Allen wins four frames in a row to take lead against Higgins

Mark Allen won four frames on the spin to take control of his last-16 clash with John Higgins at the World Championship.

Higgins was the better player early in the session and moved into what looked an imposing two-frame advantage.

Allen failed to find his stride before the mid-session interval, but came out far more attacking following the break and he finished Sunday afternoon the stronger in securing a 9-7 advantage.

The two will return on Monday to play to a finish in the race to 13 for a place in the quarter-finals.

Higgins’ long game was shaky on Saturday afternoon, but he kicked off the second session with a superb red from distance and he picked off a break of 75 to move ahead at 5-4.

The Scot had control of the 10th frame but missed a brown with the long rest to gift a chance to Allen, and he settled into the session with a break of 54 to draw level.

A superb plant saw Higgins get underway in the 11th, but he was unfortunate with a split of the pack on 29 and he missed a tough red to left middle.

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‘Emphatically dispatched’ – Higgins finds superb plant against Allen

In the words of Philip Studd on Eurosport commentary, “this is a little like wading through treacle.” That was how the 11th felt, as both players struggled to find openings with reds on cushions.

Higgins eked out a 32-point lead with two reds remaining on the table and despite Allen working some penalty points with a fine snooker, Higgins took the 11th after sinking the final red.

Higgins looked good once again in the 12th, but a loose positional shot saw him break down on 38.

Allen failed to capitalise and the frame turned extremely scrappy, but it went Higgins’ way when his opponent caught the knuckle of the right middle with his safety and the four-time Crucible champion opened up a two-frame cushion for the first time in the match.

Allen lacked fluency before the mid-session interval, but he seized on a poor safety from Higgins in the 13th to craft a break of 71. The Northern Irishman left the table a little perplexed after missing a red and inviting a counter from Higgins, who needed one snooker, but he fended it off to cut the gap to one frame at 7-6.

Higgins showed attacking endeavour for much of the session and that mindset continued as he took on a difficult black to the left middle in the 14th. It dropped into the heart of the pocket to set him away, but he missed a blue to the bottom left and Allen cashed in with a break of 94 to draw level.

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John Higgins knocks in excellent black against Allen

After trailing by two frames earlier in the afternoon, Allen got his nose in front by taking his third frame on the bounce on the back of a fluent and silky 80.

Momentum was with Allen heading into the final frame of the afternoon and he rammed home his advantage with a break of 74 to take a 9-7 lead overnight.

Bingham holds lead over Lisowski

Stuart Bingham maintained his two-frame lead over Jack Lisowski and will take a 9-7 advantage into the final session on Monday.

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‘It looked unmissable’ – Lisowski’s head sinks after shocking miss on green

Bingham took the first frame of the afternoon to extend his advantage to three frames, but he faltered before the mid-session interval as Lisowski won three frames on the bounce.

The two traded the four frames after the interval to leave Bingham with his nose in front but far from secure.

Stream top snooker action, including the World Snooker Championship, live on discovery+, the Eurosport app and at eurosport.com

Bingham leads after soaking up early Lisowski barrage

Stuart Bingham weathered an early storm from Jack Lisowski to open up a 5-3 lead in their last-16 clash at the World Championship.

Lisowski was red hot early on with breaks of 82 and 88, but a miss with the long rest checked his momentum.

Bingham punished the error and grew into the game to secure a lead heading into Sunday’s second session in the race to 13.

Lisowski was the first to open his account in the opening frame, and he drew a round of applause when keeping his break going with a tough black into a blind pocket – and went on to make 82 to edge in front.

Bingham had a chance to counter in the second, but missed a black off its spot and paid a heavy price as a razor-sharp Lisowski raced through a break of 88 to double his lead.

Bingham’s problems continued in the third, as he promoted a red off his break and Lisowski knocked it in.

Lisowski looked excellent again, but missed a red with the long rest and Bingham settled into the match with a steadying break of 90 which included a stunning pot of the pink.

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‘Almost a Judd Trump shot’ – Bingham pots stunning pink during fine break

Taking the third frame enabled Bingham to stop Lisowski’s momentum, and the latter missed a couple of long-range reds in the fourth.

Bingham cashed in on the second of those misses to take the frame and go into the interval on level terms.

Bingham arrived at the Crucible with no form to his name, having lost in qualifying or the first round in a host of ranking events in the 2023/24 season. But the 2015 world champion has positive memories of the Sheffield venue to draw on and he took the lead for the first time in the match when taking a scrappy fifth.

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‘Rifled that one in’ – Bingham pots superb red

Lisowski had a chance to shift the momentum in the sixth, but he lost position when playing a shot with his weaker hand.

Bingham got going with a lovely double and took the chance with a rock-solid break of 89 that saw him open up a two-frame cushion.

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Stuart Bingham makes ‘nifty’ double against Lisowski

After the early barrage, Lisowski looked a totally different player in the face of Bingham’s pressure. A poor safety in the seventh allowed Bingham to take his fifth frame in a row.

Lisowski ended a yo-yo session on a positive note, as he crafted a break of 51 and later knocked in a stunning red to cut the gap to 5-3 overnight.

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Lisowski takes three-frame lead in first session against Stevens in qualifiers

Jack Lisowski secured a 6-3 lead against Matthew Stevens in the second qualifying round of the World Championship.

Stevens opened up with a first-frame century clearance of 135, which was followed up with a century clearance from Lisowski to level things.

The third frame was far more hard-fought as it went down to a 51-49 decider on the final black, with an excellent cut from Lisowski to go 2-1 ahead.

In the final frame before the mid-session interval, Stevens resorted to the extension when 31-0 up for a red into the bottom right pocket, and his scoring ended on 39 when the red appeared to roll off something on, or under, the surface of the baize.

Stevens returned back and built a 65-36 lead, but had the ball tucked up behind the brown as he looked for the yellow down the bottom of the table. He missed on his first attempt, and gave Lisowski a chance to double his lead if he could make a tricky, long pot.

The Englishman sunk the ball and he measured the shot expertly to land on the green. He moved onto the blue, needing to reach the pink, right at the top of the table. While he manoeuvred the ball adroitly he gave himself a tight angle on the black when he was five points behind.

Lisowski missed to give Stevens a black, needing to avoid the in-off with the white, and he tied up the frame to go in level after four frames.

Lisowski went back in front with a fluid break in the opener after they came back to the table, but Stevens showed his form was intact to make it 3-3 with a 97.

Stevens fell behind once more as his opponent switched between left and right hands after blasting into the pack, taking the reds off the cushions to reach a break of 80 to regain the advantage.

A coughing fit from Stevens led to him leaving the table for a few moments before coming back to try and reel in a 47-0 deficit. A stroke of bad luck let Lisowski back in, and he faced a tough red to go 60-6 up, but he missed and left Stevens with a long red or snookers as his options, but he could not prevent another frame loss.

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Noppon makes 20th 147 in World Championship history

The Welshman looked to be a little under the weather after his coughing problems but he gave himself a shot at ending the session just a frame behind when he set himself up for a blue with an 11-0 lead, and he laboured to make that 30-0 before setting Lisowski up with a tricky shot selection from well up the table.

The previously high standards of the match so far fell away after a string of poor shots from both players was put out of its misery when another slack miss from Stevens allow a misfiring Lisowski to bring the session to a close with a 6-3 lead ahead of the evening resumption.

Stream top snooker action, including the World Snooker Championship, live on discovery+, the Eurosport app and at eurosport.com

Lisowski, Bingham, Maguire and Walden secure spots at Crucible

Jack Lisowski completed a 10-3 win over former World Championship finalist Matthew Stevens to book his trip to the final stage of this year’s Crucible event.

World No. 17 Lisowski produced the level of form that saw him reach the last eight two years ago as breaks of 137, 76, 80, 59, 73, 100 and 77 saw him reel off the final seven frames from 3-3 to book his place in the Thursday morning’s draw alongside the top 16 seeds.

Former Masters and UK winner Stevens had opened the match with 135 and levelled with a 97 in the sixth frame, but could not live with the scoring power of his opponent, who carried on the form that saw him complete a 10-4 win over Liu Hongyu in the penultimate qualifying round.

“This is the best I have played all season, I have practised really hard for it and it’s a relief to get through,” Lisowski told reporters. “It’s a ‘no win’ really because I was expected to get through and I could only lose. I have been to the Crucible for six years in a row and I want to do well this time.

“I feel sharper than I have done all season. I know Ding [Junhui] got to the [2016] final having come through the qualifiers. My plan was to turn a negative into a positive.

“I have two matches under my belt now. I nicked an important frame at the end of the first session today to go 6-3 instead of 5-4. When I got chances I was scoring and so was Matthew, it was a really good game.”

2015 world champion Stuart Bingham is also through to the scene of his greatest triumph after battling past Louis Heathcote with a taut 10-8 win.

Bingham had trailed 8-7 in a see-saw encounter, but produced a solid finale with knocks of 60, 135 and 71 booking his return trip to the Crucible in some style.

Elsewhere, former UK champion Stephen Maguire enjoyed a 10-6 victory over Yuan Sijun, while evergreen 52-year-old Welshman Dominic Dale ran out a 10-8 winner against He Guoqiang to become the oldest player to qualify since six-time world champion Steve Davis managed the feat at the same age in 2010.

World Championship latest results

Final round qualifiers

  • Ricky Walden 10-9 Mark Davis
  • Robbie Williams 10-9 Chris Wakelin
  • Dominic Dale 10-8 He Guoqiang
  • Lyu Haotian 10-7 Jenson Kendrick
  • Stuart Bingham 10-8 Louis Heathcote
  • Jak Jones 10-4 Zhou Yuelong
  • Stephen Maguire 10-6 Yuan Sijun
  • Jack Lisowski 10-3 Matthew Stevens

FIRST SESSION REPORT

Jack Lisowski secured a 6-3 lead against Matthew Stevens in the second qualifying round of the World Championship.

Stevens opened up with a first-frame century clearance of 135, which was followed up with a century clearance from Lisowski to level things.

The third frame was far more hard-fought as it went down to a 51-49 decider on the final black, with an excellent cut from Lisowski to go 2-1 ahead.

In the final frame before the mid-session interval, Stevens resorted to the extension when 31-0 up for a red into the bottom right pocket, and his scoring ended on 39 when the red appeared to roll off something on, or under, the surface of the baize.

Stevens returned back and built a 65-36 lead, but had the ball tucked up behind the brown as he looked for the yellow down the bottom of the table. He missed on his first attempt, and gave Lisowski a chance to double his lead if he could make a tricky, long pot.

The Englishman sunk the ball and he measured the shot expertly to land on the green. He moved onto the blue, needing to reach the pink, right at the top of the table. While he manoeuvred the ball adroitly he gave himself a tight angle on the black when he was five points behind.

Lisowski missed to give Stevens a black, needing to avoid the in-off with the white, and he tied up the frame to go in level after four frames.

Lisowski went back in front with a fluid break in the opener after they came back to the table, but Stevens showed his form was intact to make it 3-3 with a 97.

Stevens fell behind once more as his opponent switched between left and right hands after blasting into the pack, taking the reds off the cushions to reach a break of 80 to regain the advantage.

A coughing fit from Stevens led to him leaving the table for a few moments before coming back to try and reel in a 47-0 deficit. A stroke of bad luck let Lisowski back in, and he faced a tough red to go 60-6 up, but he missed and left Stevens with a long red or snookers as his options, but he could not prevent another frame loss.

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Noppon makes 20th 147 in World Championship history

The Welshman looked to be a little under the weather after his coughing problems but he gave himself a shot at ending the session just a frame behind when he set himself up for a blue with an 11-0 lead, and he laboured to make that 30-0 before setting Lisowski up with a tricky shot selection from well up the table.

The previously high standards of the match so far fell away after a string of poor shots from both players was put out of its misery when another slack miss from Stevens allow a misfiring Lisowski to bring the session to a close with a 6-3 lead ahead of the evening resumption.

Elsewhere in the qualifiers, Dominic Dale holds a 5-4 lead over He Guoqiang, Louis Heathcote is 5-4 up against Stuart Bingham, and Lyu Hoatian trails Jenson Kendrick 5-4.

There are four matches yet to finish their first session: Ricky Walden v Mark Davis, Zhou Yuelong v Jak Jones, and Stephen Maguire against Yuan Sijun.

Stream top snooker action, including the World Snooker Championship, live on discovery+, the Eurosport app and at eurosport.com

Lisowski, Bingham, Maguire and Walden secure spots at Crucible

Jack Lisowski completed a 10-3 win over former World Championship finalist Matthew Stevens to book his trip to the final stage of this year’s Crucible event.

World No. 17 Lisowski produced the level of form that saw him reach the last eight two years ago as breaks of 137, 76, 80, 59, 73, 100 and 77 saw him reel off the final seven frames from 3-3 to book his place in the Thursday morning’s draw alongside the top 16 seeds.

Former Masters and UK winner Stevens had opened the match with 135 and levelled with a 97 in the sixth frame, but could not live with the scoring power of his opponent, who carried on the form that saw him complete a 10-4 win over Liu Hongyu in the penultimate qualifying round.

“This is the best I have played all season, I have practised really hard for it and it’s a relief to get through,” Lisowski told reporters. “It’s a ‘no win’ really because I was expected to get through and I could only lose. I have been to the Crucible for six years in a row and I want to do well this time.

“I feel sharper than I have done all season. I know Ding [Junhui] got to the [2016] final having come through the qualifiers. My plan was to turn a negative into a positive.

“I have two matches under my belt now. I nicked an important frame at the end of the first session today to go 6-3 instead of 5-4. When I got chances I was scoring and so was Matthew, it was a really good game.”

2015 world champion Stuart Bingham is also through to the scene of his greatest triumph after battling past Louis Heathcote with a taut 10-8 win.

Bingham had trailed 8-7 in a see-saw encounter, but produced a solid finale with knocks of 60, 135 and 71 booking his return trip to the Crucible in some style.

Elsewhere, former UK champion Stephen Maguire enjoyed a 10-6 victory over Yuan Sijun, while evergreen 52-year-old Welshman Dominic Dale ran out a 10-8 winner against He Guoqiang to become the oldest player to qualify since six-time world champion Steve Davis managed the feat at the same age in 2010.

World Championship latest results

Final round qualifiers

  • Ricky Walden 10-9 Mark Davis
  • Robbie Williams 10-9 Chris Wakelin
  • Dominic Dale 10-8 He Guoqiang
  • Lyu Haotian 10-7 Jenson Kendrick
  • Stuart Bingham 10-8 Louis Heathcote
  • Jak Jones 10-4 Zhou Yuelong
  • Stephen Maguire 10-6 Yuan Sijun
  • Jack Lisowski 10-3 Matthew Stevens

FIRST SESSION REPORT

Jack Lisowski secured a 6-3 lead against Matthew Stevens in the second qualifying round of the World Championship.

Stevens opened up with a first-frame century clearance of 135, which was followed up with a century clearance from Lisowski to level things.

The third frame was far more hard-fought as it went down to a 51-49 decider on the final black, with an excellent cut from Lisowski to go 2-1 ahead.

In the final frame before the mid-session interval, Stevens resorted to the extension when 31-0 up for a red into the bottom right pocket, and his scoring ended on 39 when the red appeared to roll off something on, or under, the surface of the baize.

Stevens returned back and built a 65-36 lead, but had the ball tucked up behind the brown as he looked for the yellow down the bottom of the table. He missed on his first attempt, and gave Lisowski a chance to double his lead if he could make a tricky, long pot.

The Englishman sunk the ball and he measured the shot expertly to land on the green. He moved onto the blue, needing to reach the pink, right at the top of the table. While he manoeuvred the ball adroitly he gave himself a tight angle on the black when he was five points behind.

Lisowski missed to give Stevens a black, needing to avoid the in-off with the white, and he tied up the frame to go in level after four frames.

Lisowski went back in front with a fluid break in the opener after they came back to the table, but Stevens showed his form was intact to make it 3-3 with a 97.

Stevens fell behind once more as his opponent switched between left and right hands after blasting into the pack, taking the reds off the cushions to reach a break of 80 to regain the advantage.

A coughing fit from Stevens led to him leaving the table for a few moments before coming back to try and reel in a 47-0 deficit. A stroke of bad luck let Lisowski back in, and he faced a tough red to go 60-6 up, but he missed and left Stevens with a long red or snookers as his options, but he could not prevent another frame loss.

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Noppon makes 20th 147 in World Championship history

The Welshman looked to be a little under the weather after his coughing problems but he gave himself a shot at ending the session just a frame behind when he set himself up for a blue with an 11-0 lead, and he laboured to make that 30-0 before setting Lisowski up with a tricky shot selection from well up the table.

The previously high standards of the match so far fell away after a string of poor shots from both players was put out of its misery when another slack miss from Stevens allow a misfiring Lisowski to bring the session to a close with a 6-3 lead ahead of the evening resumption.

Elsewhere in the qualifiers, Dominic Dale holds a 5-4 lead over He Guoqiang, Louis Heathcote is 5-4 up against Stuart Bingham, and Lyu Hoatian trails Jenson Kendrick 5-4.

There are four matches yet to finish their first session: Ricky Walden v Mark Davis, Zhou Yuelong v Jak Jones, and Stephen Maguire against Yuan Sijun.

Stream top snooker action, including the World Snooker Championship, live on discovery+, the Eurosport app and at eurosport.com

Lisowski, Bingham, Maguire and Walden secure spots at Crucible

Jack Lisowski completed a 10-3 win over two-time World Championship finalist Matthew Stevens to book his trip to the final stage of this year’s Crucible event.

World No. 17 Lisowski produced the level of form that saw him reach the last eight two years ago as breaks of 137, 76, 80, 59, 73, 100 and 77 saw him reel off the final seven frames from 3-3 to book his place in Thursday morning’s draw alongside the top 16 seeds.

Former Masters and UK winner Stevens had opened the match with 135 and levelled with a 97 in the sixth frame, but could not live with the scoring power of his opponent, who carried on the form that saw him complete a 10-4 win over Liu Hongyu in the penultimate qualifying round.

“This is the best I have played all season, I have practised really hard for it and it’s a relief to get through,” Lisowski told reporters. “It’s a ‘no win’ really because I was expected to get through and I could only lose. I have been to the Crucible for six years in a row and I want to do well this time.

“I feel sharper than I have done all season. I know Ding [Junhui] got to the [2016] final having come through the qualifiers. My plan was to turn a negative into a positive.

“I have two matches under my belt now. I nicked an important frame at the end of the first session today to go 6-3 instead of 5-4. When I got chances I was scoring and so was Matthew, it was a really good game.”

2015 world champion Stuart Bingham is also through to the scene of his greatest triumph after battling past Louis Heathcote with a taut 10-8 win.

Bingham had trailed 8-7 in a see-saw encounter, but produced a solid finale with knocks of 60, 135 and 71 booking his return trip to the Crucible in some style.

Elsewhere, former UK champion Stephen Maguire enjoyed a 10-6 victory over Yuan Sijun, while evergreen 52-year-old Welshman Dominic Dale ran out a 10-8 winner against He Guoqiang to become the oldest player to qualify since six-time world champion Steve Davis managed the feat at the same age in 2010.

Maguire found some vintage form with three centuries as Dale weighed in with six breaks over 60 in his victory.

Ricky Walden edged out Mark Davis 10-9 having trailed 5-2 and 9-8 despite Hastings hopeful Davis producing two century breaks.

Meanwhile, Jak Jones replicated the brilliance that saw him reach the quarter-finals on his debut campaign last season with a 10-4 success against Zhou Yuelong that saw the Welshman produce a century, six breaks over 70 and two over 50.

World Championship latest results

Final round qualifiers

  • Ricky Walden 10-9 Mark Davis
  • Robbie Williams 10-9 Chris Wakelin
  • Dominic Dale 10-8 He Guoqiang
  • Lyu Haotian 10-7 Jenson Kendrick
  • Stuart Bingham 10-8 Louis Heathcote
  • Jak Jones 10-4 Zhou Yuelong
  • Stephen Maguire 10-6 Yuan Sijun
  • Jack Lisowski 10-3 Matthew Stevens

FIRST SESSION REPORT

Jack Lisowski secured a 6-3 lead against Matthew Stevens in the second qualifying round of the World Championship.

Stevens opened up with a first-frame century clearance of 135, which was followed up with a century clearance from Lisowski to level things.

The third frame was far more hard-fought as it went down to a 51-49 decider on the final black, with an excellent cut from Lisowski to go 2-1 ahead.

In the final frame before the mid-session interval, Stevens resorted to the extension when 31-0 up for a red into the bottom right pocket, and his scoring ended on 39 when the red appeared to roll off something on, or under, the surface of the baize.

Stevens returned back and built a 65-36 lead, but had the ball tucked up behind the brown as he looked for the yellow down the bottom of the table. He missed on his first attempt, and gave Lisowski a chance to double his lead if he could make a tricky, long pot.

The Englishman sunk the ball and he measured the shot expertly to land on the green. He moved onto the blue, needing to reach the pink, right at the top of the table. While he manoeuvred the ball adroitly he gave himself a tight angle on the black when he was five points behind.

Lisowski missed to give Stevens a black, needing to avoid the in-off with the white, and he tied up the frame to go in level after four frames.

Lisowski went back in front with a fluid break in the opener after they came back to the table, but Stevens showed his form was intact to make it 3-3 with a 97.

Stevens fell behind once more as his opponent switched between left and right hands after blasting into the pack, taking the reds off the cushions to reach a break of 80 to regain the advantage.

A coughing fit from Stevens led to him leaving the table for a few moments before coming back to try and reel in a 47-0 deficit. A stroke of bad luck let Lisowski back in, and he faced a tough red to go 60-6 up, but he missed and left Stevens with a long red or snookers as his options, but he could not prevent another frame loss.

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Noppon makes 20th 147 in World Championship history

The Welshman looked to be a little under the weather after his coughing problems but he gave himself a shot at ending the session just a frame behind when he set himself up for a blue with an 11-0 lead, and he laboured to make that 30-0 before setting Lisowski up with a tricky shot selection from well up the table.

The previously high standards of the match so far fell away after a string of poor shots from both players was put out of its misery when another slack miss from Stevens allow a misfiring Lisowski to bring the session to a close with a 6-3 lead ahead of the evening resumption.

Elsewhere in the qualifiers, Dominic Dale holds a 5-4 lead over He Guoqiang, Louis Heathcote is 5-4 up against Stuart Bingham, and Lyu Hoatian trails Jenson Kendrick 5-4.

There are four matches yet to finish their first session: Ricky Walden v Mark Davis, Zhou Yuelong v Jak Jones, and Stephen Maguire against Yuan Sijun.

Stream top snooker action, including the World Snooker Championship, live on discovery+, the Eurosport app and at eurosport.com

Lisowski, Bingham, Maguire and Walden secure spots at Crucible

Jack Lisowski completed a 10-3 win over two-time World Championship finalist Matthew Stevens to book his trip to the final stage of this year’s Crucible event.

World No. 17 Lisowski produced the level of form that saw him reach the last eight two years ago as breaks of 137, 76, 80, 59, 73, 100 and 77 saw him reel off the final seven frames from 3-3 to book his place in Thursday morning’s draw alongside the top 16 seeds.

Former Masters and UK winner Stevens had opened the match with 135 and levelled with a 97 in the sixth frame, but could not live with the scoring power of his opponent, who carried on the form that saw him complete a 10-4 win over Liu Hongyu in the penultimate qualifying round.

“This is the best I have played all season, I have practised really hard for it and it’s a relief to get through,” Lisowski told reporters. “It’s a ‘no win’ really because I was expected to get through and I could only lose. I have been to the Crucible for six years in a row and I want to do well this time.

“I feel sharper than I have done all season. I know Ding [Junhui] got to the [2016] final having come through the qualifiers. My plan was to turn a negative into a positive.

“I have two matches under my belt now. I nicked an important frame at the end of the first session today to go 6-3 instead of 5-4. When I got chances I was scoring and so was Matthew, it was a really good game.”

2015 world champion Stuart Bingham is also through to the scene of his greatest triumph after battling past Louis Heathcote with a taut 10-8 win.

Bingham had trailed 8-7 in a see-saw encounter, but produced a solid finale with knocks of 60, 135 and 71 booking his return trip to the Crucible in some style.

Elsewhere, former UK champion Stephen Maguire enjoyed a 10-6 victory over Yuan Sijun, while evergreen 52-year-old Welshman Dominic Dale ran out a 10-8 winner against He Guoqiang to become the oldest player to qualify since six-time world champion Steve Davis managed the feat at the same age in 2010.

Maguire found some vintage form with three centuries as Dale weighed in with six breaks over 60 in his victory.

Ricky Walden edged out Mark Davis 10-9 having trailed 5-2 and 9-8 despite Hastings hopeful Davis producing two century breaks.

Meanwhile, Jak Jones replicated the brilliance that saw him reach the quarter-finals on his debut campaign last season with a 10-4 success against Zhou Yuelong that saw the Welshman produce a century, six breaks over 70 and two over 50.

World Championship latest results

Final round qualifiers

  • Ricky Walden 10-9 Mark Davis
  • Robbie Williams 10-9 Chris Wakelin
  • Dominic Dale 10-8 He Guoqiang
  • Lyu Haotian 10-7 Jenson Kendrick
  • Stuart Bingham 10-8 Louis Heathcote
  • Jak Jones 10-4 Zhou Yuelong
  • Stephen Maguire 10-6 Yuan Sijun
  • Jack Lisowski 10-3 Matthew Stevens

FIRST SESSION REPORT

Jack Lisowski secured a 6-3 lead against Matthew Stevens in the second qualifying round of the World Championship.

Stevens opened up with a first-frame century clearance of 135, which was followed up with a century clearance from Lisowski to level things.

The third frame was far more hard-fought as it went down to a 51-49 decider on the final black, with an excellent cut from Lisowski to go 2-1 ahead.

In the final frame before the mid-session interval, Stevens resorted to the extension when 31-0 up for a red into the bottom right pocket, and his scoring ended on 39 when the red appeared to roll off something on, or under, the surface of the baize.

Stevens returned back and built a 65-36 lead, but had the ball tucked up behind the brown as he looked for the yellow down the bottom of the table. He missed on his first attempt, and gave Lisowski a chance to double his lead if he could make a tricky, long pot.

The Englishman sunk the ball and he measured the shot expertly to land on the green. He moved onto the blue, needing to reach the pink, right at the top of the table. While he manoeuvred the ball adroitly he gave himself a tight angle on the black when he was five points behind.

Lisowski missed to give Stevens a black, needing to avoid the in-off with the white, and he tied up the frame to go in level after four frames.

Lisowski went back in front with a fluid break in the opener after they came back to the table, but Stevens showed his form was intact to make it 3-3 with a 97.

Stevens fell behind once more as his opponent switched between left and right hands after blasting into the pack, taking the reds off the cushions to reach a break of 80 to regain the advantage.

A coughing fit from Stevens led to him leaving the table for a few moments before coming back to try and reel in a 47-0 deficit. A stroke of bad luck let Lisowski back in, and he faced a tough red to go 60-6 up, but he missed and left Stevens with a long red or snookers as his options, but he could not prevent another frame loss.

picture

Noppon makes 20th 147 in World Championship history

The Welshman looked to be a little under the weather after his coughing problems but he gave himself a shot at ending the session just a frame behind when he set himself up for a blue with an 11-0 lead, and he laboured to make that 30-0 before setting Lisowski up with a tricky shot selection from well up the table.

The previously high standards of the match so far fell away after a string of poor shots from both players was put out of its misery when another slack miss from Stevens allow a misfiring Lisowski to bring the session to a close with a 6-3 lead ahead of the evening resumption.

Elsewhere in the qualifiers, Dominic Dale holds a 5-4 lead over He Guoqiang, Louis Heathcote is 5-4 up against Stuart Bingham, and Lyu Hoatian trails Jenson Kendrick 5-4.

There are four matches yet to finish their first session: Ricky Walden v Mark Davis, Zhou Yuelong v Jak Jones, and Stephen Maguire against Yuan Sijun.

Stream top snooker action, including the World Snooker Championship, live on discovery+, the Eurosport app and at eurosport.com

Robertson and Lisowski among star names as draw made for World Championship qualifying

Neil Robertson and Jack Lisowski are among the stand-out names competing in the World Championship qualifying rounds, after the draw was made.

Robertson and Lisowski will be joined by the likes of Stuart Bingham, Stephen Maguire, Si Jiahui, Anthony McGill, Ryan Day and Hossein Vafaei for the qualifying rounds, which run between April 8 and April 17.

The World Championship begins on April 20 and culminates on May 6, with all players seeded outside of the top 16 needing to win a minimum of two matches in order to make it to the main stage.

Meanwhile, 16 invited amateur players will be among those beginning qualification in the first of four qualifiers.

Among those needing to win four matches to reach the main tournament include six-time world finalist Jimmy White, who faces Martin Gould in the opening round.

Sholdd White or Gould advance to the third round, they would take on Lisowski.

Robertson meanwhile will face one of Zak Surety, Yang Gao or Ishpreet Singh Chada.

Another intriguing first-round qualifier will see current women’s world champion Bai Yulu come up against Jenson Kendrick.

Rebecca Kenna, currently in action at the World Mixed Doubles, faces Alfie Burden, while Reanne Evans will take on Oliver Brown in the first round.

Qualification then reaches its conclusion on April 16th and 17th, with the latter known as Judgement Day and the winners sealing their places at the Crucible.

What is the World Championship qualification seeding structure?

The four rounds of qualifying are constructed as follows:

  • Round one: Players ranked 81-112 against those seeded 113-144
  • Round two: The 32 winners from round one face players ranked 49-80
  • Round three: The 32 winners from round two face players ranked 17-48.
  • Round four: The 32 winners from round three play each other, with the 16 winners going through to the Crucible

How many frames in qualifying?

All of the matches are best-of-19 frames.

What are the session times?

The sessions take place at 10am, 2.30pm and 7pm for matches from the first three rounds, while the matches on Judgement Day take place at 11am and 5pm.

How I can watch the World Championship?

The World Championship will be shown live on Eurosport, discovery+, the Eurosport app and at eurosport.com

Stream top snooker action, including the World Championship, live on Eurosport, discovery+, the Eurosport app and at eurosport.com