World Snooker Championship - Noppon Saengkham topples Luca Brecel, Mark Williams dominates Jackson Page

Luca Brecel’s World Championship woes continued with a 10-5 loss to Noppon Saengkham, while Mark Williams is in total control of his clash with Jackson Page. Brecel, winner of the Scottish Open earlier this season, suffered his fifth first-round defeat from his five appearances at the Crucible. Ad/> Noppon did the damage in the first session, as he secured a 6-3 lead, and despite a few jittery moments was able to complete the win and set up a meeting with John Higgins.

World Championship'So dangerous' — White and McManus impressed by Zhao and Williams17/04/2022 AT 18:55 The Thai should arguably have claimed a 10-3 win, but missed a simple ball with the match at his mercy. Brecel hit back to take that frame and followed up with a century to cut the deficit to four. He had an opportunity to increase the tension in the 15th but missed a simple blue, and Noppon stepped in to secure the win.

/> Williams and Page are extremely close, as they practice together and spend a lot of time in each other’s company. But there was no mercy shown by the three-time winner to the Crucible debutant as he secured a 7-1 lead in the race to 13. Ten Hag confirmed as new Man Utd boss Djokovic slams Wimbledon's ban on Russian and Belarusian players Williams kicked off the match with a superb break of 125, and it set the tone for the session.

He followed up with runs of 74, 53, 50, 100, 75 and 121 to keep the youngster cold. Page won the final frame of the session with a gritty clearance to avoid a session whitewash. -- Watch the World Championship and other top snooker live on Eurosport and discovery+.