The 2023 World Snooker Championship took place from 15 April to 1 May 2023 at the Crucible Theatre (pictured) in Sheffield, England. The qualifying rounds produced a 115 break by Ng On-yee, the highest by a woman in the tournament's history. The defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan made a record 31st appearance at the tournament's main stage, surpassing the 30 appearances by Steve Davis, but he lost 10–13 in the quarter-finals to Belgian player Luca Brecel. Si Jiahui became the first Crucible debutant to reach the semi-finals since Andy Hicks at the 1995 event. Brecel came from 5–14 behind to defeat Si 17–15, the first player to win a match at the Crucible after trailing by nine frames. Brecel went on to defeat Mark Selby 18–15 in the final, becoming the sport's first world champion from mainland Europe. Two maximum breaks were made at the main stage, one by Kyren Wilson in the first round and the other by Selby, who became the first player to make a 147 in a world final.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_World_Snooker_Championship

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1580:

English explorer Francis Drake's galleon the Golden Hind (replica pictured) sailed into Plymouth, completing his circumnavigation of the globe. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Hind

1928:

The Nationalist government of China adopted Gwoyeu Romatzyh as the official system for the romanization of Mandarin Chinese. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwoyeu_Romatzyh

1983:

Cold War: Soviet lieutenant colonel Stanislav Petrov averted a potential nuclear war by identifying as a false alarm signals that appeared to indicate an impending U.S. missile attack. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Soviet_nuclear_false_alarm_incident

2010:

Scottish aid worker Linda Norgrove and three Afghan colleagues were kidnapped by members of the Taliban in Kunar Province, Afghanistan. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Linda_Norgrove

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

any port in a storm: (idiomatic) One should accept any passable option when time is of the essence in an adverse situation. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/any_port_in_a_storm

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Do not let me hear Of the wisdom of old men, but rather of their folly, Their fear of fear and frenzy, their fear of possession, Of belonging to another, or to others, or to God. The only wisdom we can hope to acquire Is the wisdom of humility: humility is endless.   --The Four Quartets https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Four_Quartets