Mark Williams reeled off six unanswered frames to book his place in the last 16 of the Betfred World Snooker Championships, before dispelling once and for all any notion of hanging up his cue. Since claiming his third world crown two years ago, the 45-year-old from Cwm has regularly hinted at retiring from the sport he has graced for 28 years. But following his 10-5 win over Alan McManus, Williams confirmed that life since the start of the coronavirus pandemic had changed his perspective.

Matthew Stevens and Jamie Clarke have both been handed tough first-round assignments in the Betfred World Snooker Championships. Stevens, twice a finalist at the Crucible, takes on four-time champion John Higgins, runner-up to Judd Trump in 2019.

Llanelli’s Jamie Clarke will make his Betfred World Championship debut this weekend after three stunning qualifying victories in Sheffield. Clarke – ranked 89 in the world – entered the fray at the English Institute of Sport in the second qualifying round, dispatching Birmingham’s Mitchell Mann 6-1, before creating the shock of the next round in defeating de facto top seed Joe Perry, 6-4. In the final qualifying round, Thailand’s Sunny Akani stood between Clarke and a place at the Crucible Theatre – and a new two-year tour card.

Two intriguing all-Welsh battles are in prospect this weekend as the second round of the Betway UK Championship gets underway. Six Welshmen made it through the first round in York this week – and the draw has ensured that at least two of them will take their place in the last 32 of snooker’s second-most lucrative ranking tournament. Former UK champion Matthew Stevens and two-time ranking event winner Ryan Day meet tomorrow evening (Saturday), and on Sunday, two generations clash when former world champion Mark Williams takes on 29-year-old Michael White.

There will be no Welsh interest in the 19.com Northern Ireland Open as the tournament enters the last-32 stage. Only three of the 11 home-based players made it into round two in Belfast – and each was comfortably defeated. Jak Jones’ hopes of going deep into the tournament were clinically dashed by veteran Anthony Hamilton.

It is left to a trio of Welshmen to fly the flag in Belfast after all six of their remaining compatriots crashed out of the 19.com Northern Ireland Open. With Matthew Stevens, Jak Jones and Jackson Page safely negotiating their passage into round two on Monday, hopes were high for the half dozen in the bottom section of the first-round draw. But Lee Walker, Duane Jones, Jamie Clarke, Dominic Dale, Daniel Wells and Michael White all failed to make it through to the last-64 stage at the Waterfront Hall.

Jackson Page claimed the biggest win of his professional career to progress to the second round of the 19.com Northern Ireland Open. The Ebbw Vale teenager looked to be heading out of the second of four Home Nations events when he trailed veteran Barry Pinches 3-1 in their best-of-seven encounter on Monday night. But breaks of 81 and 71 either side of a scrappy sixth frame booked the 18-year-old’s place in the last 64 – where last weekend’s Champion of Champions winner Neil Robertson potentially lies in wait.

Dominic Dale once again led the Welsh charge in a ranking event – but his defeat to Fergal O’Brien ultimately ends home interest in the Zhiyuan World Open after just two days. Dale caused a major shock on the opening day in China’s Yushan province, defeating Ronnie O’Sullivan in one of eight qualifying matches held over from earlier this month. The 5-3 victory was the first time the Welshman had tasted success against ‘The Rocket’ in nine attempts, setting up a clash with world number 67 O’Brien in the first round proper.

Lee Walker claimed one of the biggest scalps of his 25-year career by knocking world number one Judd Trump out of the 19.com English Open. The Gwent player had tasted victory just once this season before the tournament began, but made it three wins in as many days to set up a last 16 clash with Gary Wilson. In a high quality match, Walker stunned the world champion by taking the opening two frames with breaks of 74 and 67, only for Trump to reply with back-to-back centuries.

Two snooker veterans upset the form book at the 19.com English Open, leaving them as the only Welshmen left standing as the third round gets underway. Against the odds, Dominic Dale secured a place in the last 32 of a ranking event for only the second time in 23 attempts. The 47-year-old eased through 4-1 against Xu Si – conqueror of Matthew Stevens in round one – to set up a clash against world number 68 Tian Pengfei.

By Simon Kendal-Williams Mark Williams booked his place in the second round of the 19.com English Open – before hinting that he may hang up his cue at the end of the season. The three-time world champion was made to dig deep by fellow Welshman Jamie Clarke at the K2 Centre in Crawley, eventually closing […]

No fewer than a dozen Welsh warriors are crossing the border into enemy territory this week, all aiming to bring back the spoils from the 19.com English Open. Leading the charge – as you may expect – is the evergreen Mark Williams, fresh from losing an enthralling China Open final last month to a resurgent Shaun Murphy. But right on his shoulder is perhaps the more surprising sight of 26-year-old Jak Jones.