Mark Williams got the better of Poland’s top player Antoni Kowalski by a 10-4 scoreline to reach the last 16 of the World Championship for the 23rd time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kowalski’s run was the most engaging storyline of the qualifying rounds last week as he had to reach the Crucible to save his tour card as well as becoming the first player from his country to appear at snooker’s Theatre of Dreams. However the talented 22-year-old admitted he “ran out of steam” on the main stage and was outplayed by world number six Williams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Age 51 and despite the fact that his eyesight is gradually deteriorating, Williams must still be considered a contender for the crown as he reached the final last year, notably knocking out John Higgins and Judd Trump before losing to Zhao Xintong in the final. Earlier this season he became the oldest ever winner of a ranking title when he beat Shaun Murphy in the final of the Xi’an Grand Prix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His next opponent is Barry Hawkins over a possible 25 frames on Friday and Saturday – a repeat of their epic 2018 semi-final which Williams won 17-15 on his way to a third world title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This was a spirited debut from Kowalski and at 3-3 he looked capable of causing an upset, but missed too many chances in the remainder of the match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Williams led 6-3 after the first session, but in the opening frame tonight he played a weak safety when he trailed 50-39 with two reds left, and Kowalski took advantage to narrow the gap. A break of 65 restored Williams’ three-frame cushion at 7-4, then in frame 12 the Welshman led 33-15 when he cracked in a long red to set up a run of 34 to go further ahead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kowalski had a scoring chance in the next but made only 15 before missing a red with the rest, and his opponent capitalised with the only century of the match, 115, to lead 9-4. The next came down to the final black and a brief safety exchange ended when Williams fired it from distance into a top corner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Antoni is a cracking potter, I don’t pot the long balls that he does any more,” said Williams. “I knew it would be tough for him on his debut so I tried to keep it tight and play to my strengths. He showed a bit of inexperience but he will learn from that and improve. The scoreline looks quite one sided but he could have won three or four more frames.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kowalski said: “The whole experience definitely lived up to my expectations. If I could I would play here every day, it’s such a special atmosphere. I put so much into the qualifying rounds and I was trying hard here but I ran out of steam. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I couldn’t be more proud to have made my contribution as the first Polish player at the Crucible. We have been waiting for this breakthrough moment and hopefully this will make snooker more popular in my country.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
China\u2019s Xiao Guodong overcame close friend Zhou Yuelong 10-6 to make the second round of the championship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
World number nine Xiao has cemented his place in the sport’s elite in recent times, highlighted by back-to-back titles at the Wuhan Open. He edged Gary Wilson 10\u20139 in this year\u2019s final to claim the second ranking title of his 19-year professional career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Xiao will now face either Shaun Murphy or Fan Zhengyi as he bids to reach the Crucible quarter-finals for the first time. He narrowly missed out last year, losing 13\u201312 to John Higgins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Defeat for Zhou means he will have to wait to add to his solitary match win at the Theatre of Dreams. That came back in 2019 when he defeated Mark Allen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They came into this evening with Xiao only holding a slender advantage at 5-4, but he seized the initiative in the opening exchanges tonight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Breaks of 52 and 62 moved the 37-year-old 7-4 ahead. Zhou reduced his arrears by claiming the 12th, before taking a 50-minute 13th on the black to make it 7-6 at the mid-session interval.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When play resumed, Xiao took charge of proceedings. He fired in back-to-back century contributions of 115 and 128 to move one from victory at 9-6. He got over the line at the first opportunity and claimed the 16th<\/sup> to progress<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt feels incredible. This is not about the money, for me this is everything. For every snooker player, if you win here it feels much different. I won in Wuhan but this is different and everyone wants to win in the World Championship,\u201d said an elated Xiao.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was very difficult as Yuelong is like a little brother to me. We train together and it is hard to beat friends. I feel sorry for him as nobody wants to lose here. This is the last test. That is why everyone wants to win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019ve taken a lot of confidence from Xintong (winning last year’s World Championship). He is a very good talent and his play is unbelievable. Sometimes I learn not to get so nervous. I\u2019ve changed my game a lot to try and improve.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Former finalist Barry Hawkins won a match at the Crucible for the first time since 2021, beating Matthew Stevens 10-4 to reach the last 16.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hawkins is the third seed out of three so far to negotiate the opening round, following wins for Zhao Xintong and Mark Allen. “The seeds are under pressure in round one because the qualifiers are sharp and hungry,” he said. “I’ve been knocked out early enough times and I know it isn’t nice. So it feels good to still be part of the tournament this time.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Between 2013 and 2018, Hawkins gained the reputation as a Crucible specialist, as he won more matches at the venue during that spell than any other player, finishing runner-up to Ronnie O’Sullivan in 2013 then reaching four more semi-finals. However in recent years the well has run dry, losing in the last 32 in 2022, 2024 and 2025 and failing to qualify in 2023. So today’s result is a huge relief for the 46-year-old who arrived in Sheffield still feeling the satisfaction of his triumph at the Welsh Open last month, when he beat Jack Lisowski in the final to land a fifth ranking title. <\/p>\n\n\n\n He’ll be back on the baize on Friday for a best-of-25 frame battle with either Mark Williams or Antoni Kowalski.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hawkins trailed 2-1 in the early stages on Saturday but then took six frames in a row with a top break of 99. Stevens, runner-up in 2000 and 2005, briefly threatened a fight back when he took the first two frames today with runs of 54 and 55. But world number 11 Hawkins regained control with 92 and 70 for 9-4, before wrapping up the tie in frame 14 with 27 and 37.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “It wasn’t a good performance from either of us yesterday, but I felt I got stronger towards the end,” Hawkins added. “I’ll go home for a few days and hopefully come back fresh for the next game because I need to massively improve. I can enjoy it more because there will be less pressure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “Matthew has got so much class, he has all the shots as well as the experience of getting to a couple of finals. Luckily for me he wasn’t on great form.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the other table, two-time finalist Ali Carter rallied to claim five frames in a row and lead four-time champion John Higgins 5-4 after their opening session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In what is the first time the pair have ever met in the World Championship, it was Higgins who asserted himself on the early proceedings. The Scot top scored with 76 en route to a 4-0 lead at the mid-session interval.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When they returned, the match flipped completely on its head. Essex cueman Carter fired in contributions of 91 and 74 on his way to five on the bounce and a 5-4 overnight lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They return to play to a conclusion later today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ROUND ONE RESULTS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Mark Allen (Eng) bt Zhang Anda (Chn) 10-6<\/p>\n\n\n\n Xiao Guodong (Chn) bt Zhao Yuelong (Chn) 10-6<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mark Williams (Wal) bt Antoni Kowalski (Pol) 10-4<\/p>\n\n\n\n Barry Hawkins (Eng) bt Matthew Stevens (Wal) 10-4<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Mark Williams got the better of Poland’s top player Antoni Kowalski by a 10-4 scoreline to reach the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11890,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[378],"class_list":["post-11889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-snooker"],"aioseo_notices":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1280px-Xiao_Guodong_at_Snooker_German_Masters_DerHexer_2015-02-04_06.jpg",1280,890,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1280px-Xiao_Guodong_at_Snooker_German_Masters_DerHexer_2015-02-04_06-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1280px-Xiao_Guodong_at_Snooker_German_Masters_DerHexer_2015-02-04_06-300x209.jpg",300,209,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1280px-Xiao_Guodong_at_Snooker_German_Masters_DerHexer_2015-02-04_06-768x534.jpg",640,445,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1280px-Xiao_Guodong_at_Snooker_German_Masters_DerHexer_2015-02-04_06-1024x712.jpg",640,445,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1280px-Xiao_Guodong_at_Snooker_German_Masters_DerHexer_2015-02-04_06.jpg",1280,890,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1280px-Xiao_Guodong_at_Snooker_German_Masters_DerHexer_2015-02-04_06.jpg",1280,890,false],"morenews-large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1280px-Xiao_Guodong_at_Snooker_German_Masters_DerHexer_2015-02-04_06-825x575.jpg",825,575,true],"morenews-medium":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1280px-Xiao_Guodong_at_Snooker_German_Masters_DerHexer_2015-02-04_06-590x410.jpg",590,410,true]},"author_info":{"info":["admin"]},"category_info":"Newsbeat<\/a>","tag_info":"Newsbeat","comment_count":"0","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1280px-Xiao_Guodong_at_Snooker_German_Masters_DerHexer_2015-02-04_06.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11889"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11889\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11891,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11889\/revisions\/11891"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Hawkins Ends Five-Year Crucible Drought<\/h2>\n\n\n\n