Australians don’t do losing. From a young age they seem to be instilled with a fiercely competitive nature to triumph in whatever sporting arena you place them in. For a nation sandwiched between Taiwan and Syria in a list of countries by population they certainly exceed in pretty much every sport and have had world champions in tennis, rugby, cricket and golf.

One sport that has eluded them is snooker. But that all changed with Neil Robertson’s 18-13 victory over Scotland’s Graeme Dott on Sunday…

Snookers golden oldies featuring legends such as Alex ‘Hurricane’ Higgins, Steve Davis and Jimmy White will battle it out in the inaugural World Seniors Championship later this year.

Organiser Joe Johnson, winner of the World Snooker Championship in 1986, today announced that the tournament will have no less than six former world champions on show, with Ken Doherty, Peter Ebdon, John Parrott and Dennis Taylor confirmed to take part in the new event.

Ken Doherty refused to be drawn on his future in snooker after succumbing to a 10-4 first round defeat to Mark Selby in the World Snooker Championships.

Doherty, winner at the Crucible back in 1997, kissed the theatre floor after entering the arena to face Selby on Saturday, but it was the ‘Jester from Leicester’

The Dubliner, absent from snookers showpiece tournament 12 months ago,

Official
1. Ronnie O’Sullivan
2. Stephen Maguire
3. Shaun Murphy
4. John Higgins
5. Allister Carter
6. Ryan Day
7. Mark Selby
8. Marco Fu
9. Neil Robertson
10. Stephen Hendry
11. Mark Allen
12. Joe Perry
13. Ding Junhui
14. Peter Ebdon
15. Mark Williams
16. Mark King
17. Barry Hawkins
18. Jamie Cope
19. Dave Harold
20. Ricky Walden
21. Stuart Bingham
22. Joe Swail
23. Steve Davis
24. Michael Holt
25. Stephen Lee
26. Matthew Stevens
27. Liang Wenbo
28. Graeme Dott
29. Nigel Bond
30. Judd Trump
31. Fergal O’Brien
32. Gerard Greene
Provisional

RANK

PROV. 2009/2010
2008/2009
2009/2010

POS
NAME

TOT RANK PTS
RANK PTS
RANK PTS

1
John Higgins MBE

54020
31000
23020

2
Ronnie O’Sullivan

42835
23875
18960

3
Allister Carter

40220
24100
16120

4
Neil Robertson

38405
22825
15580

5
Ding Junhui

37175
13775
23400

6
Stephen Maguire

36695
22075
14620

7
Mark J Williams MBE

33899
14219
19680

8
Shaun Murphy

33655
23475
10180

9
Ryan …

One man who has embraced Barry Hearn’s walk on music initiative at this year’s Masters is Mark King.

The world number 16 strode out to the dulcet tones of Ice Cube’s ‘You Can Do It (Put Your Back Into It)’ in his matches against Jimmy White and Stephen Maguire, but his 6-3 defeat to the latter last night signals the end of anymore ostentatious entrances at The Masters.

Maguire will now face the winner of Ryan Day vs Joe Perry, while King will no doubt reflect on what could have been, as he had enough chances to wrap up victory over the Scot.

Shaun Murphy and Mark Williams both chalked up wins at Wembley Arena on Monday.

2005 World champion, Murphy, beat Stephen Hendry 6-4 in what was the closest match yet of this year’s Masters, while Mark Williams overcame Rory McLeod 6-2 to book his place in round 2.

Murphy faces the winner of Mark Williams’ clash with Ali Carter next up, while for Hendry his search for a first title in 5 years goes on…

It didn’t take long for new Snooker supremo Barry Hearn to flex his marketing muscles and secure a brand new snooker for The Masters.

Leading online poker site, Pokerstars.com, will sponsor the upcoming Wembley event and Hearn had this to say about the new deal – “This is another fantastic boost for snooker and it feels as if things are really turning around for our sport.”

Ken Doherty has admitted that he was surprised to learn of Sir Rodney Walker’s revolutionary plan to restructure the snooker calendar in 2010.

“It came as a big surprise and, without being too cynical, I hope it’s not just a ploy to get a few votes because of our AGM, which is on next week” said the 1997 world champion.

Walker’s proposal could see snooker visiting countries such as Brazil, Poland, Romania and Australia next year, but Doherty has questioned the timing of the announcement…