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John Spencer has resigned as chairman of snooker's ruling body less than a month before he was due to seek re-election. A statement from the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association confirmed Spencer's decision to quit before the sport's annual meeting in Bristol on 19 December. The three-times world champion from Radcliffe, who took over from John Virgo, refused to explain his reasons for standing down.

Willie Thorne suffered his heaviest ever professional defeat in Preston last night when losing 9-0 to Paul Hunter in the UK Championship. It took the 18-year-old from Leeds just 138 minutes to send Thorne crashing to an embarrassing first round exit.