Of Andy J and Cleetus McFarland; two grassroots ARCA sensations

On Saturday, Bayern Munich board member for sport Max Eberl confirmed that the German champions will not exercise their option to make Nicolas Jackson’s loan move from Chelsea permanent.

Jackson’s agent, Diomansy Kamara, has now responded with a statement on Instagram. solvita.blog

“Nicolas Jackson is having an excellent season: 28 matches played, 10 goals. African champion, German champion and also qualified for the (cup) final,” the agent wrote.

"Bayern Munich did not want to activate the buy option, and Nico remains 100% focused on the Champions League semi-final against PSG, a very important moment for him and for the club.

“Bayern is a very big institution; the most important thing is to win as many trophies as possible by the end of the season. The future… who can predict it? Trust the process, everything is possible.”

Jackson has scored 10 goals in 29 games for FC Bayern this season.

China's reigning champion Zhao Xintong defeated compatriot Ding Junhui 13-9 in a high-quality encounter to move into the 2026 World Championship quarter-finals.

Zhao, 29, began the final session with a 9-7 advantage, although 39-year-old Ding, the first Chinese player to win a ranking event, pulled one back by winning a 46-minute opening frame on Sunday.

However, Zhao then won the next two to move 11-8 ahead, before Ding took the 20th frame with a break of 76.

A break of 108 from Zhao, his third century of the match, took him to the brink of victory, and he sealed the win in the next frame.

Zhao, who also made five half-centuries, is trying to break the so-called 'Crucible Curse', which stems from the surprising fact that none of the previous 20 first-time winners of the World Championship in Sheffield have successfully retained the title the following year.

He will play 2005 champion Shaun Murphy next.

'A very special match for us'

Such was the interest in the match between Ding and Zhao in China that Jason Ferguson, chairman of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, suggested that "hundreds of millions" could be watching.

"This was a very special match for us that everybody knows about and wants to keep eyes on it," said Zhao. "There was more pressure, it is not like before.

"It was very different last year when I was a nobody guy, but now I don't want to lose any match and just want to keep going."

On his quarter-final with Murphy, Zhao added: "When he won the World Championship I was eight years old. When I was eight I saw him play with Ding many times and I know he's very good and still plays very good snooker.

"I will try my best. I'm far from my best."

Ding, the 2016 runner-up, made eight breaks of at least 54 in the match but was unhappy with his performance.

"It was not good enough, I was a little bit disappointed in the first two sessions," said Ding. "It's hard when I'm 7-9 down and he found his game quickly. I tried, it was just not working.

"He [Zhao] is doing well and he is improving every time. My thought is he is better than anyone."

The first session in the match between four-time champion Mark Selby and 22-year-old Wu Yize, the youngest player left in the tournament, finished level at 4-4.

Selby, 42, started in style with successive breaks of 123 and 124, only for China's Wu to then take the next three frames. But breaks of 81 and 65 from Selby allowed the Englishman to win two of the final three frames.

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That match resumes at 19:00 BST. The evening session will also feature the second part of the match between 50-year-olds Ronnie O'Sullivan and John Higgins, with O'Sullivan leading 6-2.

He could wrap up victory with a session to spare but would need to win seven of the eight frames to achieve that unlikely feat.

Trump and Robertson ahead in their last-16 ties

World number one Judd Trump holds a 9-7 lead over Iran's Hossein Vafaei with one session to go.

It was level at 4-4 after Saturday's opening session and Vafaei, 32nd in the rankings and the only qualifier to make it past round one, won the first frame on Sunday, only for Trump to take the next two.

Breaks of 82 and 65 restored Vafaei's lead, but 2019 winner Trump won the final three frames, making runs of 100, 74 and 94, to hold a two-frame advantage before it is played to a finish on Monday evening (19:00 BST).

Another former champion, Australian Neil Robertson, the 2010 winner, also has a lead going into Monday's final session against England's Chris Wakelin.

That was another match that was at 4-4 at the beginning of Sunday, with world number three Robertson winning six of the eight frames, including a 101 break in the final frame, to lead 10-6.

The winning target in the last-16 matches is 13 frames.

• Watch: World Snooker Championship - Zhao v Ding; Selby v Wu
• Crucible pressure '50 times worse than driving test'
• Will Zhao v Ding draw the biggest TV audience in snooker history?
• World Championship 2026: Match schedule, BBC TV times & results

Stojakovic, a 6-foot-7 guard, declared his entry for the draft on Sunday, giving him until May 27 to withdraw and maintain his college eligibility. The transfer from Stanford and California averaged 13.5 points on 50% shooting with 4.5 rebounds in his first season with the Illini.

Coach Brad Underwood praised Stojakovic's development despite missing seven weeks due to a preseason knee injury. Stojakovic becomes the second Illinois player to enter the 2026 draft, joining Keaton Wagler who announced his decision earlier this month.

The St. Louis Cardinals will try to salvage a game in the short homestand series versus the Mariners on Sunday as Michael McGreevy gets the start for St. Louis while Emerson Hancock will pitch for Seattle. First pitch scheduled for 1:15pm Sunday at Busch Stadium.