John Higgins Beats Ronnie O’Sullivan, Hossein Vafaei Stuns Judd Trump 13-12

The World Snooker Championship at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield delivered a double knockout on Monday evening, with John Higgins ending Ronnie O’Sullivan’s hopes of a record eighth title and world number one Judd Trump also eliminated.

“Four-time winner John Higgins produced a sensational recovery from 8-3 and 9-4 down to defeat Ronnie O'Sullivan 13-12, but world number one Judd Trump was eliminated on a thrilling day at the World Championship”

BBC

Higgins produced a recovery from 8-3 and 9-4 down to defeat O’Sullivan 13-12, with the match swinging after O’Sullivan lost six successive frames at the Crucible for only the fifth time.

BBC

BBC Sport described how O’Sullivan twice held five-frame leads in Sunday’s second session, then regained the lead at 11-10 when he won the 20th and 21st frames.

Higgins then won two frames in a row to move one away at 12-11, but O’Sullivan’s break of 81 forced a decider, where Higgins made the decisive frame.

In the other last-16 tie, Trump lost 13-12 to Iranian qualifier Hossein Vafaei at the Crucible, with Vafaei winning the final frame decider after Trump led 12-11.

BBC reported that Vafaei, the current world number 32, came through two qualifying matches and was the only qualifier to win in the first round, and that he made breaks of 106 and 91 to come from 12-11 down to win 13-12.

TNT Sports’ live commentary similarly framed the day as a sequence of Crucible exits, saying “Crucible icons Ronnie O'Sullivan, who lost 13-12 to John Higgins from 9-4 ahead, and Mark Selby were both ousted earlier on Monday.”

The Higgins-O’Sullivan clash turned on a sequence of momentum shifts across Sunday and Monday, with BBC describing how Higgins won the last three frames on Sunday and then maintained that momentum by taking the first three on Monday.

BBC said O’Sullivan lost six successive frames at the Crucible for only the fifth time, and it also detailed the critical decider moment: Higgins had the first chance but missed a red into the middle at 16-0 to give O’Sullivan a lifeline, before O’Sullivan could only score eight points and failed to pot a red.

FlashScore UK

The Guardian’s account emphasized that Higgins fired three centuries on Monday before holding his nerve, and it noted that O’Sullivan twice led by five frames before losing six in a row over the final two sessions.

The Guardian also described the match’s early shape, saying Higgins looked more likely to exit after trailing 8-3 then 9-4 and looking “bereft of his usual battling qualities,” before he chipped back to a 9-7 overnight deficit.

In the final session, The Guardian wrote that O’Sullivan’s break of 58 in the opening frame was followed by successive centuries that shunted Higgins in front for the first time at 10-9, before O’Sullivan responded with a coolly dispatched 62 to haul level.

RTE.ie’s narrative tracked the same turning points with different emphasis, describing how O’Sullivan twice led by five frames but lost six frames on the bounce across the final two sessions, and how Higgins fired three centuries on Monday before holding his nerve to get over the line in the decider.

Sky Sports added that O’Sullivan had led 6-2 before Higgins fightback in Sunday’s second session, and it said the match was “best-of-25-frames” as Higgins ended it 13-12.

Across the other tie, Vafaei’s comeback was framed as a reversal of Trump’s control, with The Guardian saying Trump led 10-7 and 12-11 before Vafaei claimed a 13-12 victory in the final frame decider.

After the Higgins win, Higgins framed his comeback as a refusal to give up, telling BBC: "It was just about not giving up" and adding, "At 6-2 behind, I said to the family 'I've got to win the next two sessions'."

“Vafaei continues to be the tricky opponent many expected for Trump, but thanks to three big breaks in a row, the world number one takes a lead into tomorrow”

FlashScore UK

He also credited O’Sullivan’s cue ball control, saying, "Ronnie played amazing in that game, his cue ball control."

O’Sullivan responded with a different tone, telling BBC that he was shocked he could make a game of it, saying, "I was really shocked that I was able to make a game of it to be honest with you."

The Guardian captured O’Sullivan’s admission that he got what he deserved, quoting him as saying, “I haven’t been in any big matches really for two years and these games, it's a different level.”

In the same BBC report, Trump’s exit to Vafaei came with a blunt assessment of his own performance, as Trump said, "It hurts but I had my chances" and, "I'm not angry about it, I just was not good enough."

Vafaei, meanwhile, spoke with confidence about the moment, telling BBC, "I'm looking forward to playing anyone - I'm not scared of anyone and all of them know that," and he said, "It's one of the biggest wins of my career."

The Guardian added Vafaei’s post-match remarks about mental preparation, including, “I’ve been working on the mental side, I’ve wanted to be calmer and perform.”

Even Mark Selby’s comments after his earlier Monday exit were captured by The Guardian and RTE.ie, with Selby branding the playing surface “horrific” and saying, “I felt like the conditions were the worst I’ve experienced here at the World Championship, for sure.”

While the core results were consistent across outlets, the framing varied in ways that shaped how readers understood the same matches.

BBC foregrounded the match mechanics and turning points, describing Higgins’s decider sequence where he missed a red into the middle at 16-0 and then O’Sullivan failed to pot a red, and it also highlighted that O’Sullivan lost six successive frames at the Crucible for only the fifth time.

Sky Sports

The Guardian, by contrast, leaned into the narrative of shock and atmosphere, calling Vafaei’s win “the biggest shock of this year’s World Snooker Championship” and describing the “incredible” atmosphere and the ovation that Higgins and O’Sullivan received.

TNT Sports leaned into live immediacy and frame-by-frame drama, listing breaks such as 53, 55, 77, 106 and 91 and describing Vafaei as the “Prince of Persia,” while also providing a quarter-final reward line that Vafaei would face Wu Yize.

The Times emphasized the match as a “dramatic last-frame decider” and tied it to a broader rivalry timeline, noting it was the pair’s seventh World Championship contest “30 years after their first,” and it also described the Crucible’s memorabilia cabinets and the “Class of ‘92” framing.

Sky Sports focused on the match’s structure and the early lead swings, stating O’Sullivan thumped the table in frustration and that Higgins ended the session down 9-7 in the best-of-25-frames clash, while also reporting on other second-round matches and a controversial referee moment in Robertson’s game.

ESPN’s account, meanwhile, also covered the Sunday night session and the Sunday-to-Monday momentum, but it placed additional emphasis on other concurrent matches such as Zhao Xintong’s 13-9 win over Ding Junhui and the “Crucible Curse” context.

Even within the Vafaei story, The Guardian and BBC differed in emphasis: The Guardian highlighted Vafaei’s nerves of steel and his quote about the tournament being his, while BBC highlighted his comeback from 12-11 down with breaks of 106 and 91 and his Sheffield home-city comments.

The immediate consequence of Monday’s last-16 results was a reshaped quarter-final line-up, with Higgins advancing after eliminating O’Sullivan and Vafaei reaching the quarter-finals for the first time.

“World Snooker Championship: Ronnie O'Sullivan thumps table as John Higgins cuts gap to two frames in second round clash Ronnie O'Sullivan leads John Higgins 9-7 in World Snooker Championship second round clash; 'Class of ‘92' rematch is for place in quarter-finals and concludes on Monday; O'Sullivan had led 6-2 before Higgins fightback in Sunday's second session Last Updated: 26/04/26 10:59pm Ronnie O'Sullivan thumped the table in frustration as John Higgins fought back in the second session of their second round match at the World Snooker Championship on Sunday night”

Sky Sports

BBC reported that Higgins would face either Neil Robertson or Chris Wakelin next, while it also said Vafaei would play China’s Wu Yize, with Vafaei saying he was “looking forward to it against Wu and fancy the job - let's see how talented he is.”

talkSPORT

The Guardian similarly stated that Vafaei moved through to the quarter-finals for the first time and that he was warmly congratulated by Trump at the end, and it also noted that O’Sullivan’s attempt for a record-breaking eighth Crucible crown was shattered by Higgins’s comeback.

TNT Sports added a schedule detail, saying Vafaei’s reward is a quarter-final meeting with Wu Yize on Tuesday and Wednesday, and it also reported that Neil Robertson secured a clash with Higgins in the last eight after completing a 13-7 win over Chris Wakelin.

The Independent’s reaction coverage also laid out the quarter-final matchups, stating that Higgins will continue his hunt for a fifth world title in a quarter-final against either Neil Robertson or Chris Wakelin, and it included Mark Selby’s “horrific” table criticism as part of the post-exit reaction.

RTE.ie described Selby’s criticism and also included a World Snooker Tour spokesperson quote about conditions, saying, “There are always challenges in providing the best possible conditions for players as there are many factors which affect this.”

That same RTE.ie report quoted the spokesperson further, adding, “Our dedicated team of table-fitters work tirelessly in delivering the best possible conditions and they are constantly monitoring the tables,” and it said the tour has “systems in place where players can give feedback after every match.”

Beyond the quarter-finals, the event’s broader stakes were reflected in the players’ comments about pressure and preparation, with Higgins saying he needed “a good rest” and that “this tournament is so tough,” and with Vafaei saying, “If it’s my tournament, it’s going to happen.”