World Snooker Championship 2026 recap – Updates, results and streaming as Mark Allen beats Barry Hawkins and Robertson leads Higgins

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World Snooker Championship 2026 live comments and streaming details. TNT Sports brings you frame-by-frame updates as Mark Allen and Barry Hawkins are in action in their World Championship quarter-final clash at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield on Wednesday morning. Neil Robertson and John Higgins are on the other table. Play begins at 10:00, with further sessions at 14:30 and 19:00.

'The workmen are out' - Drill interrupts play as work done to fix Robertson's chair

Video credit: TNT Sports

Neil Robertson and John Higgins return for the second session of their quarter-final clash at the World Championship.

The contest ebbed and flowed in the first session on Tuesday afternoon, before Robertson took the final two frames to edge in front at 5-3.

Robertson and Higgins will get underway at 10:00 on Wednesday, April 29, 2026, while Mark Allen and Barry Hawkins will play to a finish on the other table. This live blog covers frame-by-frame action from the Robertson v Higgins clash, with full scores across all matches available on the TNT Sports scores page.

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Allen pips Hawkins while Robertson leads Higgins

Mark Allen has won both the UK Championship and the Masters, but never the World Championship, making just two semi-finals in 20 appearances. But perhaps this is his year, because he played superbly in the final mini-session of his quarter-final, taking three of the four frames played to move from 10-10 to a 13-11 victor. His heart will have been in his mouth in what proved to be the last knockings, though, Hawkins looking to steal and responding to a snooker with a fluke for the ages. But seeking to roll in behind the pink, he gave the shot too little gas and didn't reach the object ball, an error he'll surely carry with him until the end of days, and from there, the Antrim man made the match safe. He'll now face either Wu Yize or Hossein Vafaei in ther last four.

Watch as Hawkins produces 'one of the all-time flukes' to 'one of the all-time faux pas'

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World Championship LIVE - Robertson 9-7 Higgins

A run of 80 and it's as you were, Neil ahead by two but with less scope for John to come back.

World Championship LIVE - Robertson 9-6 Higgins (1-65)

John's moved through this break with all of his characteristic care and skill, a red dropped home with the rest followed by a black, and he's closing to within two once more.

World Championship LIVE - Robertson 9-6 Higgins (1-42)

An oblique red to middle is nicely dispatched and this is really good stuff from the Old Master, digging deep to find something. If he can see this out, he'll be extremely dangerous tonight, Neil having not made the last four of this event in over a decade.

World Championship LIVE - Robertson 9-6 Higgins (1-24)

Has Neil left one to middle? He has, but John misses it and that may well cost him. There are already reds loose and the pack is immediately banged, then The Thunder, clearly feeling good, unloads the suitcase at a long yellow ... but it doesn't drop. The table isn't perfect, though – there are reds in baulk, likewise the out-of-commission blue – so making something significant here will take work.

World Championship LIVE - Robertson 9-6 Higgins

He cannot, making this next frame is a biggie; if Neil wins it, he'll be very hard to stop.

World Championship LIVE - Robertson 8-6 Higgins (52-33)

John really needs this frame and he's at the table seeking to steal ... but runs out of position with 27 on the difference and 27 left, playing safe ... only for Neil to smash in the yellow. A cut on the green follows, with no interest in getting position on the brown because this now means he's two snookers in front; let's see if The Wiz can get them.

World Championship LIVE - Mark Allen beats Barry Hawkins 13-11

Oh man, I feel for Barry, a wonderful player and top man who still can't nab a biggie. Mark, though, is an absolute mentality monster, and will face Wu Yize or Hossein Vafaei for a place in a world final that'd be the first for all of them. Phew!

World Championship LIVE - Hawkins 11-12 Allen (43-74)

"COME ON!" bellows Mark as he secures the match. He's been fantastic since the interval, delivering his best when he needed it most; Barry will take that shot on the pink to his grave, and it'll haunt the nightmares of his descendants forever more. What a match!

World Championship LIVE - Hawkins 11-12 Allen (43-67)

Another fine safety, red just off the bottom rail, white near the black, forces Barry, snookered, to hit and hope ... AND WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! He's only gone and fluked it! I cannot believe what we're seeing here, that looked impossible! So it's in behind the pink ... BUT HE'S UNDERCOOKED IT, STOPPING SHORT! I've been watching this thing of ours for more than for decades and I've never, ever, seen anything remotely like that. Mark is going to win!

World Championship LIVE - Hawkins 11-12 Allen (42-59)

Mark gets above the ball on black cush, gives it a tickle every chance to drop ... it's there! But will he chance a double on the final red? He will not, playing a really good safety that's not quite a snooker. Barry is one poor shot away from going hame.

World Championship LIVE - Hawkins 11-12 Allen (42-36)

It's a soft connection, a couple of balls liberated, but there remain two on cushions, one the side and one the top. He'll need them, but he's cueing well .... so far.

World Championship LIVE - Hawkins 11-12 Allen (42-6)

Barry looks as pensive as you'd expect, weighing up his route through the balls – it's maximum concentration time, but might that hamper his natural stroke? An unwanted kiss means a pressure-black he can't refuse, cut from high to right corner ... and he's overdone it! But has he left anything? Oh yes he has, a tickle to middle ... and it's there! Mark is a good split away from the semis! Here he goes...

World Championship LIVE - Hawkins 11-12 Allen (5-0)

Mark goes off two cushions to land on a ball on the top rail ... but falls short and has he left one? Yes he has, but it's a minger to middle ... that's undercut. So he tries steering into right corner, he cannot, and now this is a chance for Barry. On the one hand, you expect him to force a decider, but on the other, a miss could mean curtains. Hold me!

World Championship LIVE - Robertson 8-6 Higgins

John closes, Neil extends. He looks to have the better game and stamina, but we've said that before and looked silly, most recently the day before yesterday.

World Championship LIVE - Hawkins 11-12 Allen

A run of 104 and Mark moves within one of the one-table situation.

World Championship LIVE - Hawkins 11-11 Allen (0-84)

Mark will want a century to underline the form he's found and increase the pressure on Barry ... liberating the final red from the side with a terrific shot. Suddenly, he's flying.

World Championship LIVE - Hawkins 11-11 Allen (0-55)

There aren't many better in the balls than Mark and he's really collared the cue-ball in his last couple of runs, but the pack needs breaking off the blue, he bumps it gently ... and he's fine. He's going one up with two to play.

World Championship LIVE - Hawkins 11-11 Allen (0-21)

Mark has spent the last few years trying to temper his natural attacking instincts in search of the balance he hopes will help him win titles like this one. The majority of observers, I think, believe he went too far away from his best game – I know I do – but I think he's going to try a double ... oh but he is ... and it's there! A black follows, but will he go after a mid-range red to the yellow bag? You betcha, smoked into the leather, and he's finding some of his best form right when he needs it most.

World Championship LIVE - Robertson 7-6 Higgins (0-32)

Neil moves ahead again, then John twice fails to convert starts into anything more meaningful.

World Championship LIVE - Hawkins 11-11 Allen

...and the frame is quickly made safe. Best of three to decide who moves into the last four; how are you nerves, mates?

World Championship LIVE - Hawkins 10-11 Allen (60-0)

These two are so good and so well-matched. A red to corner will leave Mark needing a snooker...

World Championship LIVE - Hawkins 10-11 Allen (36-0)

Barry builds, removing loose reds, and this run is maturing into a frame-winner.

World Championship LIVE - Hawkins 10-11 Allen (19-0)

Another cut, dead weight, and it's going to hit the jaw but will it drop? Yes it will, great pot, and this is now a chance to level us up again. But he knows Mark'll be waiting if he misses or, in other words, pressure.

'What a changing point that could be!' - Hawkins lucks out in tense battle with Allen

Video credit: TNT Sports

World Championship LIVE - Hawkins 10-11 Allen (12-0)

Mak goes hard at an opener off Barry's break, it looks good ... and somehow pops out of the pocket. So Barry cuts into the same right corner, dead weight, and off he goes - though there aren't that many loose balls, so he'll soon need to attack the pack. He doesn't get the angle he wants on the blue, leaves it till next go, again doesn't, but he sends claret all over and he's on one, just – but needs the rest.

World Championship LIVE - Robertson 6-6 Higgins (29-7)

And John is at the table ... missing a black off its spot. Even impervious OGs are feeling it.

World Championship LIVE - Hawkins 10-11 Allen

Mark sees out the frame; he's two away. If he can win the next, Barry will need three straight.

World Championship LIVE - Hawkins 10-10 Allen (15-67)

Ooh yeah! Mark strikes a fine red to left corner, he's on the pink, and that's all he needs. He's played beautifully in this frame and it should soon be his.

World Championship LIVE - Hawkins 10-10 Allen (15-60)

Muscling in a fine opener, Mark lands ... on nowt. But he'll be pleased to see reds moving ever-closer to rails; it'll take a significant effort to take this frame away from him.

World Championship LIVE - Hawkins 10-10 Allen (11-59)

Looking to go around the table off the blue to break the pack, Mark catches the jaw of middle, develops the black – he'll not want that – but has it left him on a red? Perhaps ... but he decides not, playing safe with 67 points remaining. The frame isn't safe, nor close to it.

World Championship LIVE - Hawkins 10-10 Allen (11-46)

Mark's got a problem: how does he sink pink to left corner and get on a next red? Er, like this! Around three cushions, bare left-hand side, and he's perfect. This is the best of him, brilliant cue-ball control and emphatic potting; the frame should soon be his.

World Championship LIVE - Hawkins 10-10 Allen (11-26)

Barry gets in ... and out. So Mark cuts nicely into left corner and he's on the pink which can sneak through a gap to left corner. Neither man has played all that well so far today, but if you're asking me to pick one, I'm going for the one at the table now, who I think is just fractionally better and tougher. It is, though, a very high bar, and Bazza isn't far off it.

World Championship LIVE - Hawkins 10-10 Allen

Rapturous applause welcomes our gladiators back to the amphitheater for the final mini-sesh, roundabout the time John Higgins wins a third frame on the spin, levelling his match with Neil Robertson at 6-6.

World Championship LIVE - Robertson 6-5 Higgins

The Rasputin of Snooker closes the gap to one frame.

World Championship LIVE - Hawkins 10-10 Allen

This match looked impossible to call when it was set-up and, going into the final interval, that remains the case. I can't wait to see what happens next.

World Championship LIVE - Hawkins 9-10 Allen (62-1)

What a difference might that fluke make? We're going into the interval all square, an epic denouement building.

World Championship LIVE - Hawkins 9-10 Allen (38-1)

Another strange shot from Mark offers Barry a chance to score and again, he's nervous in the early stages, a recovery-brown keeping him going, but he catches the jaw of middle meaning a nasty mid-range red, diagonally to corner ... and it won't drop ... but a different one will! This game! And from here, you'd expect the frame to end with this visit.

World Championship LIVE - Hawkins 9-10 Allen (6-1)

Mark, perhaps deliberately given how the morning's gone, dangles Barry a tempter to right corner ... and he can't see it away. Gosh, but then once it's disappeared, El Pistolero leaves himself straight on the blue and, trying to force an angle, screws the white back into left-centre. You could cut the tension with a tension-cutter.

World Championship LIVE - Hawkins 9-10 Allen (1-0)

Both players play poor shots at the start of the frame, Mark leaving a pot to middle that Barry sinks ... only to misjudge position. So it's in behind the yellow, then off the side into the pack.

World Championship LIVE - Robertson 6-4 Higgins

Like Barry, John bags the frame he needs.

World Championship LIVE - Hawkins 9-10 Allen

One shot and Mark concedes; Bazza stops the rot, but can he level us up?

World Championship LIVE - Hawkins 8-10 Allen (74-0)

Steadily, Barry builds, picking at loose reds, but can he clip home a frame-ball cut-back plant? Yes he can, and Mark needs a snooker, two when brown disappears into middle. But with no next ball, it's white to the top rail and a red down the table; he's nearly there.

World Championship LIVE - Hawkins 8-10 Allen (32-0)

Mark's now taken the last four frames, but he misses an escape at the start of this one, hitting second go but leaving a longun. Barry's been excellent in this aspect all tournament, but he can't drain this one, so Mark tries sending one all the way down to the table to the green bag, and so, so close ... but doesn't drop. So off goes The Hawk, an unfavorable ball-run meaning a brutal recovery-pot is necessary ... and he sinks a beauty. This is a huge visit.

World Championship LIVE - Robertson 6-3 Higgins (0-43)

John badly needs a big visit – he struggled yesterday and if Neil gets away, I'm not sure he'll be watchable. Is this it?

World Championship LIVE - Hawkins 8-10 Allen

For the first time in the match, Mark leads by two. Barry will feel he must take the next frame.

World Championship LIVE - Hawkins 8-9 Allen (53-56)

You've got to laugh. Barry catches a red too thin ... and it slides into left corner. He's now got a decent angle on the blue to get at the final ball, needing sending along the black cushion ... but he hits the near jaw, and is Mark, his route blocked by the black, going to try potting it off the side and top? He is indeed ... and it's there. Is he making the definitive move? Yellow, green and brown disappear...

World Championship LIVE - Hawkins 8-9 Allen (46-41)

But the final three reds aren't easy, one on the top, one on the side and one just off it; Barry tries getting behind the third of those and it doesn't work as panned, so he tries forcing it across and down the table to the green pocket ... without success. Does he have cover? He does not, so Mark drains it and adds the blue, as his opponent's insides well up in his throat ... but he can't get on to his next red, so we're back playing safety as tension ratchets up yet further.

World Championship LIVE - Hawkins 8-9 Allen (15-35)

This is more like it, Mark picking off loose balls ... and of course, as I type, he leaves a prod on the lip if right corner, allowing Barry an easy starter. This is a really important visit, because if the deficit gets to two frames and he's passed up chances in both, he'll start to feel a way.

World Championship LIVE - Hawkins 8-9 Allen (0-1)

Mark setters towards right corner, but the ball won't drop ... and nor will Bary's cut-back riposte. He's not started well, must now sit at the side as his opponent builds.

World Championship LIVE - Robertson 5-3 Higgins (37-32)

There are four reds left on the table, which is to say this frame isn't nearly over.

World Championship LIVE - Hawkins 8-9 Allen

Again, Mark tries rolling pink over pocket ... and this time, it drops in. A frame that ought to have been over time ago is finally out of its misery and hopefully both men now feel more settled.

World Championship LIVE - Hawkins 8-8 Allen (48-66)

The green goes down immediately then, after sinking the brown a few shots later, Barry snuggles up to the black ... and the escape is good, likewise when he's asked so to do again. Then, when Mark is left a simple blue, it's frame over ... except he misses it. Goodness me! So Barry pots it and now needs one snooker on the pink; when he doesn't manage it first go, it's immediately rolled over the green bag.

World Championship LIVE - Hawkins 8-8 Allen (36-66)

Barry looks extremely peaky sat in his seat and well he might; he's had two chances to win this frame and the miss which jiggered the second was as surprising as it was uncharacteristic. But he's not out of the frame quite yet, Mark leaving the green on the lip with two snookers required.

World Championship LIVE - Hawkins 8-8 Allen (36-48)

Mark flukes an alright snooker behind the black which Barry escapes, then deliberately lays a much tighter one, and this time, the effort is good but not quite good enough. Second time, though, he hits, but full-ball, and this shout;d be the frame.

World Championship LIVE - Hawkins 8-8 Allen (36-43)

El Pistolero looks a little nervous as he settles into his visit – which says it all, because he is nails. But gradually, he closes the gap, only to lose the white, not something he does often. Encouragingly, he tries to find a ball at which to go – his best stuff comes when he's a little less defensive than he can be, his natural instinct to attack a product of his brilliance in the balls – tries a long cut to corner ... and it won't drop. So we're back playing safety, the frame in the balance, and already, we can see this is going to be a seriously intense session.

World Championship LIVE - Hawkins 8-8 Allen (36-2)

Barry really, really wants this, so opts to take on a longun, creaming it to right corner ... only to botch the positional aspect of the black which follows, meaning an awkward cut to corner, bridging over red and pink ... down it goes, well played. Oooh, but he then misses one you don't expect him to, hanging his heed in disappointment; chance for Mark.

World Championship LIVE - Hawkins 8-8 Allen (22-1)

I've been looking forward to this – I've not a clue which of these two will prevail, and both are here with serious intent: Mark has won the two other triple crown events but not this one, while Barry is more than good enough to bag one of them, but he hasn't. And it's The Hawk with the first chance, but he soon runs out of position and safety doth ensue.