89-540: The Players Championship is a professional ranking snooker tournament. Held as the Players Tour Championship Finals from 2011 to 2016, it was rebranded as the standalone Players Championship in 2017. One of three events in the Players Series , it features the top 16 players on the one-year ranking list. Mark Allen is the reigning champion, having won the 2024 event . After the establishment of
178-696: A Greek shepherdess figurine, was acquired by Davis in 1926 for £19 and continues in use to this day. No tournaments were held between 1941 and 1945 due to World War II , or between 1952 and 1963 due to a dispute between the Professional Billiards Players' Association (PBPA) and the Billiards Association and Control Council (BACC). The PBPA held an unofficial alternative, the World Professional Match-play Championship , between 1952 and 1957. The official championship
267-563: A break of 99, missing out on his century after he snookered himself. There were five entries in 1933 , with debutant Willie Smith meeting Davis in the final, but lost 18–25. There were just two entries in 1934 , Davis being opposed by Tom Newman, six times World Billiards Champion. The match was held partly in Nottingham before finishing in Kettering , with Davis winning 25–22. The 1935 Championship introduced some significant changes. It
356-451: A break of fifty-eight to clinch the title. Fergal O'Brien made a century in his first frame at the Crucible, the only player ever to do so. In 1995, Hendry and White met in the semi-finals, where Hendry won again, making a maximum break during the match. In the other semi-final Nigel Bond beat unseeded Andy Hicks . The final was initially close until Hendry won nine frames in a row to take
445-507: A change in format, with the tournament played over two weeks at a single venue rather than over an extended period. Sixteen played in the first round, the eight winners playing eight seeded players in the second round. In the semi-finals, defending champion Alex Higgins lost 9–23 to Eddie Charlton while Ray Reardon beat John Spencer 23–22. In the five-day final Charlton led 7–0 after the opening session but Reardon led 17–13 after two days. The match continued to be close but Reardon pulled ahead on
534-427: A prize money list for the 2014–15 season , with prize money earnings in events carrying ranking status contributing to a players ranking. World Snooker Championship The World Snooker Championship is the longest-running and most prestigious tournament in professional snooker . It is also the richest, with total prize money of £2,395,000 in 2023 , including £500,000 for the winner. First held in 1927 , it
623-408: A record which was equalled in 2012 and 2024. James Wattana , from Thailand made history in 1993 - becoming the first Asian player to reach the semi-finals, where he lost to Jimmy White. The final was one-sided, with Stephen Hendry beating White 18–5 with a session to spare, the last time (as of 2023) that the final has been won without needing a fourth session. Total prize money reached £1,000,000 for
712-461: A row to win 17–15. In the final, Williams met fellow Welshman Matthew Stevens . Stevens led 13–7 but Williams made another comeback to win 18–16, becoming the first left-handed champion. 2000 was the first time (and, as of 2023 the only occasion) where the final was contested by two Welsh players. Ronnie O'Sullivan won his first world championship in 2001 , defeating John Higgins 18–14 in the final. O'Sullivan led 14–7 before Higgins won four frames in
801-467: A row. O'Sullivan looked likely to win the title in the 31st frame as he led 17–13 and 69–6, however he missed a red in the middle pocket and Higgins won the frame with a break of 65. Higgins made a break of 45 in frame 32 but O'Sullivan then made an 80 break to take the title. Stephen Hendry beat defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan 17–13 in the semi-final of the 2002 Championship , Hendry reaching his ninth final. Peter Ebdon beat Matthew Stevens 17–16 in
890-465: A seeded player lose their first match they would receive only half the points allocated to the non-seeded losers in that round. The World Championship continued to award more points than the other events but under the "open era" system the allocations often varied between other events too, with the UK Championship traditionally having the second-highest tariff. The ranking point schedule was replaced by
979-480: A tie-break when players were on equal ranking points. When the game went open for the 1991–92 season , the ranking point allocations (devised by the WPBSA chairman on the back of a cigarette pack) were altered by several factors to accommodate the influx of new players. The tie-break system was dropped but the system remained basically the same with players awarded incrementally more points for each successive round; should
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#17328515085431068-579: A winning 73–37 position early on the tenth day. Having boycotted the official championship, the PBPA established their own championship called the PBPA Snooker Championship which attracted ten entries. Fred Davis and Donaldson were given byes to the semi-final stage, and met again in the final, held at the Blackpool Tower Circus, as Davis won 38–35. A second such championship was played
1157-480: Is now one of the three tournaments (together with the UK Championship and the invitational Masters ) that make up snooker's Triple Crown Series . The reigning world champion is Kyren Wilson . Joe Davis dominated the tournament over its first two decades, winning the first 15 world championships before he retired undefeated after his final victory in 1946 . The distinctive World Championship trophy, topped by
1246-415: Is the youngest champion in the tournament's history, winning his first title in 1990 aged 21 years and 106 days. O'Sullivan became the oldest champion in 2022 when he won his seventh title aged 46 years and 148 days. O'Sullivan also holds the record for the most Crucible appearances with 32, having taken part in the tournament every year between 1993 and 2024 . Fourteen maximum breaks have been made in
1335-463: The 1931 championship . Davis and Tom Dennis met for the fourth time, the event being played in Nottingham. Dennis led 19–16 at one stage, but Davis won nine of the next eleven frames to take the Championship 25–21. There were three entries for the 1932 tournament . Clark McConachy met Davis in the final, played at Thurston's Hall. Davis took the title after a 30–19 win, and set a new record with
1424-441: The 1947 championship , Fred Davis and Walter Donaldson , agreed to delay the final until the autumn so that it could be played at the rebuilt Thurston's Hall. Donaldson got off to a good start, leading 44–28 after the first week and eventually took a winning 73–49 lead early on the 11th day. The pair met again in the 1948 final , Fred Davis and Walter Donaldson again reached the final, with Davis winning 73–49. They also contested
1513-410: The 1949 final, and although Donaldson led 39–33 after the first week, Davis pulled ahead on the second week and eventually took a winning 73–58 lead. After three finals at Leicester Square Hall the 1950 final moved to Blackpool Tower Circus . Fred Davis and Donaldson met in the final for the next two years, with Donaldson winning in 1950, 49–42, and Davis in 1951 . Following a dispute between
1602-615: The 2010–11 season , rankings have been updated after every ranking tournament. The world rankings were formerly based on point tariffs set by the governing body, but this system transitioned to a prize money list for the 2014–15 season . The rankings determine the seedings for tournaments on the World Snooker Tour , organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), and who gets an invite to prestigious invitational events. Tournaments open to
1691-441: The 2010–11 season , the system was revised to incorporate ranking updates after every tournament—instead of once a season—in an effort to make the rankings more reflective of current form. The current system utilises a two-year "rolling" format where points from tournaments in the current season replace the points from corresponding tournaments of two seasons ago. The seedings for tournaments change from tournament to tournament:
1780-726: The Players Tour Championship , the Players Tour Championship Finals was first held in 2011 at The Helix in Dublin , between the top 24 players of the Order of Merit, who played at least six events; three in Sheffield and three in mainland Europe. The event was sponsored by PartyCasino . In 2012 the event moved to the Bailey Allen Hall in Galway , and was sponsored by Betfair . In 2013
1869-496: The World Snooker Tour . First introduced in the 1976–77 season , world rankings are maintained by the sport's governing body, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association . Each player's world ranking is based on their performances in designated ranking tournaments over the preceding two years. Until the 2009–10 season , rankings were updated once annually, following the World Snooker Championship . Since
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#17328515085431958-426: The " class of '92 ": Ronnie O'Sullivan won five times in this period, John Higgins three times and Mark Williams twice. Higgins had also won in 1998; Williams would win again in 2018 and O'Sullivan went on to win in 2020 and 2022. In 2000 Stephen Hendry was beaten 10–7 in the first round by Crucible debutant Stuart Bingham . In his semi-final, Mark Williams trailed 11–15 to John Higgins but took six frames in
2047-575: The "Order of Merit" for the 1975–76 season . The system was very basic, with seedings based on the results of the last three World Championships, and rankings were formally introduced in 1976 after the World Championship for the 1976–77 season using the same criteria. By the 1982–83 season many more tournaments were being contested, and it seemed reasonable to take those results into consideration too. The Professional Players Tournament and International Open were awarded ranking status, working on
2136-469: The 1975–76 season and based on just World Championship results, awarded the winner five points, the runner-up four, semi-finalists three, and so on down to one point for players who lost in the last 16. The world rankings, introduced in the following year, used the same allocation. Subsequent tournaments that were assigned ranking status worked on the same system but with the World Championship from 1983 onwards carrying double points. The ranking point allocation
2225-489: The Davis brothers meeting in the final. Joe led 15–10 but then Fred won eleven frames in succession to lead 21–15. On the final day Joe made a 101 break to take a winning 37–35 lead. The spectators cheered for nearly a minute when Joe made his century. In October 1940, during The Blitz , Thurston's Hall was destroyed by a parachute mine which demolished the south-western corner of Leicester Square. No tournaments were played during
2314-633: The European Tour Order of Merit and eight through the Asian Tour Order of Merit. In the 2016/17 season, the Players Tour Championship was cancelled and the main event was renamed to Players Championship and moved to Llandudno , Wales. It is now played between the top 16 players on a one-year ranking list. Snooker world rankings The snooker world rankings are the official system of ranking professional snooker players to determine automatic qualification and seeding for tournaments on
2403-466: The Professional Billiards Players' Association (PBPA) and the Billiards Association and Control Council (BACC), members of the PBPA boycotted the 1952 championship . The BACC thought the championship should be primarily a matter of honour, and financial considerations should come second. As a consequence of the boycott there were only two entries, Lindrum and McConachy. McConachy had played in
2492-417: The WPBSA is assigned a ranking, whether they are active on the circuit or not. Prior to the introduction of the world rankings, the previous year's winner and runner-up were allocated the top seedings in the World Championship, held annually. As more tournaments were added to the calendar and more players joined the circuit in the 1970s, it became increasingly necessary to seed the tournaments, precipitating
2581-430: The battle for the number one spot, top 16 places, and tour qualification intensified. The introduction of the rolling rankings in 2010 facilitated updates to the seeding list throughout the season. Various "cut-off" points are selected at convenient stages during the season where the rankings are "frozen" and used as seedings for the next few tournaments, until the next revision. The original "Order of Merit", created for
2670-477: The championship record set by Rex Williams in South Africa in 1965. In the 1980 championship , the number of participants was extended to twenty-four players. Those seeded from nine to sixteen each met a qualifier in the first round, the winner meeting one of the top eight seeds in the second round. Several changes were made to accommodate the extra matches, including a reduction in the number of frames played in
2759-421: The chance to win a seventh world title. Cliff Thorburn made the first maximum break of the World Championship in 1983 during his second-round match against Terry Griffiths . The importance of this achievement at the time is demonstrated by the fact that play was stopped on the other table. This was the break that gave the World Championship one of its most iconic words of commentary, "oh, good luck mate" on
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2848-451: The defending champion is allocated the top seed followed by the reigning world champion and the remaining seeds are taken from a "seeding list". When the official rankings were only calculated once a year the seedings for tournaments—with the exception of the top two seeds—followed the official rankings. Players and pundits closely tracked the ranking points earned during a season; the "provisional rankings" (which had no official status in
2937-406: The entrance charges. Because of the importance of gate receipts, all frames were played out, even if a player had already won the match. There were five entries in 1935 Championship . Joe Davis beat Willie Smith 28–21 in the final. Davis recorded the first century break in the history of the championship, 110 in his semi-final match against Tom Newman . The break was made in a dead frame but
3026-620: The event was sponsored by Dafabet , and the competition was expanded to 32 players. The field consisted of the top 25 players from the UK/European Order of Merit, the top four players from the Asian Order of Merit and the three APTC event winners. The seedings of the final was based on the combined list of both Order of Merits. In 2014 the event moved to the Guild Hall in Preston , England. It
3115-447: The fifth day. Fred Davis met John Pulman in the 1955 final at Blackpool Tower Circus, with Davis winning 38–35. Davis defeated Pulman again in the 1956 final , but did not enter the 1957 championship . Pulman defeated Jackie Rea in the final to win his first world title. With the approval of the BACC, the championship was revived on a challenge basis in 1964 . The first contest
3204-574: The final afternoon session and clinched the match by winning the first frame in the evening with a ninety-seven break. Spencer and another of the new professionals, Gary Owen , met in the final at the Victoria Halls in London. Spencer won the seventy-three frame final 37–24. Spencer lost to Ray Reardon at the semi-final stage of the 1970 Championship . Reardon went on to win the final against John Pulman to win his first title. The next world championship
3293-422: The final black, courtesy of Jack Karnehm . Thorburn beat Griffiths in a final-frame decider, a match that finished at 03:51, the latest-ever finish for a match at the Crucible. Thorburn then also won his quarter-final and semi-final matches in the deciding frame; exhausted, and deflated by the news that his wife had suffered a miscarriage, he faced a one-sided final against Steve Davis who won 18–6. The 1984 final
3382-399: The final day to win 38–32, for his second title. The 1974 Championship followed a similar format but with somewhat shorter matches and event reduced to ten days. Sixty-year-old Fred Davis beat Alex Higgins in the quarter-finals before losing to Ray Reardon. Reardon met Graham Miles in the three-day final. Reardon led 17–11 after two days and won comfortably 22–12. The 1975 Championship
3471-541: The final day, leading 73–62. Davis made six centuries in the final, setting new championship records of 133 and 136. The event proved a financial success for the players, with Davis receiving £1,800 and Lindrum £550. In October 1946, Joe Davis announced that he would no longer play in the World Championship, having never lost a match in the championship from its inception in 1927. He did not, in any other sense, retire from snooker, continuing to play in other tournaments and exhibition matches for many years. The finalists for
3560-402: The final he beat Mark Williams 18–11. In the semi-final between Hendry and O'Sullivan each player made four century breaks including a run of four centuries in four consecutive frames, two by each player. The eight centuries were a record for a world championship match. The period from 2000 to 2013 was dominated by three players, who were all born in 1975 and turned professional in 1992, dubbed
3649-512: The final stages of the World Championship and the Masters , so as well as interest in who will be number one , there is typically a lot of interest in which players are likely to maintain or acquire "top 16 status". Players are awarded ranking points according to the round they reach in ranking tournaments —specially designated tournaments that carry ranking status. Every professional member of
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3738-484: The final stages, a new record. Ronnie O'Sullivan made the fastest maximum break in snooker history in 1997 - in the first round of the championship - taking just five minutes and eight seconds. The final was between Stephen Hendry and Irishman Ken Doherty . Doherty led 15–7 before Hendry won five frames in a row. Doherty then won the next three frames to win 18–12, ending Hendry's winning run of twenty-nine consecutive matches. In 1998, Stephen Hendry lost to Jimmy White in
3827-425: The final, and led 17–13 at the half-way stage, but Davis recovered to win the match 32–29. Davis made a break of 103 in the final, the first championship century in live play. Lindrum chose not to enter the 1938 event , which Davis also won, beating Sidney Smith in the final. The following year, Davis met Smith again in the final, and took a winning 37–25 lead on the final day. The 1940 Championship featured
3916-456: The final, played in Dennis's home town of Nottingham . Davis made a new record break of 61, on the way to a 19–14 victory. The same pair met in the 1930 final , played for the first time at Thurston's Hall in London, with Davis winning 25–12, with a day to spare and made a new record break of 79. With little prospect of success and little prospect of financial gain, there were only two entries for
4005-415: The final, to a maximum of thirty-five. Cliff Thorburn met Alex Higgins in the final. The match was level at 9–9 after the first day and again at 13–13 after the afternoon session on the second day. During the evening session, the score was tied once again at 16–16, before Thorburn made a 119 clearance in frame thirty-three and a break of fifty-one in frame thirty-four to win the championship. Despite being
4094-435: The final. Prize money peaked in 2003 with the winner receiving a record £270,000 and the thirty-two Crucible players getting at least £15,000. Ronnie O'Sullivan made the fifth maximum break in the World Championship during his first round match against Marco Fu becoming the first player to score two 147s in the event; however O'Sullivan was defeated 10–6, becoming the first player to make a maximum break and then go on to lose
4183-449: The first day and won the first five frames on the second day to win the match 18–3. As of 2023, Davis' victory in 1989 is the biggest winning margin in a World Championship final and one of only three occasions where the final has been won on the Sunday afternoon, with a session to spare. Davis won £105,000 for his 1989 victory, a new record. In 1990, Steve Davis failed to reach the final for
4272-430: The first frame on the last day. However Davis won the last ten frames in a row to win 34–27. Qualifying was introduced for the first time in 1937 . As the event had nine entries, two players were chosen to play a qualification match. The two were Fred Davis , Joe's younger brother and Bill Withers . Withers won the match 17–14, a defeat that Fred put down to ignoring his worsening eyesight. Lindrum played Joe Davis in
4361-430: The first round of the championship. Doherty reached the final again meeting 22-year-old John Higgins . Higgins won 18–12, making five centuries in the final. In total there were fifty-nine centuries during the tournament of which Higgins made fourteen, both records. Stephen Hendry won his seventh and final world title at the 1999 tournament , the most in the modern era until being equalled by Ronnie O'Sullivan in 2022. In
4450-495: The first time since 1982, losing in the semi-finals 14–16 to Jimmy White . Davis’ seven consecutive crucible finals to this day has yet to be equalled. In the final Stephen Hendry beat White 18–12 becoming, at 21 years, 106 days, the youngest ever world champion. Hendry was the number one seed in the 1991 tournament, but lost in the quarter-finals to Steve James . The final was between John Parrott and Jimmy White, Parrott winning 18–11. In 1992, Jimmy White became
4539-422: The first time. Jimmy White reached his sixth final in 1994, meeting Stephen Hendry for the fourth time. Hendry led 5–1 but White won six frames in a row to lead 7–5. Thereafter the match was always close and eventually went to a final frame. In the deciding frame, White had the first opportunity to finally win the title that had eluded him but missed a black off the spot when among the balls, after which Hendry made
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#17328515085434628-455: The following year, referred to as the 1953 World Professional Match-play Championship , with the same finalists. Played at Leicester Square Hall , it was tied at 33–33 at the start of the final session but Davis won 37–34. The pair met in the 1954 final, held in Manchester , their eighth successive final. It was the most one-sided of the eight finals, Davis taking a winning 36–15 lead early on
4717-421: The game) were the rankings based on the ranking points accumulated in the previous season, combined with those accumulated thus far in the current season, and as the season progressed they converged on the official rankings for the following season. The provisional rankings gave an indication of a player's form, and as the season approached its dénouement, the provisional rankings would become a source of tension as
4806-454: The half-way stage, and pulled ahead and won the match 37–28. For 1969 , the championship reverted to being run as a knockout tournament. This is regarded as the beginning of the modern era for snooker. Eight professionals entered, four from the 1950s and four new professionals. The first match, played in late 1968, saw the end of John Pulman 's reign as champion, beaten by one of the new professionals, John Spencer . Spencer led 24–18 after
4895-573: The history of the tournament, Cliff Thorburn compiled the first in 1983 , and Mark Selby the most recent in 2023, which was the first maximum break in a World Championship final. A record 109 century breaks were made at the Crucible in 2022. As of 2024, 28 players have won the World Snooker Championship. The first championship was held in 1927 , where it was known as the Professional Snooker Championship . It
4984-401: The last four frames to win 13–12. Johnson and Davis met again in the 1987 final although, on this occasion, Davis was the winner by a score of 18–14. Steve Davis and Terry Griffiths met in the 1988 final. The score was 8–8 after the first day but Davis pulled ahead on the final day and won 18–11. Davis made his seventh successive final in 1989 , meeting John Parrott . Davis led 13–3 after
5073-417: The match 18–12. At 23 years old, Davis was the second-youngest champion. Mountjoy set a new championship record with a highest break of 145 during his semi-final match against Ray Reardon . The 1982 championship was extended to thirty-two players with sixteen seeded players and sixteen qualifiers. There was a surprise in the first round when Tony Knowles beat defending champion Steve Davis 10–1. In
5162-427: The membership are often played in two stages—a qualification stage and the "venue stage"—usually at different locations. In tournaments with a "tiered" format players come into events in different rounds based on their ranking, and in some cases the top players in the sport are seeded through to the venue stage and do not have to play a qualification match. In particular, the top 16 ranked players automatically qualify for
5251-567: The most closely contested matches of all time. It finished at 00:19 and, with an audience of 18.5 million, it remains the most-watched programme in the history of BBC2 , and holds the record for a post-midnight audience for any channel in the United Kingdom. Davis met sixteenth seed Joe Johnson in the 1986 final. Johnson led 13–11 at the start of the evening session and won five of the first six frames to win 18–12. Johnson had trailed 9–12 in his quarter-final against Terry Griffiths but won
5340-425: The number thirteen seed, Steve Davis was the favourite for the 1981 championship . He won a close match 10–8 against Jimmy White in the first round and defeated three past world champions to meet fourteenth seed Doug Mountjoy in the final. Davis won the first six frames but was only leading 10–8 at the end of the first day. He led 14–12 at the start of the final evening session and won the next four frames to win
5429-433: The oldest World Champion, aged 45 years, 203 days. The first seven World Snooker Champions all won a championship when in their forties; the last of these was Reardon. It would be another forty years before a quadragenarian won the title again, as Mark Williams won the 2018 championship aged forty-three. The 1979 championship was won by Terry Griffiths who had only turned professional seven months prior to
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#17328515085435518-496: The other semi-final. Stevens led 16–14 but Ebdon won the last three frames, including a 138 total clearance in the penultimate frame. The final went to the deciding frame where Ebdon made a break of 59 and clinched the title. There were a record sixty-eight centuries in the tournament, including a record sixteen by Stephen Hendry who made five centuries in the semi-final and a further four in the final. Mark Williams won his second World title in 2003 by defeating Ken Doherty 18–16 in
5607-457: The quarter-finals, and met Canadian Cliff Thorburn in the final. The two players were closely matched throughout, the score being tied at 9–9 after the first day and 18–18 after the second. Spencer led 22–20 after the first session on the final day, and pulled ahead to win 25–21 in the final session of the match. Defending champion John Spencer lost to Perrie Mans in the first round of the 1978 championship . The 1977 runner-up Cliff Thorburn
5696-526: The recent News of the World Tournament but had performed badly, losing all eight of his matches. Although Lindrum did not play in the News of the World Tournament, he had been receiving more generous starts in recent handicap tournaments and had even withdrawn from the 1950 Sporting Record Masters' Snooker Tournament in 1950, complaining about his overly generous handicap. Lindrum won the championship, reaching
5785-421: The remainder of World War II. The championship resumed in 1946 where Joe Davis again met Lindrum in the final. The Royal Horticultural Hall in London was converted to a snooker venue, seating 1,250 for the championships. The match was extended from one week to two, allowing up to 30,000 spectators to be accommodated with prices ranging from 5s to £3. Davis maintained a small lead throughout and won, early on
5874-454: The same system; the Classic carried ranking points from the 1983–84 season , the UK Championship and British Open from 1984–85 . The revised system was now based on only the two previous seasons, and updated annually after the World Championship. While the ranking point allocations have undergone modifications down the years the basic system remained the same up until the 2009–10 season . For
5963-431: The score from 5–5 to 14–5. Hendry eventually won 18–9. Hendry made a record twelve century breaks during the tournament. The 1996 tournament saw Peter Ebdon reach the final, beating Jimmy White, Steve Davis and Ronnie O'Sullivan on the way. He met Stephen Hendry in the final. Ebdon led 4–2 in the early stages but Hendry eventually won 18–12 to win his fifth successive title. There were forty-eight century breaks during
6052-471: The second player to make a maximum break in the world championship, during his 10–4 first round win over Tony Drago . Defending champion John Parrott beat Eddie Charlton 10–0, the first of only two whitewashes in the Crucible era (the second being by Shaun Murphy over Luo Honghao in 2019). Stephen Hendry met Jimmy White in the final. White led 14–8 but Hendry won ten frames in a row to win 18–14. Eight seeded players were knocked out in round one in 1992,
6141-404: The semi-finals Jimmy White was ahead 15–14, and led 59–0 in the thirtieth frame, but missed an easy red with the rest. His opponent Alex Higgins then made a sixty-nine clearance and won the deciding frame and the match 16–15. Higgins met Ray Reardon in the final. The score was 15–15 before Higgins won three frames in a row to win the championship, finishing with a clearance of 135, denying Reardon
6230-446: The six-day final 37–29. 1972 saw the emergence of Alex Higgins . Winning his two qualifying matches, he beat John Pulman, Rex Williams and then Spencer in the final to win the title at his first attempt. At 22 years, 345 days, Higgins was the youngest world champion. Previously only Joe Davis had won the title while under the age of 30, being 26 years, 27 days when he won in 1927. The 1973 Championship marked
6319-513: The standard of the tables. This was the first year the championship was sponsored under the cigarette brand Embassy . In 1977, the championship moved to its new home at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield , where it has remained ever since. The 1977 championship featured sixteen competitors: eight seeded players and eight qualifiers. John Spencer beat defending champion Ray Reardon 13–6 in
6408-672: The title. Williams set a new championship record with a break of 142 in the twenty-fourth match. After this series of matches Pulman played the South African Fred Van Rensburg , winning 39 frames to 12. Davis and Pulman played again for the championship in April 1966. Pulman won four of the seven matches to retain the title. Australian Eddie Charlton challenged Pulman to a 73 frame match in Bolton , played in March 1968. Pulman led 19–17 at
6497-574: The top 16 players in the world rankings qualify automatically, while another 16 players win places through a qualification tournament. Only three qualifiers have ever won the tournament: Alex Higgins in 1972 , Terry Griffiths in 1979 , and Shaun Murphy in 2005 . Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O'Sullivan have each won seven times to jointly hold the record of most world titles in the modern era. Ray Reardon and Steve Davis have won six titles; John Higgins and Mark Selby four; John Spencer and Mark Williams three; and Alex Higgins two. Hendry
6586-412: The tournament was sixty, made by Albert Cope in his semi-final match against Davis, in a dead frame after Davis had won the match. The 1928 Championship was played on a challenge basis, with the other six entries playing-off for the right to challenge Davis in the final. Fred Lawrence progressed to the final, but lost 13–16. The challenge system was dropped in the 1929 event . Davis met Dennis in
6675-409: The tournament, and needed to win two qualifying matches to reach the Crucible. Griffiths was trailing 16–17 against Eddie Charlton in the semi-final, before eventually winning the match 19–17 at 1.40 am. He then beat Dennis Taylor 24–16 in the final, winning the record first prize of £10,000. Canadian Bill Werbeniuk made a break of 142 in his quarter-final match against John Virgo , equalling
6764-430: The twelve frames on the second day to lead 16–8 but Charlton won the first nine frames on the third day to lead. Reardon then led 23–21 before Charlton won eight frames in a row to lead 29–23, needing just two of the last nine frames to win. However Reardon then won seven frames in a row to lead again and, although Charlton levelled the match at 30–30, Reardon won the deciding frame. The 1976 World Snooker Championship
6853-400: Was between Steve Davis and Jimmy White (in his first final). Davis led 12–4 after the first day but White won seven of the eight frames on the final afternoon. Davis led 16–12 at the evening interval and, despite a comeback from White, Davis won 18–16. In the 1985 final , also known as the black ball final, Dennis Taylor beat Steve Davis 18–17 on the final ball of the final frame, in one of
6942-457: Was defeated 12–13 in his quarter-final match against Eddie Charlton , who won the last five frames. However, Charlton then lost to Ray Reardon in the semi-finals; he was ahead 12–9 after the first three sessions of the match, but Reardon won all seven frames of the fourth session to win 18–14. Mans met sixty-four-year-old Fred Davis in the other semi-final, defeating him 18–16. Reardon won the final 25–18 to claim his sixth world title. He became
7031-466: Was held at two venues; half the draw was held in Middlesbrough and half in Manchester , which also hosted the final. Alex Higgins won three close matches to reach the final, where he met Ray Reardon. Reardon led 24–15 at the start of the last day and, winning three of the first four frames, took the title 27–16, his fourth successive title. There were a number of problems during the tournament including
7120-522: Was held in Australia in late 1970. For the only time there was a group stage with nine players, with the top four moving on to a knock-out stage. Ray Reardon and John Spencer met in one semi-final with Spencer winning easily. The other semi-final was between two Australians, Warren Simpson and Eddie Charlton . Simpson caused a major upset by beating Charlton. In the final in Sydney, Spencer led throughout and won
7209-478: Was held in Australia. Twenty-seven players competed including eight from Australia, sixteen from the United Kingdom, two from Canada and one from South Africa. Ray Reardon beat John Spencer and Alex Higgins to reach the final where he met Eddie Charlton. The final was held near Melbourne but matches were held in many locations, the semi-finals having been held in Canberra and Brisbane . In the final, Reardon won ten of
7298-467: Was later revised slightly with winners of all bar the World Championship now receiving six points, runners-up five, down to one point for the last 32; the World Championship more or less stayed as it was with ten points for the winner, incrementally reduced by two points for each preceding round, but now awarded one point for the last 32 in line with the other tournaments. In addition to ranking points, merit and frame points were also awarded which were used as
7387-465: Was originally planned that the event would take place in Bangkok , Thailand, but due to the political unrest in the country the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association decided to relocate the event. The qualifying criteria were also changed for the 2014 event. The event still accommodated 32 players, but the number of qualified players from the Order of Merits was changed with 24 coming through
7476-503: Was played as an added extra to the main event, a billiards match played over two weeks. The match started on Monday 29 November 1926 and one frame of snooker was played at the end of each session. The final between Joe Davis and Tom Dennis was played over four days in early May at Camkin's Hall in Birmingham. Davis won the first seven frames, and took a winning 16–7 lead on the third day, eventually winning 20–11. The highest break of
7565-539: Was played in Burroughes Hall, London in April 1964 between Pulman and Davis, with Pulman retaining the championship after winning 19–16. Pulman won two further challenge matches played at Burroughes Hall, beating Rex Williams in October 1964, and Davis again in March 1965. In late 1965 Pulman and Rex Williams played a long series of short matches in South Africa. Pulman won twenty-five of the forty-seven matches to retain
7654-413: Was revived on a challenge basis in 1964. The World Snooker Championship reverted to a knockout tournament format in 1969 , beginning what is now known as snooker's modern era. It has taken place annually since then, with every championship since 1977 staged at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield . Under a format that has remained largely unchanged since 1982 , 32 players reach the Crucible each year;
7743-401: Was still regarded as a championship record. The success of the 1935 championship resulted in a record 13 entries in 1936 . Joe Davis and Horace Lindrum met in the final, with Davis having won one of his prior matches 29–2 after taking a winning 16–0 lead; whilst Lindrum had won his semi-final by the same score, 29–2, In the final, Lindrum led 26–24 at the start of the final day and then won
7832-516: Was the first professional snooker tournament although the English Amateur Championship has been contested since 1916. Ten professionals entered including most of the leading English billiards players. Matches were over 15 frames with the semi-finals over twenty-three frames and final over 31 frames . The first match played was between Melbourne Inman and Tom Newman at Thurston's Hall , Leicester Square in London. The snooker
7921-485: Was the first to incorporate "world" in its name, being called the World's Professional Snooker Championship . There was also a change in the organisation of the event with the matches being played consecutively at the same venue, Thurston's Hall in London. In the period from 1935 to 1940, nearly all World Championship matches were played there and with good attendances the professionals could make some money from their share of
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