Snooker news with Mark Williams to undergo surgery as Steve Davis issues warning on BBC
The latest news and views from the World Snooker Championship as Ronnie O'Sullivan prepares to make his long-awaited return to action against bitter rival Ali Carter
The World Snooker Championship has already seen plenty of twists and turns, even before Ronnie O'Sullivan's return to action. Big names have taken a tumble, including Kyren Wilson, who fell prey to the infamous 'Crucible curse', suffering a shocking first round defeat to Lei Peifan.
Another ex-Crucible champion, Neil Robertson, has also been knocked out while last year's runner-up, Jak Jones, was ousted by formidable Chinese qualifier Zhao Xintong. The most anticipated match of the first round kicks off on Tuesday as O'Sullivan returns to competitive action for the first time since January, facing off against long-time adversary Ali Carter.
World Championship alternative for Rocket
O'Sullivan might have the chance to bag two world championships from next year following the termination of an agreement between the World Snooker Tour (WST) and World Seniors Snooker (WSS). This pact allowed players over 40 to participate in WSS events, provided they were not within the top 64 in the world rankings, including the World Seniors Championship, which is held at the Crucible after the WST version.
WSS has been lobbying for all players over 45 to be eligible. However, no agreement was reached, and the partnership between WSS and WST will officially conclude after this year's World Seniors Championship.
It will hand a green light to all players over 45 to take part in WSS events, provided they don't coincide with any WST tournaments. This opens the door to the likes of 49-year-old Ronnie O'Sullivan, John Higgins, 49, and Mark Williams, 50, to compete in both world championships from 2026.
Wilson ponders BBC decision
Wilson is weighing up ditching his punditry role with the BBC. Following his first round exit, the Warrior admitted he needed a complete break from snooker, saying: "I'm meant to be working for the BBC. I don't know. I don't really want to be there.
"This is extremely tough to take. It really hurts. I've such a strong record at the Crucible. I'm tough to beat here. I cannot think of anything worse than snooker right now."
If he does fulfil his BBC commitment, he could end up working with Shaun Murphy. The pair have been embroiled in a war of words after Wilson, on the eve of the tournament, branded Murphy's behaviour during January's Masters final "unprofessional". A furious Murphy has hit back at the claim, vowing to take the matter up in person with Wilson.
Qualifier likened to Tiger Woods
Jimmy White has showered praise on Zhao Xintong, likening him to golf icon Tiger Woods following his return to the Crucible. The Whirlwind was effusive in his admiration for the young Chinese talent, who is reviving his career following his ban for a minor role in the sport's match-fixing scandal.
The 2021 UK champion impressively dispatched 16th seed Jones, prompting White to tell TNT Sports: "He had the situation where he did not play for a couple of years, but he is the best striker [of a cue ball] I think I have ever seen.
"Every now and again in sport you get people like Ballesteros, Tiger Woods, and in snooker you have got Ronnie O'Sullivan. Now this kid has come along. He is a phenomenal player, a phenomenal scorer, we just love everything about him."
Davis expecting big changes
Steve Davis reckons the landscape of the sport will alter drastically over the next few years. The six-time world champion made the prediction during veteran Higgins' first round victory over Joe O'Connor.
While the four-time Crucible champion got over the line, O'Connor is the type of player who could climb up the rankings as legends like Higgins come towards the end of their illustrious careers.
"The general trend is towards a changing of the guard in this game," said Davis on the BBC. "A lot of younger players coming through are getting a load of experience. Some of the more established players... They're still great players, but they're up against it more often.
"So there's going to be a lot of changing in the ranking list over the next couple of years. It could look completely different."
Legend set for surgery
One of those legends, Williams, is hoping to extend his career by undergoing eye surgery. The Welshman has made no secret of his fading eyesight and recently took to wearing contact lenses. Speaking after his first round victory over Wu Yize, he said: "I've tried playing with contacts but it's very difficult and really uncomfortable in my eyes.
"I'm booked in on 12 June, I think, to get a lens replacement. If everything goes OK, hopefully that could prolong my career for another four or five years."
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The Herald Scotland
an hour ago
- The Herald Scotland
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The colors, the patterns, the detailing -- all are the result of months-long conversations between Clark and Wilson's design team about who she is, what she likes and what messages she wants to send to young fans. "It was a really fun process for me to go through," Clark told USA TODAY Sports. "It's things that are super important to me and all very different things, too, throughout my life. So hopefully they can make an impact on whoever's going to pick the ball up." Clark joined Michael Jordan as the only athletes to be brand ambassadors for Wilson, signing a multiyear sponsorship deal in May 2024 with the official manufacturer of basketballs for the WNBA, NBA and NCAA. In part because of the short turnaround time before the release of her first signature ball last October, Clark's first line leaned heavily into history. The records she broke at Iowa. Her historic rookie season with the WNBA's Indiana Fever. But Clark and Wilson knew they wanted future lines to be more personal, reflecting who Clark is as a person as much as a player. "She's actually influencing this. It's not just people at Wilson picking the design," Hudson Vantrease, director of product design at Wilson, said. "We never wanted to just put her name on a ball and call it a day," he added. "We want to tell the most compelling story, and having her as part of that is a positive to it." Wilson invited USA TODAY Sports to attend the design team meeting in April where Clark saw the finished basketballs for the first time. The design team also gave USA TODAY Sports a behind-the-scenes look at the collaboration process with Clark for the latest collection, which will be released June 23. There are four balls in the collection, and they differ in both purpose (one is an indoor-only ball, one is outdoor-only and two can be used either indoors or outdoors) and price point. One, the Embrace, is an Evo NXT basketball, meaning it has the same construction as a regulation W ball and could be used in official games. "Awesome. Awesome, awesome, awesome," Clark said when she walked into the Indiana Fever's practice gym and saw the four new basketballs. "You guys killed it." The team responsible for developing Clark's line has about a dozen core members. They met with Clark at last year's All-Star Game and got her initial thoughts about the collection, including what a young Caitlin Clark would have wanted. "I think she said a blue ball," said Haley Reines, the product line manager at Wilson. Afterward, Reines and product designer Julia Muscarello sent Clark a detailed questionnaire, asking her everything from her favorite color (blue) to her hobbies outside of basketball (golf, being on the water) to what she'd be if she wasn't a basketball player (chef). They also monitored social media, taking note of Clark's clothes -- there's an Instagram account devoted to her fits -- and what she does off the court. "I don't want to say borderline stalking, but yeah," Muscarello said with a laugh. "I was trying to stay on the Caitlin pulse." Those answers and details drove the design process, which involved "hundreds" of hours. Christopher Rickert, the senior director of global production at Wilson, said the team began with 50 design ideas and whittled them down. Sometimes the color wasn't right. Sometimes the pattern didn't work. Sometimes what seemed like a great idea on paper didn't quite translate into reality. When the team had 10 ideas, they sent the designs to Clark for her thoughts. There were further tweaks, and prototypes were made to make sure the designs looked the same on an actual basketball as they did in drawings. 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Both are the visual representation of the decibel level at a Fever game; the Wilson team took an audio file of the sound and made a graphic out of it. "Fans really admire how she just plays so well under pressure," Muscarello said. "Sometimes it's OK to embrace the noise." Though Clark had been involved in every step of the design process, seeing the basketballs on a computer screen is very different than holding the finished product. Clark picked up each of the basketballs and examined it, taking note of the different details. She spun each ball and shifted it from one hand to the other. She also studied the design team's white boards, pointing to some of the notes and photos. Though she initially seemed most taken by the Oasis ball, she was fascinated with the Envision's UV technology and said she'd have loved to have had a basketball that revealed "secret" messages when she was a kid. 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Reuters
2 hours ago
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Murray leaves door open to coaching return
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Metro
10 hours ago
- Metro
Zak Surety on wild Crucible debut: They can't ever move from there - it's mad
Zak Surety had a very eventful debut at the World Snooker Championship this year and although he both loved and hated the experience, he was convinced that the 'mad' Crucible is the perfect home for the event. The 33-year-old enjoyed his best ever season by a long stretch, reaching a first semi-final at the World Open and finishing the campaign with a Crucible debut after brilliant performances in qualifying. At the iconic Sheffield theatre he faced Chinese superstar Ding Junhui and the pair produced an amazing opening round contest. Ding went 4-0 up as Surety struggled with the occasion and things looked very sticky for the Englishman at the first interval. 'At the start I walked out and sat in my seat and that was the strangest I've ever felt,' Surety told Metro. 'I've never felt that uncomfortable. My arms didn't feel part of my body. It felt like my tip didn't belong to me. Everything felt wrong. 'I've got myself in a bit of a state and I'm 4-0 down. 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'It's just some random bald bloke on the tele. I'm watching it back and thinking, did that really happen? 'I felt weird after because I left, I've set a record, I've played well, I can go home and the pressure of it is all over. They're all talking about me on the tele, great position going into next season, everything's good. 'Then you're home and you think about it and that was such a good chance. I was playing so well, I could have done something there and it quickly goes from feeling quite content about the whole experience to being quite annoyed.' Mixed feelings sums up the Crucible experience as Surety's first game there epitomised the cliché that the venue is both the best and worst place to play snooker. 'I sat down and tried to convince myself it was going to be the best place on Earth, but you get it drummed into your head how you're meant to feel in there,' he said. 'Mark Allen asked me how I was feeling and told me that he was there for the 19th time and still struggles every time he walks out there. It's like it's normal. 'I watched the opening morning before travelling up and Steve Davis said on camera: 'I can't wait to watch the top players in the world squirm under the pressure of the Crucible.' I looked at my girlfriend and said: 'Bloody hell, that's me this year!'' 'Although I hated those first four frames, that's how I'm meant to feel. You sit there, look left and that's where Steve Davis picked up all them trophies. I was looking up at the lights on the roof and tearing up. How the hell am I here? You find yourself losing yourself in the history of the place. 'At the start it felt like the walls sucked in on me and you just notice every set of eyes in the whole arena. I thought they were on me, which they were, but you notice it. The next day I was flying and it was like no one else was in there.' 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'I quite like that time of year because you're not practising for anything, just playing and having a laugh.' More Trending The popular Essex star also had a summer of cue questions which has seen him chop, change and return to old faithful which arrived from eBay a decade ago. 'My cue's not the greatest. I love it, but it's an old Chinese cue that my dad picked up off eBay about 10 years ago for 130 quid,' he explained. 'There are a lot better cues, but it's obviously my own. 'John Parris has made me a new one and I used it for three or four days. I like using other cues as a bit of a challenge. I think I've made a century with near enough every bit of wood in the club. But when it's handed to you and this could be something you're going into the season with, I couldn't do it. 'I had to call John and say you can have your you're very expensive, beautiful cue back. I want me little piece of poo off eBay back and I I'm cracking on.' 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