Well done Sleepy and all the best in your professional life!

Chen Zhe’s route:
Round 1: beat Jo Delaney 4-1
Round 2: beat Kyren Wilson 4-1
Round 3: beat Sydney Wilson 4-3
Round 4: beat Christopher Norbury 4-2
Round 5: beat Jordan Brown 4-1

The nominations were announced, yesterday, 10 May 2012, in Dorchester and here they are:

Snooker Writers Player of the Year: Ronnie O’Sullivan
Fans Player of the Year: Judd Trump
Rookie of the Year: Luca Brecel
Magic Moment of the Year: Stephen Hendry’s 147
Performance of the year: Stuart Bingham (for winning the Australian Open)
World Snooker Player of the Year: Ronnie O’Sullivan

Inducted into the Hall of Fame: Walter Donaldson, Mark Williams, John Higgins and Ronnie O’Sullivan

Well done guys!

Ronnie O’Sullivan has beaten Ali Carter 18-11 to secure his fourth World Championship title at the Crucible.

O’Sullivan, 36, resumed the day 10-7 ahead and took the first four frames, including a quick-fire break of 101, his 12th century of the tournament.

Carter looked a beaten man but rallied to win three frames in a row and take the match into a final session.

But Carter won only one more frame as the unstoppable O’Sullivan wrapped up proceedings in a little under an hour.

O’Sullivan, who had talked about retiring after his semi-final win, immediately announced his intention to take a six-month sabbatical from the game.

“A few people doubted me but I’ll let them know when I’m not ready,” the Englishman told BBC Sport. “I certainly haven’t gone yet.

“I am going to enjoy my time off with my family and then assess the situation, but it’s all good and I want to enjoy the moment.”

O’Sullivan was delighted to share his triumph with his young son, Ronnie Jr, who joined his dad in the arena after victory had been clinched.

“It was the best. I didn’t think I’d ever get the opportunity to share those moments with him so it was so nice to have him here,” he added.

“I got a bit emotional before the match was over, it felt like just me and him in the whole arena. There was just this massive connection between me and him, the best feeling I’ve ever had in my life.”

Carter, now a two-time runner-up, joked that he would win the title once his fellow Essex player had retired. “The better man won. He’s a genius. It’s the Ronnie O’Sullivan show, isn’t it?

“I’m pleased for the game that he’s carrying on playing. He’s got so much more to give.”

O’Sullivan, whose previous titles came in 2001, 2004 and 2008, is the oldest winner since his former mentor Ray Reardon claimed his sixth crown in 1978 at the age of 45.

He joins last year’s champion John Higgins on four titles and only Steve Davis and Ray Reardon, with six titles apiece, and seven-time winner Stephen Hendry, have lifted the trophy more times in the modern era.

O’Sullivan’s victory, which earned him a cheque for £255,000, secured his position as second seed in all of next season’s ranking events and his break from the game will not affect his ranking.

The final was a repeat of 2008, when O’Sullivan won 18-8, one of 11 victories over Carter in as many previous meetings in ranking events.

And while Carter’s obdurate displays before the final suggested he would be a tougher nut to crack than four years ago, O’Sullivan, who demonstrated unerring focus throughout the tournament, simply had too much poise and too much class.

O’Sullivan was even suffering from food poisoning on Sunday, but that did not stop him registering a break of 141 during the first session – the highest in World Championship final history.

He appeared to have shaken off the effects of his illness before Monday’s opener, rattling in his third century-break of the match to stretch his lead to four frames.

Carter missed a relatively straightforward pink to hand his fellow Essex player the next frame, and the next two frames followed a similar pattern.

In the next, Carter had three chances to secure the frame but missed them all, before the 32-year-old, with only the colours to clear, missed two attempts at the yellow to allow O’Sullivan to surge into a 14-7 lead.

At that stage it looked like O’Sullivan might win the match with a session to spare, but Carter avoided that ignominy, returning after the mid-session interval to take a scrappy frame before raising his arms in mock triumph.

Having steadied the ship, Carter compiled a battling 105, his first century break of the final, before reducing the gap to four courtesy of a break of 53. But O’Sullivan refocused, making a run of 64 to lead by five frames.

After the restart, O’Sullivan demonstrated his superior safety game once again, waiting for Carter to make a mistake before taking the frame with a run of 70.

Carter took the next, capitalising on a missed black by his opponent to chisel out a frame-winning break of 64, only for O’Sullivan to hit back, moving to within one frame of the title with breaks of 26 and 46 after some errant safety play from Carter.

And O’Sullivan wrapped up proceedings in the next, launching into his final assault on the world title with a thin cut to the middle which culminated in a match-winning break of 61.

Result: Ronnie O’Sullivan [14] 18 – 11 Allister Carter [13]
First session: 77-37 (56), 121-1 (117), 0-85 (84) 24-58, 86-42 (52), 2-55, 108-0 (92), 141-0 (141)
Second session: 8-84 (56), 70-21, 69-14 (68), 30-62 73-7, 60-13, 1-83 (59), 74-34 (62), 3-52
Third session: 101-0 (101), 73-12, 62-48, 81-41 (54) 9-59, 34-105 (105), 5-62 (53), 129-4 (64, 55)
Fourth session: 92-0 (70), 9-78 (64), 76-0, 82-0 (61)

Other matches involving Grove players:

Semi-Finals: Ronnie O’Sullivan 17-10 Matthew Stevens

Quarter Finals: Ronnie O’Sullivan 13-10 Neil Robertson

Round 2: Ali Carter 13-12 Judd Trump, Ronnie O’Sullivan 13-6 Mark Williams

Round 1: John Higgins 10-9 Liang Wenbo, Stephen Hendry 10-4 Stuart Bingham, Judd Trump 10-7 Dominic Dale, Ronnie O’Sullivan 10-4 Peter Ebdon

Qualifying:

Judd Trump and Ronnie O’Sullivan will be joined in the last 32 of this year’s event by fellow Grove player Liang Wenbo.

Wenbo made it through to the Crucible after defeating Marcus Campbell 10-9 and Justin Astley 10-3 in qualifying.

Yu Delu almost joined him, making it through to the final qualifying round after wins against Matthew Selt 10-5, Michael White 10-2 and Patrick Wallace 10-9, but was defeated by Stephen Hendry 6-10.

Jack Lisowski lost in qualifying round 6 to Alfie Burden 3-10 and Liu Song was defeated in round 5, 9-10 by Igor Figuerido.

Defending champion Judd beat Jimmy White 5-3 and Stuart Bingham 5-3 but then lost to Stephen Lee 3-5.

Ronnie beat Marcus Campbell 5-4 and Mark Williams 5-1 but was defeated by Stephen Maguire 5-4, the final frame decided on a respotted black.

Judd Trump also lost in round 2, having received a bye in round 1 but then losing 2-4 to Xiao Guodong.

Ronnie O’Sullivan was unable to participate due to illness. The tournament was won by Stephen Lee.

Stuart Bingham lost 5-0 in the first round to Michael Holt. Ronnie O’Sullivan was unable to take part due to illness.

Wenbo started in round 3 and beat fellow China player Xiao Guodong 5-2 before losing 0-5 to Peter Ebdon. Jack also started at the same stage and beat Dave Harold 5-3 before a defeat to Dominic Dale 2-5.

Delu came through there qualifying rounds, defeating Kacper Filipiak 5-0, Mark Joyce 5-2 and Jamie Burnett 5-1 before losing 1-5 against Stephen Hendry in the final qualifying round.

Liu Song lost 1-5 to Sam Craigie in round two. The China Open starts on 26 March in Beijing and Grove players Judd Trump, Ronnie O’Sullivan and Stuart Bingham will be taking part in the first round.

Since returning from Wales, Ronnie has been extremely tired and has again been advised to rest in order to recuperate. Regrettably, Ronnie has decided to withdraw from the Haikou World Open.

Ronnie says: “I am very sorry that I have to withdraw from Haikou; despite my illness I have been competing well in recent weeks and was greatly looking forward to taking part in the World Open and meeting my fans in China. However, I have to listen to my body sometimes and I have decided that I will be in better shape for the climax of the season and the World Championships if I listen to my doctor and spend the next few weeks resting. I hope I can make it to Ireland and China in March and look forward to seeing you all soon”.

Ronnie started in round 1 with a 4-1 win against Marco Fu and followed this up with a win by the same scoreline against Mark Williams. Ronnie then met fellow Grove player Judd Trump in the quarter finals and in an exciting match managed to edge Judd 5-3. However the effects of his illness got the better of him and he lost 2-6 in the semi-finals to Mark Selby.

Judd started with a 4-0 win against Fergal O’Brien and a 4-1 victory over Grove player Stuart Bingham, who had beaten Mark King 4-2 in the first round.

Liang Wenbo reached the final stages of a major ranking event for the first time this season after two 4-1 victories in qualifying over David Gilbert and Rory McLeod. However he had a tough first round draw against John Higgins and was defeated 1-4.

Yu Delu started with a 4-0 win against Luca Brecel but then lost 2-4 to Anthony McGill.

Jack Lisowski lost 2-4 to Adam Duffy in the third qualifying round. Liu Song was defeated in the second qualifying round 3-4 against Adam Wicheard.

Fittingly, for an event with a new Chinese sponsor, the trophy went to Ding Junhui who beat Selby 6-2 in the final.