World Snooker Championship Begins with Tribute to John Virgo

A minute’s applause was paid in tribute to John Virgo, who died in February aged 79, as the World Snooker Championship got under way at the Crucible in Sheffield.

Virgo, who won the UK Championship in 1979, enjoyed a successful playing career but was best known for his broadcasting. During his 18 years as a professional, he reached the World Championship semi-finals in 1979. He went on to work for the BBC in 1994 and his voice became a distinctive feature of the national broadcaster’s snooker coverage for three decades.

At a memorial service at Sheffield Cathedral on Thursday the great and good of the sport gathered to remember the commentator famous for his catchphrase: “Where’s the cue ball going?”

The 17-day-long tournament began with the defending champion, Zhao Xintong, in action on Saturday morning. The Chinese player, who beat Mark Williams 18-12 in the 2025 final, made a nervous start to his defence, but ultimately beat the qualifier Liam Highfield 10-7.

Zhao was at risk of following in the footsteps of Luca Brecel and Kyren Wilson, who fell at the first hurdle when defending their crown in 2024 and 2025 respectively, and at the end of the opening session he had a wafer-thin 5-4 lead over Highfield, who has never won a match in the main draw but soon found himself level-pegging with the world No 4.

Zhao’s rough edges continued but he turned the tide by claiming a pivotal 11th frame and wrapped up the best-of-19 clash after a courageous long plant on his first red, opening up the table for a match-winning century.

“Tonight was pressure, it was very difficult for me,” he told BBC Sport. “Two days ago I thought I could control that, not now. I just tried to control myself and enjoy the table, but tonight I didn’t do it well. Hopefully next round I can do it.”

A blockbuster second-round match against his Chinese compatriot Ding Junhui awaits on Friday, should the latter beat David Gilbert first, and Zhao added: “If I play Ding, everyone keeps eyes on us. If I play with Ding, I’ll feel good.”

Mark Williams took a 6-3 lead over the Polish qualifier Antoni Kowalski but there was little to pick between Xiao Guodong and Zhou Yuelong, with the former edging it 5-4 in the afternoon’s play.

In the morning session, 14th seed Mark Allen went 5-3 down to Zhang Anda with the Northern Irishman losing three in a row before halting the momentum just before the interval.