The first of World Snooker’s Players Tour Championship events has kicked off in Sheffield, with professional Main Tour players and amateurs alike battling for a prize fund of £50,000.

Seven Grove players are taking part: Judd Trump, Liu Song, Matthew Selt, Zhang Anda, Jack Lisowski, Liu Chuang and Chen Zhe.

A fantastic performance by the Grove’s Zhang Anda on his first appearance at the final stages of a major tournament – but sadly not enough to oust his opponent, seven-time champion Stephen Hendry.
Anda showed why he is one of the game’s hottest prospects after getting within a few shots of a phenomenal upset. World number 10 Hendry had been cruising at the start of this clash leading 4-0 but Anda’s fearless battling qualities, witnessed in his four qualifying matches last month, got him back to 5-4 down for Sunday’s …

The Grove’s Zhang Anda will take on seven-times World Champion Stephen Hendry in the first round of the World Snooker Championships, on 17 April.
Anda told us: “I am very excited about the draw. Stephen Hendry is a snooker legend and it will be a dream and an honour to play him at the World Championships. I hope I will be able to give him a good game and I am looking forward to it very much.”
Ronnie O’Sullivan will meet another Chinese player, Liang Wenbo, in his first round …

Congratulations to the Grove’s Zhang Anda, who is currently on his best-ever run at the World Championship Qualifiers. Anda followed up wins against Craig Steadman, former World Champion John Parrott and Andrew Higginson with a 10-8 victory against provisional world no 16 Ricky Walden in the final qualifying round to reach the final stages at the Crucible to cap his very first year on the Main Tour.

Anda, who turned 18 on Christmas Day, was already celebrating as his win against world no 32 Andrew Higginson on Friday guaranteed his …

Friday
Judd Trump wasted no time in booking his place for the final stages at Beijing. He beat Tom Ford 5-1 and rattled in breaks of 114 and 100 on the way.
Judd will play Peter Ebdon in the last 32 – the tournament begins on 29 March.
Wednesday
Both Matt Selt and Mei Xiwen were defeated in their second round matches today. Matt lost 4-5 to Rod Lawler, going down 49-62 in the deciding frame – despite a break of 105 earlier in the match. Xiwen was up against an …

Friday
A great win today for Liu Song in the final qualifying round, beating world no 24 Michael Holt 5-1. It’s the first time in over two years that Song has reached the final stages of a ranking tournament and he is looking forward to meeting up again with sometime Grove player Neil Robertson on Monday afternoon in Newport.
A good win for the Grove’s newest player too – Judd Trump overcame in-form Rory McLeod 5-4. Judd was 2-4 down at one stage but hit a break of 127 to …