Thursday morning. For the first time since 2023, someone has beaten David Causier at the World Billiards Championship, and it was Pankaj Advani, a few days after Robert Hall had thrashed him in the English Open. The two of them play for the title today. Shruthi L has won her third women's world title in a row, Belfast had two last-ball deciders, and the last 64 is being played in Manila as you read this.
Landywood — Advani ends Causier's run
Causier came to the Landywood Snooker Club going for a third world title in a row. He beat Robert Hall in the 2024 final and Dhruv Sitwala last year. He'd also won the English Open at the weekend, where he made an unfinished 790. Then he met Advani in Wednesday afternoon's semi-final and lost.
- Pankaj Advani beat David Causier: World Billiards says he's the first player to beat Causier at the World Championship since 2023. That was the year Peter Gilchrist beat him in the final. We haven't seen an official score yet. The figure going round Indian social media hasn't been confirmed by the governing body, so we're leaving it out until it is.
- Robert Hall beat Peter Gilchrist: the 2023 champion is out. It's the second time Hall has knocked Gilchrist out at the semi-final stage here, after he did it in 2024 on his way to the final.
Today's final, Advani v Hall, has a recent history. In last weekend's English Open semi-final Hall beat Advani 1,024–169, according to the WPBSA, before losing the final 427–413 to Causier. Advani is a former world champion, and Hall is in his second world final in three years, having lost the 2024 one. The winner gets the John Roberts Trophy.
Shruthi L makes it three: India's Shruthi L beat Sweden's Eva Palmius in Wednesday evening's Women's World Championship final for her third world title in a row, after winning in 2024 and 2025. World Billiards says she made a 105 in the final. The WPBSA preview had Palmius looking to go further than last year, when she lost in the semi-finals, and she did.
Belfast — two last-ball deciders, and the home crowd gets its night
The late matches went on into the early hours. The last 16 is now set, and it's still wide open. Kyren Wilson and Mark Williams are the only top-16 players left. Scores per WST and the live scoring:
- David Gilbert 4–3 Gao Yang: Gao made 131 and 86 to lead 3–2. Gilbert took the sixth, and in the decider Gao was on 57, two pots from the match, when the penultimate red rattled in the jaws of a baulk pocket. It came down to the colours. Gilbert potted a long brown and cleared up. "I'm very lucky to still be in and very grateful," he said, per WST. "I should be out of the tournament – who knows this could be my week... But the likes of Kyren Wilson and Mark Williams are definitely still favourites."
- Jordan Brown 4–3 Michael Holt: the Antrim man is still going at the Waterfront Hall. Holt opened with a 51, and Brown levelled with a 113. Holt then made 64 and 67 to go 3–2 up, Brown made 101 to force a decider, and he won that with a 66 without Holt scoring a point (frame detail per the Irish News). "It's always special playing in front of a crowd like that in this arena," said Brown, who knocked out his friend Mark Allen on Tuesday and reached the quarter-finals here last year.
- Scott Donaldson 4–1 Noppon Saengkham: the Scot plays Brown tonight for a place in the last eight.
- Elliot Slessor 4–1 Jamie Jones: Jamie Jones knocked out Chris Wakelin on Monday. Slessor got a walkover in round one when He Guoqiang withdrew, and he plays Ricky Walden next.
- Martin O'Donnell 4–2 Luca Brecel: the live scoring has it finishing at 1.12am. O'Donnell, who beat Judd Trump in the first round, plays Mark Williams tonight.
Mark Williams was asked why so many seeds have gone. "The top 16 can't get easy draws any more," he said, per WST. "Everyone you play has won a few matches and they are really good players."
Quezon City — the last 64, live now
Day three of the Philippines Open started at 5am UK time, and the World Nineball Tour says only 16 will be left by tonight, Manila time. So far this morning:
- Carlo Biado 10–0 John Rebong: the two-time world champion whitewashed his fellow Filipino to reach the last 32. One Sports says he's hoping a Filipino can finally win the event this year.
- Fedor Gorst beat Jerico Banares: Banares had the crowd behind him, and after a bad scratch and what WNT called "big mistakes" Gorst was two racks down. He came back, with some help from what WNT called an "insane fluke", and won what they called "one hell of a battle". We haven't seen the final score. Gorst is into the last 32, which is worth $1,000 in the Mosconi Cup race.
- Shane Van Boening beat John Refulle: it finished with Refulle conceding with three balls still on the table.
- Francisco Sánchez Ruiz is through to the last 32 as well.
- Jaybee Sucal v Denis Grabe is on now. The teenager from Sarangani led the Arizona Open champion after three racks.
Wednesday results we hadn't reported yet (per Spin.ph and the World Nineball Tour): Billy Thorpe beat Ronel Nalaunan 10–9 in what WNT called "one of the craziest finishes you will ever see". Felix Vogel, the German teenager, beat Mohammed Baabad 10–3. Albert Januarta beat Pierfrancesco Garzia 10–1, Mickey Krause beat Nico Scalise 10–6, and Roland Garcia beat Alexis Ferrer 10–6. In the first round, Aleksa Pecelj beat Paul Gulbrandsen 10–1, Ralf Souquet beat Jun Villon 10–5, Skyler Woodward edged Kenneth Arpilleda 10–9, and Grabe beat John Carlo Miraflor 10–7.
Goyang — Cho Jae-ho, and the LPBA last 16
- Cho Jae-ho beat Kim Tae-ho in a shoot-out to reach the PBA last 64. Star News says he was 2–1 down in sets and 0–12 down in the fourth. He won that set 15–13 and then scored 9 to Kim's 2 in the shoot-out. He plays Kim Nam-su in the last 64.
- Vietnamese players keep winning: Q. Nguyen beat Lee Yong-jae 3–1, and the third-tour winner Nguyen Chan Thanh Tao beat Kim Jung-ho 3–0, with a perfect inning in the third set (per Star News).
- LPBA last 32: Lee Mi-rae was 2–1 down to Kim Jin-a and won the shoot-out 7–0 with her first shot, per Billiards & Sports. Park Jung-hyun beat Yong Hyun-ji 3–0 after missing 15 innings in a row at the start. She's made the last 16 at all five tour events this season. Seo Han-sol averaged 1.138 beating Han Seul-gi, and Im Jung-sook, Kim Bo-mi, Kang Yu-jin and Lee Eun-kyung are also through.
- Today's LPBA last 16 includes Kim Ga-young v Han Ji-eun. It's their eighth meeting, and Kim leads 4–3. Also on: Jeong Su-bin v Im Jung-sook, Lee Mi-rae v Kim Da-hee and Park Jung-hyun v Oh Su-jeong.
Elsewhere
- Gandia, European Seniors: the 10-ball got going on Wednesday, with the ladies joining the 46-plus and 56-plus men. Portugal's Miguel Silva won all three of his matches, including 7–1 against the straight pool medallist Francisco-Rafael Barcelo. Last year's ladies' 8-ball gold medallist Yvonne Ullmann-Hybler beat Murielle Vauthier 5–3. Germany's Martin Steinlage won three matches in the 56-plus and lost only four racks. Play resumes at 9am local time, and the 10-ball finishes on Friday (per EPBF).
- Oberhausen: Q Tour Europe Event Three starts today at Snooker Arena Germany.
- Coming up: the EPBF championships finish on Tuesday 27th with the 9-ball and team finals, and the Spanish Open Euro Tour event follows from 29 October to 1 November.
Today / where to watch (times BST)
- World Billiards Championship final: Pankaj Advani v Robert Hall at Landywood, live on the World Billiards YouTube channel.
- Northern Ireland Open last 16, 1pm: Kyren Wilson v Pang Junxu, Matthew Selt v Sam Craigie.
- About 3pm: Anthony McGill v Mateusz Baranowski, Elliot Slessor v Ricky Walden.
- 7pm: David Gilbert v Cheung Ka Wai, Mark Williams v Martin O'Donnell.
- About 9pm: Jak Jones v Daniel Wells, Jordan Brown v Scott Donaldson.
- All the snooker is on TNT Sports, Eurosport, HBO Max and WST Play. The quarter-finals (best of 11) are on Friday.
- Philippines Open: the last 64 and last 32 are on now, live on WNT TV, with one table free on the Matchroom Pool YouTube channel and One Sports in the Philippines. The semis and final are on Saturday.
- Goyang: the LPBA last 16 started at 7.30am, and the second session is at 12.30pm. The PBA last 64 runs all day, and Cho Jae-ho v Kim Nam-su is at 2pm.
- Gandia: the 10-ball last 16 is from 8am, with Tables 1 to 3 on Pro Billiard TV.
Feature image: “Pankaj Advani 2026” by BennyOnTheLoose, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
