World Snooker Tour Injury Report: Craigie's Comeback and Williams' Eye Surgery Decision

As the 2026/27 World Snooker Tour season gets underway, the physical toll of professional cue sports is taking center stage. While snooker lacks the high-impact collisions of field sports, the repetitive strain of bending low over the baize for up to ten hours a day places immense pressure on the human body.

Chronic neck pain, lower-back fatigue, and deteriorating eyesight are occupational hazards that can quietly derail a promising career. This season, however, the narrative is defined by resilience, as several top players return to the table after overcoming severe medical hurdles.

The most remarkable comeback belongs to former world under-21 champion Sam Craigie, who is fully re-establishing himself on the tour after a harrowing battle with a spinal injury. Craigie spent over a year suffering from debilitating shoulder and neck pain that left him unable to practice.[1][2]

An MRI eventually revealed a slipped disc in his neck, forcing him to make a critical decision about his future in the sport. In July 2024, Craigie underwent a C5/6 anterior cervical disc replacement to alleviate the unbearable nerve pressure.[2]

The initial recovery was far more grueling than anticipated. For the first six months following the operation, Craigie found himself entirely unable to bend over a snooker table to play a shot. The prolonged rehabilitation forced him to miss the entirety of the 2024/25 season, resulting in his drop out of the world's top 64 rankings.[2]

Rather than letting the injury end his career, Craigie fought his way back. Recognizing the severity of his medical absence, the World Snooker Tour granted him a two-year medical exemption card in June 2025. He steadily rebuilt his form, topping his group in the Championship League Snooker upon his return.[1]

By early 2026, Craigie had reached the last 16 of the Welsh Open, and he enters the current 2026/27 campaign actively competing in qualifiers and aiming to reclaim his top-32 status. While Craigie opted for immediate surgical intervention, three-time world champion Mark Williams is dealing with a different kind of physical decline: failing eyesight.[1][3]

The 51-year-old Welshman has been suffering from increasingly poor vision in recent years, a massive detriment in a sport that relies on millimeter-perfect sighting. Medical professionals have advised Williams to undergo lens replacement or laser eye surgery to correct the issue.[3]

Unwilling to disrupt his late-career renaissance, Williams has repeatedly chosen to delay the vital procedure. Driven by his dream of capturing a fourth World Snooker Championship title at the Crucible, he postponed the surgery until after the 2026 tournament and continues to manage his vision on the table.[3]

His decision highlights the difficult balance veteran players strike between necessary medical care and maintaining their competitive momentum. Meanwhile, Hossein Vafaei, the Iranian trailblazer, faced his own severe physical crisis when a debilitating spinal injury surfaced in early 2024.[4]

Given the immense strain snooker places on the lower back, spinal issues can easily force early retirement. However, Vafaei opted against going under the knife, choosing instead to pursue a highly conservative rehabilitation route.[4]

Vafaei returned to Iran for an extended period of rest paired with specialized, intensive physiotherapy. The non-surgical approach proved to be a massive success. The injury healed completely, allowing Vafaei to return to the baize with renewed vigor.[4]

His physical recovery culminated in a historic run to the quarter-finals of the 2026 World Snooker Championship, proving that targeted physical therapy can successfully salvage a player's back. Medical interventions in snooker are not limited to the spine and eyes, however.[4]

Former world champion Shaun Murphy took a radically different medical route to extend his career, undergoing gastric sleeve surgery to remove 80 percent of his stomach. While the primary goals were weight loss and improving his mental health, Murphy quickly realized the profound mechanical benefits on the table.[5]

Shedding the excess weight allowed him to bend over the baize far more comfortably and get significantly lower to the shot without physical obstruction. As the qualifiers for the Shenzhen Open and British Open signal the start of the 2026/27 calendar, the tour's injury report serves as a testament to the players' endurance.[5]

Whether through complex disc replacements, intensive physiotherapy, or sheer stubbornness to delay the surgeon's knife, snooker's elite are proving that overcoming the physical demands of the table is just as crucial as potting the final black.