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Halo World Championship

Venue: Crucible Theatre, Sheffield Dates: 19 April to 5 May

Ronnie O’Sullivan’s return after three months away from competitive action is the headline attraction on a star-studded fourth day at the World Snooker Championship.

Seven-time champion O’Sullivan will appear at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield for the 33rd consecutive year when he takes on two-time runner-up Ali Carter in the first round on Tuesday (14:30 BST).

The 49-year-old has not played a competitive match since snapping his cue at the Championship League in January.

Before the tournament, he told BBC Sport that “to come here is an achievement in itself for me” as he documented his struggles to find his best form in recent years.

Eddie Hearn, chairman of Matchroom Sport – which owns a majority stake in the World Snooker Tour – is pleased O’Sullivan has chosen to take part.

He told BBC Sport: “I know what the game and this event means to him and it would be a shame if he wasn’t here.

“You’ve got to make sure you’re in the right frame of mind to compete. Life’s about being happy, not just doing what people want you to do. Everybody wants him to be here but it’s got to come from his own accord.

His first-round opponent Carter reached world finals in 2008 and 2012, losing to O’Sullivan at the final hurdle on both occasions.

Ranked 18th in the world, the 45-year-old Englishman was the highest-ranked player to progress through qualifying.

O’Sullivan said: “It’ll be a tough match. Ali had a tough start to the season but it looks like in the past two or three months he’s been cueing well, playing well and enjoying it again, which is the most important thing.

Analysis: Jamie Broughton, BBC Radio 5 Live snooker reporter

O’Sullivan gave some very honest and revealing answers when we spoke before the tournament.

The greatest star in the history of the sport has not been happy with some technical aspects of his game over the past four years, despite winning a number of big titles during that time.

He explained that his reluctance to play on tour since January, when he deliberately broke his cue at an event in Leicester, was the result of that frustration. He also admitted that he had suffered stage fright and maybe even lost his bottle.

But make no mistake, he has been practising hard before the World Championship, including playing on a few days with Barry Hawkins, and he will believe he can play his way into the tournament as he looks to challenge for a record eighth title.

Trump, 35, has won 30 ranking titles during his decorated career but his 2019 victory at the Crucible is his sole World Championship triumph.

He defeated fellow Englishman Hawkins to win a second UK Championship title in December, a success that helped him to break the record for the most prize money won in a single season.

He plays China’s Zhou Yuelong in round one (19:00), while Murphy starts his best-of-19 match against Crucible debutant Daniel Wells in Tuesday’s morning session (10:00).

It is 20 years since Murphy, now aged 42, won the 2005 World Championship as a qualifier and his form in recent months has given him confidence for another shot at the sport’s biggest prize.

“In previous years I’ve come here hoping for a good performance, whereas this year I know I’m going to play well,” the world number 15 told BBC Sport.

“My game’s in really good shape and I’m really looking forward to getting going. Does that mean I’ll be here come the weekend? Who knows?

10:00 BST

14:30 BST

19:00 BST

Halo World Championship

Venue: Crucible Theatre, Sheffield Dates: 19 April to 5 May

Ronnie O’Sullivan’s return after three months away from competitive action is the headline attraction on a star-studded fourth day at the World Snooker Championship.

Seven-time champion O’Sullivan will appear at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield for the 33rd consecutive year when he takes on two-time runner-up Ali Carter in the first round on Tuesday (14:30 BST).

The 49-year-old has not played a competitive match since snapping his cue at the Championship League in January.

Before the tournament, he told BBC Sport that “to come here is an achievement in itself for me” as he documented his struggles to find his best form in recent years.

Eddie Hearn, chairman of Matchroom Sport – which owns a majority stake in the World Snooker Tour – is pleased O’Sullivan has chosen to take part.

He told BBC Sport: “I know what the game and this event means to him and it would be a shame if he wasn’t here.

“You’ve got to make sure you’re in the right frame of mind to compete. Life’s about being happy, not just doing what people want you to do. Everybody wants him to be here but it’s got to come from his own accord.

His first-round opponent Carter reached world finals in 2008 and 2012, losing to O’Sullivan at the final hurdle on both occasions.

Ranked 18th in the world, the 45-year-old Englishman was the highest-ranked player to progress through qualifying.

O’Sullivan said: “It’ll be a tough match. Ali had a tough start to the season but it looks like in the past two or three months he’s been cueing well, playing well and enjoying it again, which is the most important thing.

Analysis: Jamie Broughton, BBC Radio 5 Live snooker reporter

O’Sullivan gave some very honest and revealing answers when we spoke before the tournament.

The greatest star in the history of the sport has not been happy with some technical aspects of his game over the past four years, despite winning a number of big titles during that time.

He explained that his reluctance to play on tour since January, when he deliberately broke his cue at an event in Leicester, was the result of that frustration. He also admitted that he had suffered stage fright and maybe even lost his bottle.

But make no mistake, he has been practising hard before the World Championship, including playing on a few days with Barry Hawkins, and he will believe he can play his way into the tournament as he looks to challenge for a record eighth title.

Trump, 35, has won 30 ranking titles during his decorated career but his 2019 victory at the Crucible is his sole World Championship triumph.

He defeated fellow Englishman Hawkins to win a second UK Championship title in December, a success that helped him to break the record for the most prize money won in a single season.

He plays China’s Zhou Yuelong in round one (19:00), while Murphy starts his best-of-19 match against Crucible debutant Daniel Wells in Tuesday’s morning session (10:00).

It is 20 years since Murphy, now aged 42, won the 2005 World Championship as a qualifier and his form in recent months has given him confidence for another shot at the sport’s biggest prize.

“In previous years I’ve come here hoping for a good performance, whereas this year I know I’m going to play well,” the world number 15 told BBC Sport.

“My game’s in really good shape and I’m really looking forward to getting going. Does that mean I’ll be here come the weekend? Who knows?

10:00 BST

14:30 BST

19:00 BST

Reporters gathered in a London hotel on 6 October 2022 for a pre-fight news conference, only to be told the contest between Conor Benn and Chris Eubank Jr – which was scheduled to take place two days later – had been cancelled.

That was the moment 934 days of chaos began, and transformed what was an intense rivalry between two families into a bitter feud.

The fight had been cancelled because Benn had failed a drugs test, which sent shockwaves through the sport.

It meant a delay to the start of the second generation of Benn-Eubank rivalry, following their fathers’ iconic fights in the early 1990s.

More than two years on, the pair will finally face off in the ring at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday.

Eubank has told BBC Sport he wants “revenge” and to “make Benn pay”.

Benn, who has always protested his innocence, predicts “a one-sided beat-down”.

Former super-middleweight world champions Chris Eubank Sr and Nigel Benn fought twice during a fabled era for the weight division in Britain.

Eubank Sr won the first fight in 1990 and the second ended in a split-decision draw in 1993.

Two decades later, their sons began their own boxing journeys. They competed in different divisions, though, so there was no clear collision path until a lucrative fight – courtesy of the public’s nostalgia-fuelled demands – was agreed for October 2022.

Despite some low-level trash talk, neither boxer overstepped the line during media events. They even shared a cordial handshake in one face-off interview.

“I could even say I liked him because there’s no other person on the planet that’s experiencing this journey and can relate to what I’ve gone through. There was 100% respect there,” Eubank says.

However, that respect disappeared when news that Benn had returned an adverse finding for women’s fertility drug clomifene was leaked on the Wednesday of fight week.

The British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) decided not to sanction the fight, and the cancellation was confirmed a day later. Benn was smuggled out of the hotel before the assembled media was told.

Benn admitted to two failed tests but insisted he was innocent of intentional doping and suggested it may have been because of contamination.

He was provisionally suspended from fighting in March 2023. After a lengthy saga, during which the ban was lifted then reintroduced following appeals by UK Anti-Doping (Ukad) and the BBBofC, Benn was finally cleared to fight in the UK in November 2024.

Before that, he twice competed in the United States, earning unspectacular points wins over Rodolfo Orozco in September 2023 and Peter Dobson in February 2024.

But his reputation – back home, in particular – took a pounding.

Benn sent a 270-page dossier to the WBC that he believed proved no wrongdoing.

He was mocked by boxing followers when the WBC concluded the failed tests might have been caused by a “highly elevated consumption” of eggs.

A well-known restaurant even posted an image of a regular pizza topped with boiled eggs, alongside the caption ‘Conor Benn special’.

Benn limited his media interviews, but came close to tears while talking about a “vendetta” against him when speaking to Piers Morgan.

The reason for the failed tests remain inconclusive and we may never find out why or how clomifene entered Benn’s body.

Benn – who says he has spent £1m in legal costs – feels vindicated and does not see the need to release the dossier or the findings of his legal battle.

While Benn dealt with failed doping tests, Eubank turned his attention elsewhere.

He was one half of one of the most compelling rivalries of recent years, suffering a shock loss to Liverpudlian Liam Smith two months after his cancelled fight with Benn.

Eubank avenged that defeat with a dominant win inside the distance eight months later.

He had been in the running for a lucrative shot at undisputed super-middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, but the shadow of Benn was never far away – sometimes literally.

Benn travelled to Saudi Arabia in October, pushing Eubank at a media event as his rival prepared to fight Kamil Szeremeta.

After Eubank secured a routine stoppage win, Benn stormed the ring.

Superstar Brazil footballer Neymar looked bemused, caught in the middle of a face-off as the pair hurled abuse at each other.

After months of arguing over purse splits, it took wealthy Saudi Arabia to get the fighters to agree terms.

Eubank says he is simply giving the public what they want.

“Why not exact my revenge on this man for the things he said about me, for the things he put me through over the last few years? ” he says.

The magnitude of the fight has gradually increased over the past two and a half years.

Any doubts it would not sell out the 62,000-capacity Tottenham Hotspur Stadium were quickly put to bed during the first media blitz.

The boxers squabbled like petulant schoolchildren at a news conference in February, with Eubank holding court, taking aim at everyone in his eyeline, including Benn and Hearn.

Then came the viral moment.

During their first face-off, Eubank took one of 16 eggs nestled in his pocket and slapped it across Benn’s cheek, a nod to the aforementioned WBC report.

Eubank coughed up a hefty £100,000 fine. Critics say it was a poor look for the sport, others feel it was a stroke of promotional genius.