take the destination of the 1985 World Championship right down to the 35th and final frame of the final.

The final frame, by playing standards, was a rather scrappy affair, but in terms of intrigue and dramatic, remains one of the tensest frames ever played at the Crucible. Davis was leading 62-44, with only 4 coloured balls remaining on the table, Taylor potting the brown before potting the blue with a slowly played cut along the bottom cushion and into the green pocket. He then pocked a rather difficult pink ball into the same pocket from the opposite direction, trailing 59-62 with only the black ball remaining, the final ball of the entire championship. First, Taylor attempted a double into the left middle pocket and at first he and many of those watching, who began to cheer, thought he had pocketed it before it rebounded to a safe position towards the top of the table. After several more shots, Taylor attempted a  middle-distance pot to the green pocket, which he left, and left Davis a pot into the top left corner, which he ended up over-cutting, missing the pot and leaving the black ball in a almost perfectly pottable position in the same pocket. Taylor took his time, and then potted the black, immediately raising his cue above his head at the end of what was the most dramatic ending to any World Championship final and possibly to any snooker match. A huge audience of 18.5 million viewers were tuned into BBC Two and were still watching when presenter David Vine arrived to conduct the customary post-match interviews, with a pale and stunned Davis simply responded to Vine's opening question by saying, 'It was all there in black and white', before Taylor lifted the famous old trophy, the same one that had been purchased for the first world championship way back in 1927. Davis would return to the winners circle at the Crucible but not before suffering further heartache, this time at the hands of a man from Bradford called Joe Johnson.

World No. 1 Trump triumphs as Rocket lifts off at the Crucible

World Number One Judd Trump ensured that he would end the season on top of the pile after coming from behind to defeat Gary Wilson 10-5, becoming the latest seed to successfully come through what looked like a particularly difficult first round encounter. Indeed, Wilson had started Tuesday morning's session in fine form, going 3-1 up at the first mid-session interval, and then taking the first frame after the break before Trump, with the aid of two flukes which very much helped his cause, turned things round to lead 5-4 going into the concluding session. In what turned out to be a less than fluid concluding session, Wilson took the first frame of the night before Trump took complete command, winning five successive frames to book his place in the last sixteen.

Ronnie O'Sullivan, who somehow managed to find himself walking towards the wrong table upon being introduced into the arena by MC Rob Walker, is on the brink of heading into what could be an enthralling second round clash with fellow 'Class of 92' legend John Higgins, as he leads qualifer He Guoqiang 7-2, O'Sullivan started like a house on fire, taking the first five frames, before going slightly off the boil as Guoqiang claimed the next two to avoid what was distinctly looking like a possible whitewash before Ronnie again took firm control and won the last two frames of the session.

Wu Yize took very little time in completing victory over fellow Chinese player Lei Peifan, having gone into Tuesday afternoon's session with a commanding 8-1 lead, he finished the job by taking two of the first three frames on offer and demolishing his compatriot 10-2. Meanwhile, debutant Liam Pullen will be pleased with his efforts, as he trails Scottish Open winner Chris Wakelin 5-4 heading into Wednesday morning's concluding session.

2005 world champion Shaun Murphy punched the air in a mixture of both delight and relief at getting over the line and reaching the last sixteen after defeating Fan Zhengyi 10-9 in the first match which has gone all the way at the Crucible this year. Shaun was always a frame ahead of his opponent right until  the very end, never managing to pull away from him, despite the fact that he made the highest break so far at the Crucible with an impressive 140, but he will be mightily relieved at having triumphed when, at one stage in the deciding frame, it seemed as if Zhengyi was going to cause the first seed to fall before missing a tricky red into the right centre pocket and which opened the way for Murphy to clear up.

Wednesday will also see the last of the first round matches start at the Crucible, with 2010 champion Neil Robertson opening his champion against the very talented Pang Janxu; Si Jiahui, who made a quite remarkable and memorable run to the semi-final in 2023, faces a tough opponent in Iranian Hossein Vafafei, who will be hoping to bring some joy to his war-torn nation, and, finally, multiple world champion Mark Selby faces one of the most difficult qualifers he could have drawn as he takes on 2024 runner-up Jak Jones, who looked very impressive in defeating 2023 world champion Luca Brecel in the final qualifying round on Judgement Day last week.

ORDER OF PLAY

WEDNESDAY 22ND APRIL 2026

10AM

Mark Selby v Jak Jones

Chris Wakelin (5) v (4) Liam Pullen - Play to Finish

2.30PM

Ronnie O'Sullivan (7) v (2) He Guoqiang - Play to Finish

Si Jiahui v Hossein Vafaei

7PM

Mark Selby v Jak Jones - Play to Finish

Neil Robertson v Pang Junxu

 

Brilliant Moody Denied by Wilson Fightback

 

Day Three of the 2026 Halo World Snooker Championship saw two former World Champions make their way into the Second Round after negotiating extremely difficult matches. Four-time winner John Higgins, who, despite a lack of silverware, has enjoyed a fairly successful season in reaching the finals of the International Championship, the Masters and the Players Championship, overcame former Crucible double runner-up Ali Carter 10-7, while 2024 champion Kyren Wilson overcame a wonderful debut performance from 19-year-old Stan Moody to triumph by the same score and set up a second round meeting with Mark Allen.

Wilson's victory was particularly remarkable considering the extraordinary manner in which Moody, who had qualified for the Crucible for the first time after having discharged himself from hospital after recovering from tonsillitis, had started the match, playing some excellent snooker which delighted the crowd and drew much praise from legendary six-time world champion Steve Davis, who was commentating on the morning session for the BBC. The evening session saw Wilson turn the match completely around, turning a 6-3 defecit into a 10-7 victory, a win which banishes the memory of his exit at the same stage of the championship, when, as the defending champion, he lost in the deciding frame to Lei Peifan. 

John Higgins will be pleased also at the way he managed to turn a defecit around into a victory. After having surged into a 4-0 lead in the first half of his opening session on Sunday afternoon, he would have been feeling utterly deflated after seeing Ali Carter mount an extraordinary comeback to lead 5-4 going into the start of Monday afternoon's concluding session. Higgins however started the concluding session well, taking three of the opening four frames to head into the mid-session interval 7-6 in front, before extending his lead to 9-6 and, despite Carter reducing the defecit to 9-7, the Wizard of Wishaw got over the line and possibly facing a blockbuster second round clash with fellow Class of 92 veteran Ronnie O'Sullivan (should the 'Rocket' overcome He Guqiang).

There is another extremely tasty-looking second round clash featuring two of the giants of Chinese snooker when defending champion Zhao Xintong takes on Ding Junhui, who for many years had been tipped to become the first Chinese winner of the World Championship. Ding progressed courtesy of a comfortable 10-5 victory over qualifer David Gilbert, during which Ding became only the eighth player to achieve a century of centuries at the World Championship, he will, however, have his work cut off against his fellow countryman Xintong, who is highly fancied to retain his title. 

Another Chinese player almost certain to book his place into the last sixteen of snooker's premier event is the highly talented Wu Yize, who will resume his concluding session against Lei Peifan on Tuesday afternoon taking a commanding 8-1 lead. Meanwhile, 2005 champion Shaun Murphy found his opening session against Fan Zhengyi something of a struggle and will take a narrow 5-4 lead into Tuesday night's session.

Tuesday will also see two of the giants of the game begin their campaign for glory in Sheffield, with world number one Judd Trump facing a rather tricky opening match against double Scottish Open champion Gary Wilson, while Ronnie O'Sullivan, looking to claim his eighth world crown and thus overtake Stephen Hendry as the most successful Crucible champion, starts his world championship against qualifer He Guqiang. Meanwhile, following in the footsteps of Stan Moody, 20-year-old Liam Pullen will make his Crucible debut as he takes on Chris Wakelin.

ORDER OF PLAY

TUESDAY 21st APRIL 2026

10AM

Chris Wakelin v Liam Pullen

Judd Trump v Gary Wilson

2.30PM

Ronnie O'Sullivan v He Guqiang

Wu Yize (8) v (1) Lei Peifan - Play to Finish

7PM

Shaun Murphy (5) v (4) Fan Zhengyi - Play to Finish

Judd Trump v Gary Wilson - Play to Finish

Defending Champion Made to Fight Before Getting Over the Line

Zhao Xintong ensured that he did not follow the likes of Luca Brecel and Kyren Wilson (and, as a much older example, Steve Davis in 1982) and become the latest defending world champion to fall at the first hurdle when he defeated Englishman Liam Highfield, making his first appearance at the Crucible since 2022, 10-7, fighting off a valiant effort by Highfield, who, from 9-5 down, took it to 9-7, before Xintong got over the line with a classy 112.

The Championship got off to a very emotional start when the entire Crucible stood to honour the late great John Virgo, who had died on 4th February, with a minute's applause, with legends such as Stephen Hendry, Jimmy White, and Steve Davis visibly moved by the tribute to their great colleague and close friend.

Another player who is into the last sixteen is Barry Hawkins, a player who enjoyed a marvellous run at the Crucible from 2013, where he lost to Ronnie O'Sullivan in the final, and reaching the semi-final stage in 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2018, as well as reaching the quarter-final in 2016 - Hawkins defeated Welshman Matthew Stevens 10-4. After the two men had shared the opening four frames on Saturday afternoon, Hawkins pulled away to lead 7-2 heading into their second session, which concluded this morning with Stevens winning the first two frames before Hawkins completed the victory by clinching the last two frames before the interval and the first two frames following the break.

Antrim's Mark Allen, whose own record at the Crucible has not been particularly impressive, played some extremely impressive snooker this morning by defeating the highly talented Zang Anda 10-6 after having begun the second session trailing 3-5 overnight. In a high-scoring encounter, Anda registered breaks of 129, 109 and three seventy-plus breaks, while Allen, who has only appeared twice in the one-table set up, losing in the semi-finals in both 2009 and 2023 to John Higgins and Mark Selby respectively, scored breaks of 140, 129, 112, and 109, and will be a threat if he continues to play as well as he did especially in the second half of his match.

John Higgins would have been delighted in how he had started his first-round encounter against Ali Carter, who had twice reached the final only to fall to the one and only Ronnie O' Sullivan, going into the mid-session interval 4-0, however, things turned dramatically after the interval, with Carter claiming all remaining five frames to lead 5-4 going into tomorrow afternoon's concluding session. 2014 runner-up Ding Junhui, who for so many years was highly fancied to become China's first ever world champion, was in excellent form in leading 7-2 over David Gillbert, with the pair returning tomorrow, with the 'Angry Farmer' needing an almost miraculous turn in form to prevent Ding taking his place in the last sixteen. In the course of the session, Ding became only the eighth player to achieve a century of centuries at the World Championship

In the all-Chinese clash between Xiao Guodong and Zhou Yeulong, it was Guodong who got one over his friend with a 10-6 victory. The first session on Saturday had seen Guodong take a narrow 5-4 lead going into Sunday evening's concluding session after Zhou had begun the match in scintillating form with back-to-back century breaks. The evening session saw both players share the opening four frames before Zhou took total command after the interval, making breaks of 115 and 128 before finishing the match with a 81 break to book himself a place in the second round.

FIRST ROUND RESULTS

Zhao Xintong 10 - 7 Liam Highfield

Xiao Guodong 10 - 6 Zhou Yuelong

Mark Allen 10 - 6 Zhang Anda

Barry Hawkins 10 - 4 Matthew Stevens

Mark Williams 10 - 4 Antoni Kowalski

ORDER OF PLAY

MONDAY 20th APRIL 2026

10AM

Ding Junhui (7) - (2) David Gilbert - Play to Finish

Kyren Wilson - Stan Moody

2.30PM

John Higgins (4) - (5) Ali Carter - Play to Finish

Wu Yize v Lei Peifan

7PM

Shaun Murphy v Fan Zhengyi

Kyren Wilson v Stan Moody - Play to Finish

TUESDAY 21st APRIL 2026

10AM

Chris Wakelin v Liam Pullen

Judd Trump v Gary Wilson

2.30PM

Ronnie O'Sullivan v He Guoqiang

 

Happy Crucible Eve

Tomorrow morning, at 10am UK time, the eyes of the snooker world will once again be focused upon Sheffield's iconic Crucible Theatre for the 2026 Halo World Snooker Championship, the 58th successive year that the Championship will be played in its current knockout format and it will mark the 50th successive year that the Championship will be held at the Crucible, having first taken place at the venue in 1977, when sporting promoter Mike Watterson's wife, Carole, having been to see a play at the Crucible, encouraged her husband that it would be the perfect place to hold the world snooker championship. The Championship is being played in wake of the excellent news that a deal was agreed to extend the Championship's stay at the Crucible until 2045 at least, with an option to extend to 2050. Additionally, plans are being developed to extend the Crucible, with an additional 500 seats and improving spectator facilities, during the period the Crucible is being redeveloped, beginning in 2029, the event will take place at an alternative venue yet to be announced.

As is tradition, the defending world champion will enter the fray at 10am tomorrow morning, with many observers and fans tipping Zhao Xintong to be the man who can finally break the famous Crucible Curse where no first-time winner of the World Championship has successfully defended his title the following year, with only Joe Johnson in 1986 and Ken Doherty in 1998 coming close to doing so, but, for me, Xintong, who has been in tremendous form this season and has four tournament victories to his name, has an excellent opportunity of finally breaking this 'curse'.

The draw for the World Championship took place on Thursday morning (16th April) on BBC Radio 5 Live and threw up a number of intriguing matches. 

The draw for the 1st Round is as follows:

Zhao Xintong vs Liam Highfield - 18th April

Ding Junhui vs David Gilbert - 19th and 20th April

Xiao Guodong vs Zhou Yuelong - 18th and 19th April

Shaun Murphy vs Fan Zhengyi - 20th and 21st April

John Higgins vs Ali Carter - 19th and 20th April

Ronnie O'Sullivan vs He Guqiang - 21st and 22nd April

Chris Wakelin vs Liam Pullen - 21st and 22nd April

Neil Robertson vs Pang Junxu - 22nd and 23rd April

Kyren Wilson vs Stan Moody - 20th April

Mark Allen vs Zhang Anda - 18th and 19th April

Barry Hawkins vs Matthew Stevens - 18th and 19th April

Mark Williams v Antoni Kowalski - 18th and 19th April

Mark Selby vs Jak Jones - 22nd April

Wu Yize vs Lei Peifan - 20th and 21st April

Si Jiahui vs  Hossein Vafaei - 22nd and 23rd April

Judd Trump vs Gary Wilson - 21st April

Both BBC and TNT Sports will provide comprehensive coverage of the Halo World Championship and hope you will enjoy what should be an exciting and enthralling seventeen days of top class snooker.

Sadly, of course, one person who will not be the Crucible will be the late, great John Virgo who died at his home in Spain, aged 79, on 4th February this year. JV, as he was warmly referred to by friends, players, and fans alike, was a top class player, winning the 1979 UK Championship before he turned to commentating where he became the 'Voice of Snooker' as the BBC's lead commentator, having first worked for the Corporation in 1994. Of course, who can forget the part he played in co-presenting Big Break alongside Jim Davidson, something Virgo remained very proud of. It goes without saying that JV, whose final commentary was at this year's Masters final in January, will continue to be sadly missed, but especially during this year's Halo World Championship. Thanks for the memories and Goodnight JV. Rest in peace.