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.