McGuigan Waits on Matchroom

Barry McGuigan says he does not hold much hope of a long-awaited fight between Scott Quigg and Carl Frampton because of his doubts over whether Matchroom will commit to it.

Promoter Eddie Hearn told Sky Sports on Thursday that "60 per cent of the hurdles" had been cleared in an attempt to make it happen.

He also said there was a desire from both camps to arrange the world unification bout after a previous failure to agree terms.

On Tuesday, Hearn met with McGuigan's sons Jake and Blaine, who handle IBF super-bantamweight champion Frampton, and he was encouraged by their discussions.

While McGuigan admits the fight is a possibility, he has suggested the 28-year-old has other options to consider too.

If an agreement can be struck, it is expected WBA champion Quigg and Frampton would meet early next year.

McGuigan told Second Captains Live: "They've been speaking to Eddie Hearn, amongst others, and Al Haymon about Carl's next fight.

"There's a possibility of the Quigg fight. Maybe it will happen, this is the third time that we have sat down with them.

"Maybe it will happen this time."

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Mark Allen Tweets Again

Mark Allen continued his criticism of the Haikou World Open venue in China on Friday after beating Mark King 5-1 to reach the semi-finals.

UK Championship finalist Allen made headlines on Thursday when he criticised conditions at the Chinese venue as "horrendous".

Allen's latest comments on Twitter on Friday were related to the heat in the venue which he said was a "disgrace."

Mark Selby beat Shaun Murphy 5-0 in another of Friday's quarter-finals.

In Friday's other two quarter-finals, Graeme Dott will face Stephen Lee with John Higgins taking on Robert Milkins.

After his 5-4 win over Judd Trump on Thursday, Allen tweeted: "Dead cat found this morning. Any wonder this place stinks. Must be dead cats all round the town."

Allen continued his criticisms of the tournament venue on Twitter after his latest win over King, claiming that the heat in the arena made the conditions a "disgrace".

"World Snooker said air con was full up. We asked if we could take our bow ties off as it was too warm," Allen said on Twitter.

"Got to Kingy a bit more than me. Played alright though all things considered."

Allen, who has previously criticised World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn,was already facing the possibility of further disciplinary action following his comments on Thursday.

Allen wrote on Thursday: "This place is horrendous. It just baffles me how world snooker continuously go out of their way to put tournaments on in the middle of nowhere."

Left-handed Allen, who is from Antrim in Northern Ireland, is ranked 12th in World Snooker.

He deleted an earlier tweet in which he allegedly criticised the local population.

The Press Association reported Allen as saying: "Journey a nightmare. People are ignorant. Place stinks. Arena's rubbish, tables poor, food is horrendous. Other than that I love China."

Allen later partly apologised if any of his opinions had caused offence.

He wrote: "As usual people jump on the hate-Allen bandwagon. Might've been a bit harsh a few hours ago in my tweet. Not all Chinese people are ignorant. I stand by everything else though.

"I did take back the ignorant part but the smell is a joke. Not telling any lies.

"Nearly being spat on and general poor manners and personal hygiene are very poor. Not all like that though."

Ronnie Rockets Past Williams

Ronnie O'Sullivan's fine run of form continued with a 4-1 win over Mark Williams in the second round of the Welsh Open.

A recent winner of the German Masters, O'Sullivan sealed his place in the top 16 for the World Championship with victory over Marco Fu earlier in the week and he carried the momentum into his clash with Williams.

He started with a 125, sealing the century by knocking in a yellow with his left hand. Williams hit back with a 133 clearance of his own - only to see O'Sullivan counter with a 96.

Williams passed up a chance in the fourth and when he stuck a red over the pocket in the fifth, O'Sullivan steamed in to close out the match - extending his winning run over Williams which dates back to 2002.

O'Sullivan will now face good friend Judd Trump, after the youngster wasted little time beating Stuart Bingham in the evening session.

After seeing Bingham take the opening frame of the match, Trump reeled off four in a row - after a wasteful Bingham miss handed him the first of those - to claim a brisk 4-1 victory in an hour.

Seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry is out after he was outclassed by Mark Allen. Hendry was beaten 4-0 by the Northern Irishman, who now goes on to face Shaun Murphy in the last eight.

Also through to the quarter-finals is Stephen Maguire, who beat Matthew Stevens 4-2, and Stephen Lee, who was a 4-1 winner over Tom Ford.

In the final match of the day, Mark Selby defeated Martin Gould 4-1 to complete the line-up for the last eight encounters.

Hearn Plans Snooker Shake-up

World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn has outlined ambitious plans to shake-up the format of the World Championship.

Held at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre, the World Championship was thought to be untouchable when Hearn took over the running of the game.

However, in his attempts to freshen up snooker's image, Hearn has now admitted that changes could be made, with suggestions including increasing the field of players from 64 to 128 and upping the winner's cheque to £1million.

Speaking to the Daily Mirror, Hearn said: "People want to know what the total prize money is, and what the winner gets, not what the first-round loser gets. That is how a sport is perceived.

"Anyone losing in the last 128 would get nothing.

"We would do the first two rounds in multi-table situations at another venue, and could even hold a couple of matches over.

"Realistically this might have to wait a couple of years. A lot of my current TV contracts say I have to guarantee the top 16 at the Crucible, top 16 here, top 16 there.

"That is something we have to look at, be creative and work on to get people to accept that players have to earn that right constantly.

"Players will have to win another two rounds, but if they can't beat someone outside the top 64 in round one over best of 19 frames, they don't deserve to be there."

Higgins Advances Past Stevens

Current world champion John Higgins advanced to the last eight, beating Matthew Stevens 6-2.

Higgins, who began with a break of 90, won three frames in a row to progress.

The world number three has previously won the tournament twice but crashed out at the first round stage to Graeme Dott last year.

"I was a little bit nervous," said Higgins, who praised the event's new venue.

"It's the first competitive snooker I've played since the UK Championships last month.

"I always felt overawed at Wembley. It was such a massive area. I won it twice, but I've lost about seven or eight first-round games.

"Here, you're not as close as the Crucible, but it is an enclosed area and it gets a big thumbs up from me."

Judd Trumps Bingham at Masters

Judd Trump won four frames in a row to beat Stuart Bingham 6-3 and secure a quarter-final tie against Ronnie O'Sullivan on Thursday.

Bingham went 2-1 up in the best of eleven match but Trump levelled with a 107 break in the fourth frame.

Despite Bingham then taking a 3-2 lead, Trump took control in a run of four frames which included a 121 break in the seventh frame.

"I'll have to improve probably 50% if I want to beat Ronnie," admitted Trump.

"I felt relaxed and I felt after the first frame that I've got a lead and I thought I could run away with it, but I just kept giving him chances.

"I cannot give Ronnie those chances I was giving Stuart.

"The first round can be the hardest round. You want to get it out of the way, no matter how you do it."

Despite his two centuries the 22-year-old from Bristol was prone to errors that Australian Open champion Bingham was quick to capitalise on.

World number eight Trump looked at ease as he compiled a confident 87 in the opener, but made just 19 at the start of the second before a hasty blue paved the way for Bingham to hit a 69 and pull level.

Bingham prevailed in a scrappy third by hitting breaks of 24 and 25 in a close tussle before an emphatic 107 in the next improved Trump's mood.

The pair exchanged frames again as Basildon potter Bingham re-established his lead at 3-2.

Trump responded with gritty breaks of 25 and 29 to level before a break of 121 moved him ahead for the first time since the opening frame.

A 37 at the start of the eighth frame put Trump in charge but a superb long red triggered a run of 32 from Bingham before a missed pink let his opponent back in.

Leading 52-49 with the colours remaining, Trump was given half a chance on a long yellow after a period of cat-and-mouse and duly fired home before slotting in the remaining colours for a 5-3 lead.

Bingham hit breaks of 24 and 26 in response to Trump's 50 in the next to leave the frame delicately poised.

The players slugged it out for several shots before Bingham finally opened the door for Trump, who smashed in the green and the remaining colours to take the victory.

FACTFILE

Born: 21 August, 1989 in Bristol

Turned pro: 2005

World ranking: 8

Ranking titles: 2

2011 prize money: £236,940

Hankey Could Lead BDO Exodus

Ted Hankey could be the first of many players to make the switch from BDO to PDC according to darts supremo Barry Hearn.

The 43-year-old made the decision following his semi-final defeat at Lakeside to Christian Kist.

"I'll miss this place but it's time to move on," he said.

Hearn told BBC Radio 5 live: "I think Hankey and possibly several of the bigger BDO players will join the Q [qualifying] school in a week's time."

He added: "Darts is an exploding sport, there's huge amounts of opportunity, huge amounts of money and there's no surprise these players are making the move."

Fifteen-time world champion Phil Taylor recently urged Hankey to join him on the PDC circuit, saying: "Ted should show some bottle, come over and have a go. We're both Stokies and I want him to come over."

The PDC was first formed in 1992 with just 16 players, there are now over 400.

Hankey is the latest big name player to make the switch, the last one being Dutchman Raymond van Barneveld in 2006, after 15 years on the tour.

The Stoke born player made his debut in the BDO World Championships in 1998, reaching the quarter finals.

His first title came two years later beating Ronnie Baxter 6-0 in the final.

He reached the final again 12 months later, losing to John Walton before winning a second title in 2009 beating Tony O'Shea 7-6.

Hearn predicts that "The Count" will be a big hit.

"He's a big character and he's going to be a big success in the PDC circuit," he said.

"He's got something about him.

"That's the thing about sport these days is that the characters who play the game make it more exciting for the punters to go and watch and of course if they play at the highest level then they're a valuable addition."

PDC v BDO

In 1992, 16 of the world's top players formed a breakaway organisation, the World Darts Council (WDC), but continued to play in the BDO until 1993.

The WDC, later the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), held its own version of the world championship in 1994.

Former BDO world champions who made the switch to the PDC are John Lowe, Eric Bristow, Keith Deller, Bob Anderson, Phil Taylor, Dennis Priestley, John Part, Richie Burnett, Steve Beaton, Raymond van Barneveld, Jelle Klassen and Mark Webster.

Only four players have won both BDO and PDC world titles - Dennis Priestley, Phil Taylor, John Part and Raymond van Barneveld.

Allen and Hearn Rest Their Cues

World Snooker supremo Barry Hearn has settled his differences with Mark Allen ahead of the forthcoming Masters.

Allen caused huge controversy last month when he called for Hearn to resign and swore at a press conference.

"We had a good meeting and the chat we had was good at opening his mind as to where he wants to be," Hearn said.

"Does he want to be a superstar in an ever-expanding global sport, or does he want to go back to billiard halls and snooker parlours and eek out a living?"

Last month Hearn termed Allen a "silly little boy" and hinted at legal action following the Northern Irishman's comments at the UK Championship, when he also said "the whole tradition of the game is going to pot".

But Hearn told BBC Sport: "There was never going to be any legal action, I don't sue people, I'm much too busy to spend my time with lawyers.

"What I'm doing may not suit everybody, that's not my concern. My concern is the game in general and where we are going. A game run by committee is generally a game that goes nowhere, someone has to move the game forward."

Asked about the meeting with the world number 10, Hearn added: "I explained my strategy and I think he's a little wiser now.

"Every player must look on decisions that I make as 'how does this affect me personally?' My job is 'how does it affect the game?' It's my way or the highway.

"Mark's prize money this year is probably double what he's earned in the last couple of years so I must be doing something right. We had a very frank and friendly exchange of views and in the end I think he saw my point of view, but time will tell."

Another player to make headlines off the table recently was former world number one Ronnie O'Sullivan, who again threatened to retire following his defeat in the last 16 at the UK Championship last month.

"I look on Ronnie O'Sullivan as another version of Frank Sinatra," Hearn quipped. "He's always retiring but there's always one more concert!

"I think Ronnie is the type of character that falls in love and out of love with snooker on a daily, if not hourly, basis but he's one of the world's great entertainers, the game needs him and I believe also he needs the game.

"My job is to inspire people like Ronnie O'Sullivan to show them the rewards they can earn but I wouldn't really change him.

"He gives me column inches, he gives me notoriety, he gives me entertainment, but there are an awful lot of other players who are going to be challenging the likes of Ronnie O'Sullivan over the next few years. The game can never be reliant on one person."

The Masters, the tournament only open to the elite top 16 which begins on Sunday, will be staged for the first time at Alexandra Palace in London after being at Wembley since 1979.

"It's an iconic London building," Hearn said of the event's new home. "We've had a good few years at Wembley but I think it was time for a move.

"The World Darts Championship has been staged there for the last few years and has been hugely successful and the early signs are that Alexandra Palace is going to be good for snooker as well.

"We judge ourselves on the number of people that take the trouble to come and watch one of our live events and we have already comfortably gone past last year's numbers and are looking for really big crowds creating great atmosphere."

Hearn has ruled out any changes to the format of the World Championship for the time being, although indicated he would remain open to the possibility.

"I've never said the word never," the chairman said. "In the UK Championship two years ago I didn't envisage any changes at all but I have to listen to my customers, the British public. The players are part of it but not the entire story.

"As far as the World Championship is concerned I rather like to think we could leave it exactly as it is forever because I think it is an eccentric piece of British sport, where you have semi-finals lasting three or four days and go to matches and don't see a result.

"It's all quite alien to the way sport is generally now with the demand for fast track results and quick action but you can never say never, any tweaking would depend on what my customers tell me they want."

Hearn also announced on Monday that snooker's World Open, a ranking tournament, will be staged in the city of Haikou on Hainan Island in South China for the next five years. This season's event will runs from 27 February to 4 March.