Ronnie O'Sullivan was the toast of Sheffield on Monday night as he beat Barry Hawkins 18-12 to become the first player for 17 years to make a successful defence of the World Championship.

Chelsea stroll past Basel to set up final date with Benfica

O'Sullivan took a 4-1 lead before being pegged back

Ronnie O’Sullivan powered through to the quarter-finals of the Betfair World Championship on Monday, but admitted he already feels worn out.

Scotland's Alan McManus ended a seven-year wait for a Crucible return yesterday when the two-time World Championship semi-finalist earned his place in the main draw.

Mark Selby clinched his first UK Championship title last night after a dominant display in the evening session took him to a 10-6 victory over Shaun Murphy in the final.

Ricky Walden beat fellow Englishman Stuart Bingham 10-4 in the final of the Wuxi Classic in China yesterday.

Ronnie O'Sullivan has called for snooker's top players to rally together to prevent burnout. The "Rocket" went in search of a fourth world title yesterday when he kicked off his World Championship final against Ali Carter in Sheffield. However, O'Sullivan has threatened to quit because of the daunting domestic schedule.

Ronnie O'Sullivan has not seemed like a man in need of a helping hand as he pursues a fourth World Championship title but he benefited from the sportsmanship of Matthew Stevens at the Crucible in Sheffield last night.

Ronnie O'Sullivan, the triple world champion, powered to within a whisker of securing his quarter-final place here at the Betfred.com World Championship yesterday.

World champion John Higgins suffered a second-round defeat to Peter Ebdon at the China Open in Beijing yesterday.

Matthew Selt claimed another scalp in the Australian Goldfields Open with victory over seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry. World No 43 Selt, who came through qualifying, beat John Higgins on Tuesday and saw off Hendry 5-1 yesterday in the last 16.