2017 UK Championship Final (O'Sullivan 10-5 Murphy)

Shaun Murphy 1-5 Ronnie O'Sullivan (Match Score 5-10)

Ronnie O'Sullivan equalled Steve Davis's haul of six UK Championship titles by beating Shaun Murphy 10-5 in an high-quality final in York.

O'Sullivan also drew level with Stephen Hendry's 18 'Triple Crown' titles of the World, UK and Masters events.

The pair shared the first eight frames including a century apiece, but O'Sullivan seized control with four breaks over 50 and two further tons.

He won five frames in a row to clinch his 31st ranking title.

2017 UK Championship semi finals

Semi-finals (best of 11 frames)

Ronnie O'Sullivan 6-4 Stephen Maguire

Five-time winner Ronnie O'Sullivan held off Stephen Maguire's spirited fightback to reach his seventh UK Championship final with a 6-4 victory.

O'Sullivan, beaten in last year's final by Mark Selby, looked in ominous form early on, opening up a 4-0 lead with breaks of 61, 54 and 64.

Maguire made 91 and 129 as he cut the deficit to 5-4, but O'Sullivan - who had a 111 clearance - edged through.

He faces 2008 winner Shaun Murphy or Ryan Day in Sunday's best-of-19 final.

"He came back at me but I was lucky to be 4-0 ahead," O'Sullivan told BBC Sport.

"He didn't capitalise on the first few frames and I did well to stay in and am pleased to reach another UK final.

"I knew he was playing well because I saw his results and he looked to be cueing well. I knew I had to play decent to get through."

Maguire added: "It would have been nice to get to 5-5 and see what happens. He was starting to rock a little bit because nobody likes it when you come back on them. I just did not get a chance."

O'Sullivan improving with age

O'Sullivan is aiming to equal Steve Davis' haul of six UK titles and victory would also draw him level with Stephen Hendry's 18 'Triple Crown' triumphs in the BBC's World, UK and Masters events.

At 42 years old, it will also be his third ranking final of an outstanding season, having already claimed the English Open and Shanghai Masters, as well as finishing runner-up in two invitational events.

The second frame was crucial as Maguire could have levelled at 1-1 but missed a simple final black off the spot, allowing O'Sullivan to take it.

The mid-session interval seemed to help Maguire, who hit back by winning four of the next five frames, but O'Sullivan progressed with a 63 break after his opponent's poor safety.

O'Sullivan said he has had to "battle and battle" for form this year, and feels he has yet to hit theheights of 12 months ago despite that final loss to Selby.

"You have to tough it out sometimes," added O'Sullivan.

"There is no player in the game who can play badly and win apart from Mark Selby, he is the only guy. This week I have not been at my best but I have dug in and it is all down to positive mental attitude.

"For me, Selby is in his prime. He has not done well in this tournament but he has won a title this season. He is definitely the best player in the world and I am able to give him a game on my day.

"It is about consistency and he has had that over the last few years."

Shaun Murphy 6-3 Ryan Day

Five-time winner Ronnie O'Sullivan set up an intriguing contest against Shaun Murphy by reaching his seventh UK Championship final.

The two Englishmen have not seen eye-to-eye during their careers and Murphy beat O'Sullivan at last month's invitational Champion of Champions event.

O'Sullivan held off a semi-final fightback from Stephen Maguire to progress 6-4, while Murphy was in fine form defeating Ryan Day 6-3.

Sunday's best-of-19 final starts at 13:00 GMT and concludes from 19:00, live on BBC Two and the BBC Sport website.

2017 UK Championship 1/4 finals also new BBC deal for Snooker

Quarter-finals (Best of 11 frames)

Stephen Maguire 6-3 Joe Perry
Ronnie O'Sullivan 6-3 Martin Gould
Shaun Murphy 6-1 Mark King 
Ryan Day 6-5 Mark Joyce 

The BBC has agreed a five-year contract extension to broadcast World Snooker's three major tournaments.

The deal to show the World Championship, UK Championship and the Masters on TV and online now runs until the end of the 2023-24 season.

This year's UK Championship is under way York, with the Masters in London in January and the World Championship in Sheffield in April and May.

Snooker has been televised by the BBC since 1969.

World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn said: "So many great moments in the history of our sport are synonymous with the coverage they have received on the BBC.

"The Triple Crown tournaments have a history which can't be replicated and bring something extra special to snooker fans and those watching on the BBC alike."

Barbara Slater, director of BBC Sport said: "The new deal means that these events will continue to be televised free-to-air for many years to come, which is fantastic news for the many millions of fans around the UK."

2017 UK Championship Last 16 (2 days)

John Higgins 5-6 Mark King
Stephen Maguire 6-2 Graeme Dott
Li Hang 5-6 Ryan Day
Joe Perry 6-4 Mark Allen

2017 UK Championship Round 3 (2 days)

M Williams 5-6 R Day 

Lyu Haotian 6-4 M Fu 

J Trump 2-6 G Dott 

Liang Wenbo 5-6 S Maguire 

S Donaldson 1-6 Li Hang 

M Joyce 6-5 N Robertson 

J Perry 6-3 K Maflin 

P Lines 4-6 M Allen 

M King 6-3 L Brecel 

Yan Bingtao 3-6 J Higgins

R O'Sullivan 6-1 M White 

M Gould 6-4 H Vafaei 

S Murphy 6-3 J Robertson 

B Hawkins 0-6 A Songsermsawad
K Wilson 2-6 R Walden
Xiao Guodong 6-3 N Saengkham 

2017 UK Championship Round 2

13:00 GMT

S Murphy 6-5 L Highfield 

A McManus 5-6 J Robertson 

K Wilson 6-4 Yu Delu 

R Walden 6-5 Jamie Jones 

M Dunn 4-6 M King 

A Mehta 3-6 L Brecel 

Yan Bingtao 6-1 B Woollaston 

R O'Sullivan 6-1 M Georgiou 

19:00 GMT

Cao Yupeng 4-6 J Higgins

M White 6-1 M Selt 

B Hawkins 6-2 H Miah 

M Holt 4-6 A Songsermsawad 

R Williams 2-6 M Gould 

H Vafaei 6-5 A McGill 

Xiao Guodong 6-1 T Ford 

N Saengkham 6-0 L Fernandez 

2017 UK Championship Round 2

M Selby 3-6 S Donaldson
Li Hang 6-4 R Milkins
M Williams 6-2 A Higginson
R Day 6-3 T Un-Nooh
M Joyce 6-4 D Gilbert
K Doherty 2-6 N Robertson
P Ebdon 3-6 Lyu Haotian
O Lines 4-6 M Allen
Zhao Xintong 4-6 M Fu
J Trump 6-0 C Wakelin
G Dott 6-5 D Dale
Liang Wenbo 6-1 M Mann
S Maguire 6-0 Jak Jones
J Lisowski 3-6 J Perry
K Maflin 6-2 J White
Xu Si 2-6 P Lines

2017 UK Championship Round 1

Tuesday 28 November

Ryan Day 6-0 Jamie Curtis-Barrett
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 6-5 Elliot Slessor
Rory McLeod 5-6 Zhao Xintong
Marco Fu 6-2 Nigel Bond
Mike Dunn 6-2 Fang Xiongman
Mark King 6-0 Boonyarit Keattikun
Noppon Saengkham 6-2 Zhang Anda
Ding Junhui 5-6 Leo Fernandez
Kyren Wilson 6-1 Sean O'Sullivan
Yu De Lu 6-2 Ian Preece
Yan Bingtao 6-1 Zhang Yong
Ben Woollaston 6-2 Li Yuan
Tian Pengfei 5-6 Cao Yupeng
John Higgins 6-1 Chris Totten
Stephen Maguire 6-1 Yuan Sijun
David Grace 4-6 Jak Jones


Wednesday 29 November

Ricky Walden 6-1 Duane Jones
Jamie Jones 6-3 Craig Steadman
Sam Baird 5-6 Aditya Mehta
Luca Brecel 6-4 Soheil Vahedi
Mark Davis 5-6 Xu Si
Zhou Yuelong 5-6 Peter Lines
Hossein Vafae 6-4 James Wattana
Anthony McGill 6-2 Ashley Hugill
Peter Ebdon 6-3 Allan Taylor
Anthony Hamilton 1-6 Lyu Haotian
Shaun Murphy 6-1 Hamza Akbar
Daniel Wells 4-6 Liam Highfield
Jimmy Robertson 6-1 Alex Borg
Judd Trump 6-0 Matthew Bolton
Robbie Williams 6-3 Martin O'Donnell
Martin Gould 6-3 Joe Swail
Mark Selby 6-4 Basem Eltahhan
Scott Donaldson 6-2 John Astley
Jack Lisowski 6-4 Wang Yuchen
Joe Perry 6-1 Billy Joe Castle
Oliver Lines 6-3 Mei Xiwen
Mark Allen 6-2 Lukas Kleckers
Michael White 6-5 Ross Muir
Matthew Selt 6-2 Ian Burns


Thursday, 30 November

Mark Williams 6-0 Paul S Davison
Andrew Higginson 6-0 Sam Craigie
Mark Joyce 6-3 Thor Chuan Leong
David Gilbert 6-4 Christopher Keogan
Graeme Dott 6-2 Josh Boileau
Liang Wenbo 6-1 Sanderson Lam
Stuart Carrington 2-6 Mitchell Mann
Fergal O'Brien 4-6 Akani Songsermsawad
Gary Wilson 3-6 Ken Doherty
Neil Robertson 6-1 Rod Lawler
Alan McManus 6-3 Robin Hull
Chris Wakelin 6-1 Lee Walker
Dominic Dale 6-0 Adam Duffy
Kurt Maflin 6-1 Alexander Ursenbacher
Ali Carter 2-6 Jimmy White
Michael Holt 6-5 Niu Zhuang
Li Hang 6-1 Gerard Greene
Robert Milkins 6-1 Chen Zhe
Ronnie O'Sullivan 6-3 Jackson Page
Alfie Burden 5-6 Michael Georgiou
Barry Hawkins 6-1 Kurt Dunham
Matthew Stevens 3-6 Hammad Miah
Xiao Guodong 6-0 Chen Zifan
Tom Ford 6-1 Eden Sharav

World Snooker Championship Final Day 2 Selby 18-15 Higgins

4th session: Mark Selby 5-4 John Higgins (Match score 13-11 Selby)

Frame 25: Mark in amongst the balls straight away, 35 break and loses position, makes 22 does John, Mark gets enough to win the frame & goes three clear. (14-11 Selby)



Frame 26: 22 break for Mark then John gets a massive kick on a break of 25 plays safe. safety battle now. John goes on to almost win the frame, missed a tough plant. Mark leaves the red over the pocket, John pots it. (14-12 Selby)



Frame 27: Frame winning break of 71, the Jester 3 away from the title. (15-12 Selby)



Frame 28: 54 break well compiled by Mark not quite over the line yet, bout of safety won by Mark, 2 away (16-12 Selby).


Frame 29: 34 break from Mark, ran out of position, John clears up with a 88, (16-13 Selby.)



Frame 30: Good bout of safety going on, 111 break by John (16-14 Selby)



Frame 31: Selby breaks down on 46 after snookering himself, then the referee calls a foul on Selby hard to tell but i think the right call, 43 break for John , 3 points ahead in this critical frame, John wins another frame! (16-15 Selby)



Frame 32: Great response by Mark, frame winning break of 131 goes one away from the crown (17-15 Selby)



Frame 33: A frame, match & championship winning break of 75, Selby wins 18-15!

World Snooker Championship Final Day 1 Selby 7-10 Higgins

Session 2 Mark Selby 5-4 John Higgins (1st session, Selby 2-6 Higgins) (9 frames)

Frame 9: Cagey opening to this frame, then a wonderful frame wining break of 86 from Selby, (3-6 Higgins)


Frame 10: John looking for a response after that excellent break only 21 though after he got a cannon slightly wrong trying to play position on the black, good safety battle, 33 break puts Higgins 56pts in front only needed one more red to leave Mark in snookers required. Little safety bout eventually Mark goes in-off. (3-7 Higgins)


Frame 11: Selby misses a red into the middle, eyes looked tired, Dennis Taylor & Ken Doherty on commentary think he may be jaded from his epic semi final win over Ding Junhui, Higgins makes 26. 43 from Selby puts him back in the frame. 1 point in the frame now, 2 reds left. John eventually wins the frame. (3-8 Higgins)


Frame 12: Scrappy frame a 38 break nearly gets Mark over the line, both players missing easy balls, Selby wins it (4-8 Higgins)



Frame 13: Selby just doesn't look at the races this evening, caught a safety far too thin & left Higgins with a opportunity, only makes 39, John plays a good safety, John Virgo rightly says "no risks he is trying to protect his lead", very tactical frame which Higgins wins. (4-9 Higgins)


Frame 14: John definitely getting the run of the balls with a few plants, Selby's body language looks poor, almost resigned to the fact like he can't find a way back into this match at the moment, 76 break from Higgins (4-10 Higgins)

Frame 15: 81 break for Mark after John missed early (5-10 Higgins)

Frame 16: A very good response from Mark, John missed early again, 121 (6-10 Higgins)


Frame 17: 47 break I thought Mark was looking odds on for another frame, still could be because John missed a red, Mark goes on to win the frame after John plays a cross-double which went wrong, this final is on! (7-10 Higgins)

World Snooker Championship Day 13-15 Semi Finals

(Best of 33 frames, first to 17 frames)

Thursday 27 April

13:00

Mark Selby 3-5 Ding

19:00

John Higgins 5-3 Barry Hawkins 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday 28 April

10:00

Mark Selby 9-7 Ding (6-2 session Selby)

14:30

John Higgins 10-6 Barry Hawkins (5-3 session Higgins)

19:00

Mark Selby 12-12 Ding (5-3 session Ding)

World Snooker Championships Day 12 (1/4's conclude)

RESULT Mark Selby 13-3 Marco Fu 
RESULT Kyren Wilson 6-13 John Higgins

RESULT Ronnie O'Sullivan 10-13 Ding Junhui 
14:30 BST: Barry Hawkins 9-7 Stephen Maguire 

RESULT: Barry Hawkins 13-9 Stephen Maguire 

World Snooker Championship Day 11 - Quarter Finals

10:00 BST: Ronnie O'Sullivan 4-4 Ding Junhui (session 1)
10:00 BST: Kyren Wilson 3-5 John Higgins (session 1)

14:30 BST: Mark Selby 6-2 Marco Fu (session 1)
14:30 BST: Barry Hawkins 5-3 Stephen Maguire (session 1)

19:00 BST: Ronnie O'Sullivan 6-10 Ding Junhui (session 2)
19:00 BST: Kyren Wilson 5-11 John Higgins (session 2)

World Snooker Championships Day 10

RESULT: Mark Selby 13-6 Xiao Guodong
RESULT: Graeme Dott 6-13 Barry Hawkins

RESULT: Neil Robertson 11-13 Marco Fu

World Snooker Championship Day 9

10:00 BST: Marco Fu 4-4 Neil Robertson (1st session)
10:00 BST: Barry Hawkins 5-3 Graeme Dott (1st session)

14:30 BST: Mark Selby 10-6 Xiao Guodong (2nd session)
14:30 BST: Stephen Maguire 13-3 Rory McLeod (RESULT)

19:00 BST: Marco Fu 8-8 Neil Robertson (2nd session)
19:00 BST: Barry Hawkins 10-6 Graeme Dott (2nd session)

World Snooker Championship Day 8

10:00

Shaun Murphy 7-13 Ronnie O'Sullivan (RESULT)

Mark Allen 7-9 John Higgins (2nd session)


14:30

Liang Wenbo 12-13 Ding Junhui (RESULT)

Stephen Maguire 6-2 Rory McLeod (1st session)


19:00

Mark Allen 9-13 John Higgins (RESULT)

Mark Selby 6-2 Xiao Guodong (1st session)

World Snooker Championship Day 7

End of session: Ding Junhui 6-2 Liang Wenbo 
End of session: Stuart Bingham 7-9 Kyren Wilson 

End of session: Shaun Murphy 6-10 Ronnie O'Sullivan (3rd session 10am Sat)

End of session: John Higgins 3-5 Mark Allen (2nd session 10am Sat, 3rd session 7pm Sat)

End of session: Ding Junhui 9-7 Liang Wenbo (3rd session 14:30 Sat)
RESULT Stuart Bingham 10-13 Kyren Wilson 

World Snooker Championship Day 6 (R1 finish & start of R2)

13:00

(RESULT) Neil Robertson 10-4 Noppon Saengkham 


Second Round (best of 25 frames)

Stuart Bingham 3-5 Kyren Wilson (SESSION 2 10AM FRI, SESSION 3 7PM FRI)

World Snooker Championship Day 5

END OF SESSION Ryan Day 3-6 Xiao Guodong 

END OF SESSION Neil Robertson 8-1 Noppon Saengkham (CONCLUDES 13:00 THU)
RESULT Ali Carter 7-10 Graeme Dott 

END OF SESSION Barry Hawkins 7-2 Tom Ford (concludes 19:00 Thu)
RESULT Ryan Day 4-10 Xiao Guodong 

RESULT Judd Trump 8-10 Rory McLeod 

World Snooker Championships Day 4

END OF SESSION Liang Wenbo 4-5 Stuart Carrington (concludes tonight)
RESULT John Higgins 10-6 Martin Gould 

RESULT Ding Junhui 10-5 Zhou Yuelong
END OF SESSION Judd Trump 4-5 Rory McLeod (resumes 10:00 Wed)

RESULT Liang Wenbo 10-7 Stuart Carrington 
END OF SESSION Ali Carter 3-6 Graeme Dott (resumes 14:30 Wed)

World Snooker Championships Day 3

Ding 7-2 Zhou Yuelong at end of morning session (concludes 14:30 Tues)
Stuart Bingham beats Peter Ebdon 10-5

Shaun Murphy beats Yan Bingtao 10-8
John Higgins 7-2 Martin Gould - end of session (concludes 10:00 Tues)

RESULT Marco Fu 10-9 Luca Brecel 
RESULT Mark Allen 10-8 Jimmy Robertson 

World Snooker Championship Day 2

END OF SESSION Shaun Murphy 5-4 Yan Bingtao (concludes 14:30 Mon)
RESULT Kyren Wilson 10-6 David Grace 

RESULT Ronnie O'Sullivan 10-7 Gary Wilson 
END OF SESSION Stuart Bingham 5-4 Peter Ebdon (concludes 10:00 Mon)

END OF SESSION Marco Fu 2-7 Luca Brecel (concludes 19:00 Mon)
END OF SESSION Mark Allen 5-4 Jimmy Robertson (concludes 19:00 Mon)

World Snooker Championship Day 1

RESULT Mark Selby 10-2 Fergal O'Brien
RESULT Anthony McGill 2-10 Stephen Maguire 
Earlier: Ronnie O'Sullivan 5-4 Gary Wilson (Concludes 14:30 Sun)
Earlier: Kyren Wilson 5-4 David Grace (Continues 10:00 Sun)

The World Snooker Championship draw

Mark Selby v Fergal O'Brien
Anthony McGill v Stephen Maguire
Kyren Wilson v David Grace
John Higgins v Martin Gould
Barry Hawkins v Tom Ford
Marco Fu v Luca Brecel
Shaun Murphy v Yan Bingtao
Judd Trump v Rory McLeod
Stuart Bingham v Peter Ebdon
Ronnie O'Sullivan v Gary Wilson
Ryan Day v Xiao Guodong
Ding Junhui v Zhou Yuelong
Neil Robertson v Noppon Saengkham
Mark Allen v Jimmy Robertson
Liang Wenbo v Stuart Carrington
Ali Carter v Graeme Dott

The World Snooker Championship begins on Saturday, 15 April.

Masters 2017 The Final Part 2

MATCH SCORE: Joe Perry 7-10 Ronnie O'Sullivan 

Part 1 of the final was here (https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6519740757456573936#editor/target=post;postID=3701711716814754508)

Masters 2017 The Final Part 1

13:13 Afternoon! I will talk you through this final frame by frame here we go!

Part 2 of the final will be here (https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6519740757456573936#editor/target=post;postID=6234826808476829577)

MATCH SCORE: Joe Perry 4-4 Ronnie O'Sullivan 

Report by BBC Sport's Shamoon Hafez

Defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan won three frames in a row to tie the first session of the Masters final 4-4 against Joe Perry.

Perry, 42, settled well in his first Triple Crown final, making breaks of 74, 72, 53 and 115 to lead 4-1.

But six-time champion O'Sullivan, who had been unhappy about noise from a backstage table, fought back to level.

The best-of-19 frame final for the Paul Hunter Trophy and £200,000 winner's prize money resumes at 19:00 GMT.

O'Sullivan, 41, is aiming for a record seventh Masters title and was hot favourite coming into this match after a brilliant performance to oust Marco Fu in the semi-finals, despite suffering a split cue tip.

But Perry, who has only won one ranking title in his career, made it an interesting battle and showed little sign of fatigue, having come back from 5-2 down to beat Barry Hawkins 6-5 in a late finish on Saturday.

Masters 2017 Semi Finals Day 7

Best of 11 frames

Marco Fu 4-6 Ronnie O’Sullivan 
Joe Perry 6-5 Barry Hawkins 

Masters 2017 1/4 finals Day 6

Barry Hawkins 6-3 Mark Selby 
Ding Junhui 1-6 Joe Perry

Masters 2017 1/4 finals Day 5

Ronnie O'Sullivan 6-3 Neil Robertson
Marco Fu 6-2 Mark Allen 

2017 Masters Day 4

Mark Selby 6-5 Mark Williams 
Shaun Murphy 1-6 Barry Hawkins 

2017 Masters Day 3

Judd Trump 5-6 Marco Fu 
Neil Robertson 6-3 Ali Carter 

2017 Masters Day 2

Mark Allen 6-5 John Higgins
Stuart Bingham 1-6 Joe Perry 

2017 Masters Day One

Best of 11 frames - first to 6

Liang Wenbo 5-6 Ronnie O’Sullivan 


Ding Junhui 6-3 Kyren Wilson