“WORLD Snooker Championship action is rolling on at pace from the iconic Crucible in Sheffield – and we’ll have a new champion AGAIN this year! The Crucible curse struck again as defending champ Kyren Wilson was stunned by Lei Peifan, who knocked out the Kettering ace 10-9 in a shock first round exit. And 2010”, — write: www.thesun.co.uk
The Crucible curse struck again as defending champ Kyren Wilson was stunned by Lei Peifan, who knocked out the Kettering ace 10-9 in a shock first round exit.
And 2010 world snooker champ Neil Robertson has also exited at the first stage, losing 10-8 to qualifier Chris Wakelin, while Hossein Vafaie stunned Barry Hawkins in a final-frame thriller.
Zhao Xintong put on a stunning performance to KO last year’s runner-up Jak Jones, while John Higgins and Joe O’Connor are locked in a 4-5 battle that will resume later.
Mark Allen continues against Fan Zhengyi and Ding Junhui will start his campaign, but Ronnie O’Sullivan will have to wait until Tuesday for his huge encounter with bitter rival Ali Carter.
- Start time: 10am BST
- Live stream: BBC iPlayer
- TV channel: BBC One / Two / Four
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Follow ALL the action from the Crucible Theatre with our live blog below…
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Latest scores – We’re back!Both matches have started up here with Ding making a quick 16 and in amongst the reds.
Mark Allen is also seeing some early success and is up to 32 as he looks to extend his lead on table one.
We’ll see how these two progress.
- Mark Allen 5-4 Fan Zhengyi
- Ding Junhui vs Zak Surety
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Up nextWe have two matches coming up shortly with Mark Allen continuing his fight against Fan Zhengyi on table one.
Allen is a frame in front of his Chinese opponent.
On table two Ding Junhui and Zak Surety begin their Crucible campaigns.
Both of those matches are set for a 2.30pm start.
- Mark Allen 5-4 Fan Zhengyi
- Ding Junhui vs Zak Surety
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No one better?Jak Jones offered massive praise for Zhao Xintong after his brilliant win saw last year’s beaten finalist lose in the first round.
After a 10-4 defeat, Jones said: “I don’t see anyone who is playing better than him.
“If he wins it, I wouldn’t be surprised at all and that would be good for the game.
“His long potting and scoring are good and he also has a good tactical game.
“There are players who have won a lot more, but I don’t see anyone in the tournament who is actually better than him.”
Jones added: “I will try to forget this season. I have had a lot going on in my personal life for the last few years.
“I have time now to sort a few things out at home including my practice facilities, and I will hopefully come back stronger next season.
“I have my new born baby at home so I am looking forward to spending time with him.”
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Tight contest That was a really gritty performance from both Higgins and O’Connor in a match that saw the momentum swing both ways.
There was a mammoth third frame before Higgins got his nose in front to lead at 3-2.
Joe O’Connor then won three in a row to seemingly take charge of the match but Higgins stole the final frame of the session to keep himself well in it.
Finely balanced – we can’t wait for these two to be back out there.
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Latest scores – Higgins pulls one backWell, we said Higgins needed to pull a frame back and find some inspiration and he’s done just that!
A break of 47 and then another of 13 gets the Scot up to 70 but he then leaves himself without a shot and O’Connor is trying to play the snooker game.
But O’Connor then leaves a red open and – at the third time of asking – Higgins finally puts the frame to bed.
This one is shaping up to be an absolute thriller, but they will have to wait until Tuesday for the conclusion.
- John Higgins 4-5 Joe O’Connor
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Latest scores – O’Connor takes chargeAnother brilliant frame by Joe O’Connor as he knocks in a stunning break of 85 to pull two ahead of his hugely decorated opponent.
He probably should’ve scored another century there but couldn’t quite get his cue ball exactly where he wanted on his final shots.
O’Connor, the current World No 30, is cueing exceptionally.
Higgins needs to find a bit of inspiration from somewhere.
- John Higgins 3-5 Joe O’Connor
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Latest scores – O’Connor misses outCommentators curse from me there, apologies to Joe O’Connor who leaves himself needing to use the spider while on a score of 100 but just unable to hit the long red to carry on a sensational break.
He’s now secured two frames in a row to put himself into the lead against the Scottish legend.
- John Higgins 3-4 Joe O’Connor
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Latest scores – O’Connor and Higgins levelJohn Higgins and Joe O’Connor are serving up a topsy-turvy thriller with the Crucible just showing action from one table at the match.
The two are evenly matched so far but O’Connor is in the middle of a possible 147 break.
He is is currently on 72 and in among the reds in what could be a sensational maximum.
There’s a £15,000 bonus for the player that hits the top score of the tournament.
We have two matches scheduled at around 2.30pm as well remember, with Mark Allen continuing his match against Fan Zhengyi (5-4) and Ding Junhui facing Zak Surety.
- John Higgins 3-3 Joe O’Connor
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Latest scores – Jones OUTAnd there it is, last year’s runner-up is OUT and that is another seed down!
Zhao Xintong, who qualified an amateur after his match-fixing ban, was sure to raise some interest given his recent absence from the sport.
But he was absolutely superb in that match and finished it off with a brilliant break of 87 to send Jones packing – what a win.
On table two Joe O’Connor has just put together a lovely break of 87 of his own to tie the match with Higgins.
- Jak Jones 4-10 Zhao Xintong
- John Higgins 2-1 Joe O’Connor
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Latest scores – Deadlock broken Zhao Xintong is now just ONE frame away from the second round after another superb break of 55.
Last year’s beaten finalist Jak Jones could be heading for a very early exit to join Kyren Wilson.
Zhao missed a decent early chance to run through that frame but composed himself and took his opportunity when it arrived.
He could be an outside chance at a long run in this year’s competition with the winner of this match facing Lei Peifan in round 2.
On the other table we finally have a winner of that frame, with John Higgins taking it on the last ball – 46-45 to win it.
- Jak Jones 4-9 Zhao Xintong
- John Higgins 2-1 Joe O’Connor
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Latest scores – QuagmireOn table one, Zhao has stemmed the early Jak Jones salvo to take his first frame of the session and leave himself two away from reaching the second round.
Zhao put together a smart break of 70 to take that one and just halt the momentum that last year’s beaten finalist had been building.
The Chinese star is also building a nice break in this frame and could make it 9-4 imminently.
Across the room, we remain in the third frame between Higgins and O’Connor, which seems no closer to a resolution just yet.
The reds had been scattered around the table but Higgins has a chance at a clearance now in what had been a hugely scrappy frame at the start.
Higgins is 41-7 down and had a chance to clear but we are back into snookers with both players missing big chances.
Just check the picture below of how this one looked earlier, you don’t see the reds looking like that often…
- Jak Jones 4-8 Zhao Xintong
- John Higgins 1-1 Joe O’Connor
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Latest scores – Jones FiringZhao made him work for that one – and he needed snookers at the end to secure the frame – but Jak Jones has pulled back yet another frame to go 2-0 up in the session.
Zhao is looking a bit nervy out there in what is his biggest match in years.
Jones put in another great break of 79 but Zhao scored 49 points of his own to pile some pressure on.
On table two Joe O’Connor has pulled a frame back against John Higgins.
- Jak Jones 4-7 Zhao Xintong
- John Higgins 1-0 Joe O’Connor
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Latest scores – Jones and Higgins start strongWe’re underway here and Jak Jones is not looking to take any time as he attempts to close in on that big Zhao lead.
The Welshman has just cued brilliantly in that frame to get one back on the controversial Chinese star.
He racked up a brilliant century which included a couple of tricky reds.
He finished on 100 and was unlucky not to get more when the white ball dropped in once he got onto the colours.
On the other table Higgins has also started well and gets a frame-winning break of 68.
- Jak Jones 3-7 Zhao Xintong
- John Higgins 1-0 Joe O’Connor
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Not long now!The time has come for yet another thrilling day’s work at the Crucible.
We have John Higgins – fresh off his brilliant Tour Championship win – facing Joe O’Connor on table one.
On table two, Zhao Xintong has a commanding 7-2 lead over last year’s finalist Jak Jones.
Rob Walker is at the table with the action due to start any minute now.
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Ronnie’s thoughtsRonnie O’Sullivan is yet to start his campaign for an eighth snooker world title but has been seen in the TNT Sports studio.
The Rocket was mightily impressed with Chris Wakelin and lamented a tough draw for Robertson.
O’Sullivan said: “I know coming out for the final session that Wakelin will play better and he did.
“Neil didn’t play bad but it’s just the way it is at the Crucible, when it gets a bit nervy you’re going to miss a few balls.
“But I thought Chris held himself together well, giving up that big lead and he’s done very good there at the end.”
Robertson added: “He [Wakelin] should have been a seed really. He’s played well all season, got to the final and he’s had a lot of good results.
“I think it’s only a matter of time before he wins a tournament, so for someone like Neil Robertson, that would have been one of the most difficult first-round draws.
“You know Chris Wakelin is going to come in, he’s going to fancy a job against anybody and that’s probably 70 per cent of the battle of doing well with anything in any sport.
“Tough match with Neil Robertson but he’s played well, Chris.”
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‘Cruel’ Neil Robertson reflected on his defeat and said: “[Saturday] was a really cruel session. I don’t think I’ve ever played so well to be 7-2 down.
“I only missed one ball and Chris played really well. He was aggressive and rode his luck and I was the opposite.
“I’ve been really consistent throughout the season and won a couple of titles to fly up the rankings.
“I came into this with a positive mindset. It isn’t the end to the season that I wanted, but I would have taken this overall.”
Credit: Cody Froggatt / Sportimage
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‘Get over the line’Chris Wakelin was delighted with his hard-fought win as he worked through a tough clash with former world champion Neil Robertson.
Wakelin said: “A lot of the memories in my career, up until two years ago, were negative.
“It was the match I nearly won or the ball I nearly potted. It is amazing now to think that some of my matches will be remembered in years to come for good things.
“The psychological part of this game, is the game. We all have the skill to play out there, but doing it on the day, when it matters, and dealing with the fact this is the World Championship adds a lot of extra pressure.
“It’s what you expect from Neil. He is a champion for a reason. I was prepared for it to go close today. I was ready for him to come back at me and I managed to get over the line in the end.”
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Wakey WakelinChris Wakelin FINALLY won a match at the Crucible, beating 2010 world champion Neil Robertson.
He beat the Australian 8-10, and will go into the second round for the first time in his career.
He lost out on Judgement Day in the last two years, and was beaten 10-9 by Judd Trump on his Crucible debut in 2018.
Credit: Getty
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Fixtures for todayJohn Higgins vs Joe O’Connor – 10am
Jak Jones (2) vs Zhao Zintong (7) – 10am
Mark Allen (5) vs Fan Zhengyi (4) – 2.30pm
Ding Junhui vs Zak Surety – 2.30pm
Si Jiahui vs David Gilbert – 7pm
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The Crucible CurseKyren Wilson was just another victim of the curse in 2025.
He won the tournament in 2024, but crashed out in 2025’s first round.
Wilson is just another victim of the curse.
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Robertson crashes outFormer world champion Neil Robertson crashed out in the first round at the Crucible.
Robertson won the championship in 2010, but will have to sit out after the first round.
Chris Wakelin beat the Aussie, and makes the second round for the first time in his career.
Credit: Cody Froggatt / Sportimage
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Latest scores – Robertson crashes outQualifier Chris Wakelin is through to the second round of the World Championships for the first time.
Wakelin has stunned former champion Neil Robertson 10-8 to wrap up tonight’s proceedings.
- RESULT: Neil Robertson 8-10 Chris Wakelin
- RESULT: Barry Hawkins 9-10 Hossein Vafaei
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Latest scores – Vafaei beats HawkinsHossein Vafaei hit FOUR centuries en route to knocking out No 11 seed Barry Hawkins.
Vafaei shouted out a couple of times which Hawkins didn’t look too happy about, but he did apologise afterwards.
- Neil Robertson 8-9 Chris Wakelin
- RESULT: Barry Hawkins 9-10 Hossein Vafaei
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Latest scores – Hawkins-Vafaei into deciderBarry Hawkins vs Hossein Vafaei has headed into a tie breaker at the Crucible!
While qualifier Chris Wakelin is now one frame away from the stunning upset of 2010 champion Neil Robertson.
- Neil Robertson 8-9 Chris Wakelin
- Barry Hawkins 9-9 Hossein Vafaei
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Latest scores – Robertson back levelWhat a barnstormer we’ve had between Chris Wakelin and Neil Robertson, and Robertson is back level!
We’re in for the long haul on this one tonight.
- Neil Robertson 8-8 Chris Wakelin
- Barry Hawkins 9-8 Hossein Vafaei