Irish snooker starting on long road back to glory days Updated / Saturday, 17 Apr 2021 09:10 The World Snooker Championships begins today. Judd Trump is the favourite after a stellar season which has seen him win five tournaments, while Ronnie O'Sullivan is the defending champion and can match Stephen Hendry's modern record of seven titles with a victory in two weeks' time. Or might this be the year when we finally see a winner from outside of a current or former British Commonwealth country? There was disappointment for the Irish players involved in the qualifiers, with all eight failing to progress to the main draw.