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 is now one of the three tournaments that make up snooker's Triple Crown Series. The reigning world champion is Kyren Wilson.
Raymond Reardon was a Welsh professional snooker player who dominated the sport in the 1970s, winning the World Snooker Championship six times and claiming more than a dozen other professional titles. Due to his dark widow's peak and prominent eye teeth, he was nicknamed "Dracula".
Clifford Charles Devlin Thorburn is a Canadian retired professional snooker player. Nicknamed "The Grinder" because of his slow, determined style of play, he won the World Snooker Championship in 1980, defeating Alex Higgins 18–16 in the final. He is generally recognised as the sport's first world champion from outside the United Kingdom—since Australian Horace Lindrum's 1952 title is usually disregarded—and he remains the only world champion from the Americas. He was runner-up in two other world championships, losing 21–25 to John Spencer in the 1977 final and 6–18 to Steve Davis in the 1983 final. At the 1983 tournament, Thorburn became the first player to make a maximum break in a World Championship match, achieving the feat in his second-round encounter with Terry Griffiths.
The 1978 World Snooker Championship was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 17 and 29 April 1978 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England, the second consecutive year the tournament had been held at the venue. A qualifying competition was held at Romiley Forum, Stockport, from 27 March to 7 April. The tournament was promoted by Mike Watterson on behalf of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. It had a total prize fund of £24,000, of which £7,500 went to the champion.
The 1975 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place between 9 April and 1 May 1975 at various venues in Australia. The event was the 1975 edition of the World Snooker Championship, first held in 1927. The tournament featured 27 participants, eight of whom were seeded and received byes to the second round. The event featured a prize fund of A$30,000 with the winner receiving A$7,500. This was the second World Snooker Championship to be held outside of the United Kingdom after 1969, when the World Championship reverted to a knockout format. The tournament was promoted by Eddie Charlton Promotions on behalf of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association.
The 1974 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 16 to 25 April 1974 at the Belle Vue in Manchester, England. It was the 1974 edition of the World Snooker Championship, established in 1927. The 1974 tournament was promoted by Snooker Promotions, and sponsored by tobacco brand Park Drive. The event attracted 31 entrants and carried a prize fund of £10,000. Seven qualifying matches were held; the seven winners of these joined the other 17 players in the main tournament.
The 1972 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place between March 1971 and 26 February 1972, as an edition of the World Snooker Championship. The final was played at Selly Park British Legion from 21 to 26 February. Alex Higgins won his first world title, defeating defending champion John Spencer 37–31 in the final. Higgins also made the highest known break of the tournament, 133. In all, he won six matches to secure the title, including a 31–30 deciding frame victory over Rex Williams in the semi-final after Williams had missed an attempt to pot a blue ball. Higgins became the first qualifier to win the World Championship, and, aged 22, the youngest champion until Stephen Hendry in 1990. Higgins's win led to increased interest in snooker from the media and sponsors.
The 1971 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place between 28 September and 7 November 1970 in Australia. The tournament was the 1971 edition of the World Snooker Championship, first held in 1927 but was held in 1970. It was the first time the event had been held outside England outside of two challenge matches in 1965, with matches held at various locations in New South Wales and Brisbane. The event featured nine participants, with a round-robin round producing four qualifiers, who then competed in a single-elimination tournament.
Since 1927 the World Snooker Championship had been played as a single-elimination tournament, but between 1964 and 1968, it was defended over seven challenge matches. Following a hiatus after the 1957 World Professional Match-play Championship, the event was revived by Rex Williams on a challenge basis, with the champion being opposed by prominent players. This began in 1964, organised by the Billiards Association and Control Council. The 1957 champion John Pulman contested and won all seven challenge matches against various opponents in the next five years, until the tournament reverted to a knock-out format in 1969.
The 1976 World Professional Match-play Championship was a professional invitational snooker tournament held from 28 November to 11 December 1976 at the Nunawading Basketball Centre in Burwood East, Melbourne, Australia. Eddie Charlton, the event's promoter, won the title by defeating Ray Reardon by 31 frames to 24 in the final. The Championship was sanctioned by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, with the event's title causing confusion with the World Snooker Championship in some media reports. The tournament was not repeated.
Paddy Morgan is an Australian former professional snooker and English billiards player. He was born in Belfast, and moved to Coventry in 1960. Following an amateur career in which he won junior and national titles in both sports, and reached the semi-finals of the 1968 World Amateur Snooker Championship, he emigrated to Australia in 1969. He became a professional player in 1970 and competed in the World Snooker Championship for the first time in the 1971 tournament.
Ian Anderson is an Australian former professional snooker player. He is the former president of the World Pool-Billiard Association.
The World Professional Match-play Championship was a professional snooker tournament established in 1952 as an alternative to the professional World Snooker Championship by some of the professional players, following a dispute with the Billiards Association and Control Council, the sport's governing body. Fred Davis won the first five editions of the tournament, but didn't participate in 1957, when John Pulman won. After this, the event was discontinued due to a decline in the popularity of snooker.
The Australian Professional Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament which was open only for Australian or Australian-based players.
The 1976 Australian Professional Championship was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament, which took place in September 1976.
The 1985 Australian Professional Championship was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament, which took place between 2 and 11 August 1985 at the Orange RSL Club in Sydney, Australia.
The 1987 Australian Professional Championship was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament, which took place between 13 and 19 July 1987 at the Lakemba Club in Sydney, Australia.
The 1988 Australian Professional Championship was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament, which took place between 18 and 24 July 1988 at the Roots Hill Retired Soldiers Club in Sydney, Australia. This was the final edition of the tournament.
Sid Hood (1933–2006) was an English former professional snooker player. He was the runner-up at the 1970 World Amateur Snooker Championship.
The 1966 Australian Professional Championship was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament, which took place from 8 to 16 August 1966. There were three participants: defending champion Norman Squire, Eddie Charlton, and Warren Simpson.
Eddie Charlton (138) [1]