2011 World Snooker Championship

Last updated

2011 Betfred.com World Snooker Championship
World Snooker Championship 2015 Logo.png
Tournament information
Dates16 April – 2 May 2011 (2011-04-16 – 2011-05-02)
Venue Crucible Theatre
City Sheffield
CountryEngland
Organisation World Snooker
Format Ranking event
Total prize fund£1,111,000
Winner's share£250,000
Highest break
Final
ChampionFlag of Scotland.svg  John Higgins  (SCO)
Runner-upFlag of England.svg  Judd Trump  (ENG)
Score18–15
← 2010
2012 →

The 2011 World Snooker Championship (officially the 2011 Betfred.com World Snooker Championship) was a professional snooker tournament that took place between 16 April and 2 May 2011 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was the 35th consecutive year that the World Snooker Championship had been held at the Crucible and was the last ranking event of the 2010–11 snooker season. The event was organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association and had a total prize fund of £1,111,000, with £250,000 going to the winner of the event. The tournament was sponsored by sports betting company Betfred.

Contents

Neil Robertson was the defending champion, but lost 8–10 against Judd Trump in the first round. Trump became the youngest player since 1990 to reach the final where he lost to John Higgins. This was Higgins' fourth world title, becoming only the fourth man to win four or more championships in the modern era. Ding Junhui meanwhile became the first player from China to reach the semi-finals. Mark King and Ding Junhui made the highest breaks at the Crucible with 138; while James Wattana compiled the highest break of the tournament during qualifying with 141.

An audience of 3.93 million viewers watched the fourth session in Great Britain with 2.03 million watching the third session of the final. [1] The second and fourth sessions of the final were the most watched programmes on BBC Two for their particular weeks. Viewing figures on the BBC peaked at 6.6 million viewers. The figure of 3.9 million who watched the final session was up 50% on the year before. It was estimated that nearly half of the UK population watched the tournament at some point. In China, Ding Junhui's semi-final had an average watch of 19.4 million with a peak audience of 30 million over seven television networks. [2] A record number of fans bought tickets, with the last four days and other sessions sold out with sales up 15% on 2010. [3]

Overview

The World Snooker Championship is an annual cue sport tournament and the official world championship of the game of snooker. [4] Invented in the late 19th century by British Army soldiers stationed in India, [5] the sport was popular in Great Britain. [6] In modern times it has been played worldwide, especially in East and Southeast Asian nations such as China, Hong Kong and Thailand. [7] [8]

In the 2011 tournament, 32 professional players competed in one-on-one snooker matches played over several frames , using a single-elimination tournament format. [9] The 32 players were selected for the event using the snooker world rankings and a pre-tournament qualification competition. [10] In 1927, the first world championship was won by Joe Davis. The event's final took place in Camkin's Hall, Birmingham, England. [11] Since 1977, the event has been held at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. [12] The event was organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. [13] [14] Australian Neil Robertson was the defending champion, having defeated Graeme Dott 18–13 in the previous year's final. [15] The event was sponsored by sports betting company Betfred. [13] [8]

Format

The 2011 World Snooker Championship took place from 16 April to 2 May 2011 in Sheffield, England. The tournament was the last of eight ranking events in the 2010–11 snooker season on the World Snooker Tour. [16] [17] It featured a 32-player main draw that was held at the Crucible Theatre, as well as a qualifying draw that was played at the World Snooker Academy in Sheffield from 3 to 13 March. [18] This was the 35th consecutive year that the tournament had been staged at the Crucible. [19] The main stages of the event were broadcast by the BBC in the United Kingdom. [20]

The top 16 players in the latest world rankings automatically qualified for the main draw as seeded players. [21] [lower-alpha 1] Robertson was seeded first overall as the defending champion, and the remaining 15 seeds were allocated based on the latest world rankings. [21] The number of frames required to win a match increased throughout the tournament. The first round consisted of best-of-19-frames matches, with the final match being played over a maximum of 35 frames. [22] All 16 non-seeded spots in the main draw were filled with players from the qualifying rounds. [9]

Prize fund

For the 2011 tournament there was a £1,111,000 prize fund with the winner receiving £250,000. World Snooker offered no additional prize money for a maximum break, whereas in previous years the prize money for this achievement was £147,000. [23] The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below: [24] [25]

  • Winner: £250,000
  • Runner-up: £125,000
  • Semi-final: £52,000
  • Quarter-final: £24,050
  • Last 16: £16,000
  • Last 32: £12,000
  • Last 48: £8,200
  • Last 64: £4,600
  • Stage one highest break: £1,000
  • Stage two highest break: £10,000
  • Total: £1,111,000

Tournament summary

Opening rounds (first round—quarter-finals)

Judd Trump (pictured in 2010), defeated the defending champion Neil Robertson 10-8 in the opening round Judd Trump - Wels 2010.jpg
Judd Trump (pictured in 2010), defeated the defending champion Neil Robertson 10–8 in the opening round

The first round was played from 16 to 21 April as the best of 19 frames held over two sessions . [26] Defending champion Neil Robertson led Judd Trump 7–6, but lost the match 8–10. [27] Trump, having recently won the 2011 China Open, commented "I'm on a high at the moment and I don't want it to finish. I want to make winning a habit". [27] There were two debutants at the main stages of the event: Andrew Pagett and Jimmy Robertson. This was also the first time that either had qualified for the main draw of a ranking tournament. [28] Both players lost their opening round match, as Pagett lost 7–10 against Jamie Cope and Jimmy Robertson lost 1–10 against Mark Selby. [29] [30]

Both Barry Hawkins and Rory McLeod reached the second round of the World Championship for the first time. Hawkins defeated Stephen Maguire on a deciding frame 10–9 and McLeod defeated Ricky Walden 10–6. [31] [32] Ronnie O'Sullivan attempted to withdraw from the event one week before it started, but later, when asked for a written confirmation, changed his decision. [33] He compiled his 100th century break at the venue in his first round match against Dominic Dale, as he won 10–2. [34] [35] Previous winner Graeme Dott led Mark King 7–3, but was reduced to a 7–6 lead. Dott won three of the next four frames to complete a 10–7 victory. [36] Seven-time winner Hendry defeated Joe Perry 10–9 on a deciding frame, but hinted that he might retire after the event. [37] In total, five out of the sixteen seeded players lost their first round matches: Neil Robertson, Maguire, Walden, Marco Fu and Peter Ebdon. Fu lost 8–10 against Martin Gould and Ebdon lost 8–10 against Stuart Bingham. [38] [39]

The second round was played as the best of 25 frames, held over three sessions. [26] Selby made six century breaks during his 13–4 victory over Hendry. [40] This was the first time six century breaks had been made in a match at the event, [41] [42] [43] and also for a best of 25 frames match at any event. [42] [44] Trump defeated Gould 13–6, with his opponent considering him to be a favourite to win the event, and Trump commenting "I feel I've got the game to go out and win it". [45] Dott and Carter were tied at 11–11 in their second round match, before Dott won the next two frames to complete a 13–11 victory. [45] Ding came back from 9–12 to defeat Stuart Bingham on a deciding frame. This was the first time that he had qualified for the quarter-finals of the world championships. [46] Eleventh seed Mark Allen also went to a deciding frame, as he defeated Hawkins 13–12. [45] In a long eight-hour match, John Higgins overcame Rory McLeod 13–7. [47]

The quarter-finals were played as the best of 25 frames. [26] Mark Williams defeated Allen 13–5 to reach the semi-finals of the World Championship for the first time since winning the 2003 World Snooker Championship. [48] Trump, rated an 80–1 outsider at the beginning of the tournament, defeated previous year's runner up Dott 13–5 to reach the semi-finals. [49] [50] Ding won his match 13–10 against Selby to become the third Asian player to reach the semi-finals of the world championship, following James Wattana and Fu. [51] [52] As a result of Selby's exit, Williams became the new world number one after the event. [52] O'Sullivan led Higgins 8–5 in their quarter-final match, but won just two of the next ten frames, as Higgins won the match 13–10. O'Sullivan commented "I had enough chances to win, more than I expected. I just didn't take them", whilst Higgins suggested that O'Sullivan missing was the only way he could have won the match. [53]

Later rounds (semi-finals—final)

The semi-finals were played as the best of 33 frames, held over four sessions. Trump defeated Ding 17–15 to become the second youngest player (after Hendry in 1990) to reach the final of the event. [54] Trump also reached his second consecutive ranking final after winning the China Open at the start of the month. [55] In China, the second session of the match drew a peak audience of nearly 30 million viewers and averaging over 19 million, with the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association claiming it was the highest rated sports programme of 2011 up to that point; [56] however, the Women's Tennis Association claimed that the women's singles final of the Australian Open held earlier in the year drew an audience of 60 million viewers on Chinese television. [57] [58] Williams led Higgins 5–3 after the first session, and maintained his lead after the second session, which ended 9–7. Higgins, however, then won six of the next eight frames, to lead 13–11 after the third session. Higgins won the match 17–14 to reach his third final in five years. [59] During the 28th frame Higgins was heckled by a member of the audience, "How did you swallow that £300,000, John? ... You're a disgrace to snooker." in reference to the News of the World allegations the previous year of match fixing, for which the heckler was later ejected from the venue. [60] Higgins had only returned from a six month suspension due to the incident in November. [61]

The final was played as the best of 35 frames, held over four sessions. The final was contested between Higgins and Trump, and officiated by Jan Verhaas, who was taking charge of his fourth World Championship final. [62] [63] Ted Lowe, BBC commentator for many years and the deviser of the long-running snooker programme Pot Black , died at the age of 90 on the morning of 1 May. Before the start of the final that day, a minute's applause in honour of Lowe took place. [64] After the first session was tied at four frames all, Trump won the second session 6–3 to take a 10–7 lead into the second day's play. [65] [66] Higgins took a 13–12 lead after the third session of the final, which he won 6–2. [67] Trump levelled the match at 14–14, before Higgins won four of the last five frames to win the match 18–15. [61]

This was Higgins 24th ranking title, and the fourth time he had won the event. Only Ray Reardon, Steve Davis and Hendry had won the event as many times. [61] Higgins complemented Trump "He was the better player. He was playing a brand of snooker I have never seen before in my life." [61] The pair would also contest the 2019 World Snooker Championship final, with Trump winning 18–9. [68] The highest break of the tournament was 138 made by both Ding and King. This was the first time since 1987 that the highest break of the tournament was lower than 140, when it was 127 made by Davis. [69]

Main draw

Below is the full draw for the main stage of the tournament. The numbers in brackets denote player seeding, whilst those in bold denote match winners. [70] [71] [72] The draw for the first round took place on 21 March 2011, one day after the Players Tour Championship Finals. [28] [73]

First round
Best of 19 frames		Second round
Best of 25 frames		Quarter-finals
Best of 25 frames		Semi-finals
Best of 33 frames		Final
Best of 35 frames
16 April
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Neil Robertson (1)8
21, 22 & 23 April
Flag of England.svg Judd Trump 10
Flag of England.svg Judd Trump 13
19 & 20 April
Flag of England.svg Martin Gould 6
Flag of Hong Kong.svg Marco Fu (16)8
26 & 27 April
Flag of England.svg Martin Gould 10
Flag of England.svg Judd Trump 13
19 & 20 April
Flag of Scotland.svg Graeme Dott (9)5
Flag of Scotland.svg Graeme Dott (9)10
22 & 23 April
Flag of England.svg Mark King 7
Flag of Scotland.svg Graeme Dott (9)13
16 & 17 April
Flag of England.svg Ali Carter (8)11
Flag of England.svg Ali Carter (8)10
28, 29 & 30 April
Flag of England.svg Dave Harold 3
Flag of England.svg Judd Trump 17
17 & 18 April
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Ding Junhui (5)15
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Ding Junhui (5)10
24 & 25 April
Flag of Scotland.svg Jamie Burnett 2
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Ding Junhui (5)13
18 & 19 April
Flag of England.svg Stuart Bingham 12
Flag of England.svg Peter Ebdon (12)8
26 & 27 April
Flag of England.svg Stuart Bingham 10
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Ding Junhui (5)13
17 & 18 April
Flag of England.svg Mark Selby (4)10
Flag of Scotland.svg Stephen Hendry (13)10
23, 24 & 25 April
Flag of England.svg Joe Perry 9
Flag of Scotland.svg Stephen Hendry (13)4
20 & 21 April
Flag of England.svg Mark Selby (4)13
Flag of England.svg Mark Selby (4)10
1 & 2 May
Flag of England.svg Jimmy Robertson 1
Flag of England.svg Judd Trump 15
16 & 17 April
Flag of Scotland.svg John Higgins (2)18
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Mark Williams (3)10
21 & 22 April
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Ryan Day 5
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Mark Williams (3)13
16 & 17 April
Flag of England.svg Jamie Cope (14)4
Flag of England.svg Jamie Cope (14)10
26 & 27 April
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Andrew Pagett 7
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Mark Williams (3)13
19 & 20 April
Ulster Banner.svg Mark Allen (11)5
Ulster Banner.svg Mark Allen (11)10
22 & 23 April
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Matthew Stevens 9
Ulster Banner.svg Mark Allen (11)13
18 April
Flag of England.svg Barry Hawkins 12
Flag of Scotland.svg Stephen Maguire (6)9
28, 29 & 30 April
Flag of England.svg Barry Hawkins 10
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Mark Williams (3)14
16 & 17 April
Flag of Scotland.svg John Higgins (2)17
Flag of England.svg Shaun Murphy (7)10
23, 24 & 25 April
Flag of Scotland.svg Marcus Campbell 1
Flag of England.svg Shaun Murphy (7)10
18 & 19 April
Flag of England.svg Ronnie O'Sullivan (10)13
Flag of England.svg Ronnie O'Sullivan (10)10
26 & 27 April
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Dominic Dale 2
Flag of England.svg Ronnie O'Sullivan (10)10
19 & 20 April
Flag of Scotland.svg John Higgins (2)13
Flag of England.svg Ricky Walden (15)6
24 & 25 April
Flag of England.svg Rory McLeod 10
Flag of England.svg Rory McLeod 7
20 & 21 April
Flag of Scotland.svg John Higgins (2)13
Flag of Scotland.svg John Higgins (2)10
Flag of England.svg Stephen Lee 5
Final (Best of 35 frames) Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, 1 & 2 May 2011. Referee: Jan Verhaas. [74]
Judd Trump
Flag of England.svg  England 		15–18 John Higgins (2)
Flag of Scotland.svg  Scotland
64–19, 76–1, 38–73, 54–75, 5–115, 113–0, 68–69, 56–19, 20–64, 67–45, 68–0, 127–0, 38–63, 25–64, 77–18, 60–9, 69–36, 8–64, 113–0, 0–97, 99–0, 55–65, 35–93, 1–113, 8–77, 38–66, 78–0, 60–38, 52–64, 35–65, 75–52, 44–64, 61–62Century breaks: 4
(Trump 3, Higgins 1)

Highest break by Trump: 104
Highest break by Higgins: 113

64–19, 76–1, 38–73, 54–75, 5–115, 113–0, 68–69, 56–19, 20–64, 67–45, 68–0, 127–0, 38–63, 25–64, 77–18, 60–9, 69–36, 8–64, 113–0, 0–97, 99–0, 55–65, 35–93, 1–113, 8–77, 38–66, 78–0, 60–38, 52–64, 35–65, 75–52, 44–64, 61–62
Flag of Scotland.svg John Higgins wins the 2011 Betfred.com World Snooker Championship

Qualifying

Preliminary qualifying

The preliminary qualifying rounds for the tournament took place on 3 March 2011 at the World Snooker Academy in Sheffield. [75] [76] [77]

Round 1

Flag of England.svg Sam Baird 5–1 Flag of England.svg Colin Mitchell
Flag of England.svg Tony Brown2–5 Flag of England.svg Ali Bassiri
Flag of India.svg David Singh4–5 Flag of England.svg David Gray
Flag of England.svg Ian Stark5–2 Flag of England.svg Paul Cavney
Flag of England.svg Philip Minchin0–5 Flag of England.svg Stephen Rowlings
Flag of England.svg Tony Knowles 4–5 Flag of England.svg Del Smith
Flag of England.svg Les Dodd 4–5 Flag of England.svg Stephen Ormerod

Round 2

Flag of England.svg Neil Selman3–5 Flag of England.svg Sam Baird
Flag of England.svg Ali Bassiri0–5 Flag of England.svg David Gray
Flag of England.svg Ian Stark0–5 Flag of England.svg Stephen Rowlings
Flag of England.svg Del Smith5–0 Flag of England.svg Stephen Ormerod

Main qualifying

The qualifying rounds 1–4 for the tournament took place between 4 and 10 March 2011 at the World Snooker Academy in Sheffield. The final round of qualifying took place between 12 and 13 March 2011 at the same venue. [75] [76] [77]

Round 1

Flag of England.svg Reanne Evans 6–10 Flag of England.svg Sam Baird
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Jak Jones 3–10 Flag of England.svg Stephen Rowlings

Rounds 2–5

Round 2
Best of 19 frames		Round 3
Best of 19 frames		Round 4
Best of 19 frames		Round 5
Best of 19 frames
Flag of England.svg Kyren Wilson 10 Ulster Banner.svg Joe Swail 6 Flag of England.svg Rory McLeod 10 Flag of England.svg Mark Davis 5
Ulster Banner.svg Dermot McGlinchey5 Flag of England.svg Kyren Wilson 10 Flag of England.svg Kyren Wilson 3 Flag of England.svg Rory McLeod 10
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Liu Song 10 Flag of England.svg Adrian Gunnell 9 Flag of England.svg Mark Joyce 6 Flag of England.svg Joe Perry 10
Flag of Ireland.svg Michael Judge 8 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Liu Song 10 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Liu Song 10 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Liu Song 6
Flag of Thailand.svg James Wattana 10 Flag of England.svg Andy Hicks 2 Flag of Scotland.svg Jamie Burnett 10 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Liang Wenbo 7
Flag of England.svg Justin Astley 3 Flag of Thailand.svg James Wattana 10 Flag of Thailand.svg James Wattana 8 Flag of Scotland.svg Jamie Burnett 10
Flag of Thailand.svg Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon 8 Flag of England.svg Alfie Burden 7 Flag of England.svg Mike Dunn 10 Flag of England.svg Mark King 10
Flag of England.svg Sam Baird 10 Flag of England.svg Sam Baird 10 Flag of England.svg Sam Baird 9 Flag of England.svg Mike Dunn 5
Flag of Scotland.svg James McBain 10 Flag of England.svg Ian McCulloch 5 Flag of England.svg Michael Holt 10 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Dominic Dale 10
Flag of Thailand.svg Issara Kachaiwong 9 Flag of Scotland.svg James McBain 10 Flag of Scotland.svg James McBain 8 Flag of England.svg Michael Holt 6
Flag of Brazil.svg Igor Figueiredo 5 Flag of England.svg Joe Jogia 10 Flag of England.svg Robert Milkins 10 Flag of England.svg Martin Gould 10
Flag of Ireland.svg Joe Delaney 10 Flag of Ireland.svg Joe Delaney 4 Flag of England.svg Joe Jogia 4 Flag of England.svg Robert Milkins 6
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Liu Chuang 10 Flag of England.svg Jimmy White 9 Flag of England.svg Tom Ford 8 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Ryan Day 10
Flag of England.svg David Gray 3 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Liu Chuang 10 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Liu Chuang 10 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Liu Chuang 7
Flag of Ireland.svg David Morris 8 Flag of England.svg Barry Pinches 7 Flag of England.svg Peter Lines 6 Flag of England.svg Judd Trump 10
Flag of England.svg David Gilbert 10 Flag of England.svg David Gilbert 10 Flag of England.svg David Gilbert 10 Flag of England.svg David Gilbert 4
Flag of England.svg Paul Davison 10 Flag of Scotland.svg Anthony McGill 7 Flag of Ireland.svg Fergal O'Brien 10 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Matthew Stevens 10
Flag of England.svg Stephen Rowlings 5 Flag of England.svg Paul Davison 10 Flag of England.svg Paul Davison 4 Flag of Ireland.svg Fergal O'Brien 9
Ulster Banner.svg Patrick Wallace 10 Flag of England.svg Rod Lawler 5 Flag of England.svg Matthew Selt 10 Flag of Scotland.svg Marcus Campbell 10
Flag of England.svg Del Smith2 Ulster Banner.svg Patrick Wallace 10 Ulster Banner.svg Patrick Wallace 9 Flag of England.svg Matthew Selt 6
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Michael White 10 Flag of England.svg Matthew Couch 3 Flag of England.svg Anthony Hamilton 10 Flag of England.svg Barry Hawkins 10
Flag of England.svg Adam Wicheard 2 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Michael White 10 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Michael White 7 Flag of England.svg Anthony Hamilton 5
Flag of England.svg Liam Highfield 8 Flag of England.svg Jack Lisowski 10 Flag of England.svg Steve Davis 10 Flag of England.svg Stephen Lee 10
Flag of England.svg Kuldesh Johal 10 Flag of England.svg Kuldesh Johal 7 Flag of England.svg Jack Lisowski 9 Flag of England.svg Steve Davis 2
Flag of England.svg Simon Bedford 10 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Jamie Jones 10 Flag of England.svg Dave Harold 10 Ulster Banner.svg Gerard Greene 9
Flag of Thailand.svg Noppon Saengkham 3 Flag of England.svg Simon Bedford 6 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Jamie Jones 9 Flag of England.svg Dave Harold 10
Flag of England.svg Ben Woollaston 10 Flag of England.svg Stuart Pettman 10 Flag of Scotland.svg Alan McManus 10 Flag of England.svg Stuart Bingham 10
Flag of England.svg Jamie O'Neill 8 Flag of England.svg Ben Woollaston 5 Flag of England.svg Stuart Pettman 8 Flag of Scotland.svg Alan McManus 2
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Andrew Pagett 10 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Bjorn Haneveer 4 Flag of England.svg Nigel Bond 9 Flag of England.svg Andrew Higginson 6
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Zhang Anda 6 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Andrew Pagett 10 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Andrew Pagett 10 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Andrew Pagett 10
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Xiao Guodong 10 Flag of England.svg Jimmy Robertson 10 Flag of Malta.svg Tony Drago 8 Flag of Ireland.svg Ken Doherty 6
Flag of Norway.svg Kurt Maflin 9 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Xiao Guodong 9 Flag of England.svg Jimmy Robertson 10 Flag of England.svg Jimmy Robertson 10

Century breaks

Televised stage centuries

There were 74 century breaks in the televised stage of the World Championship. [78] [79]

Qualifying stage centuries

There were 73 century breaks in the qualifying stage of the World Championship. [78]

Notes

  1. ↑ In the event of the defending champion being ranked outside the top 16, he would replace the player ranked world number 16 as an automatic qualifier. [21]

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The 2015 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament which took place from 18 April to 4 May 2015 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was the 39th consecutive year that the World Snooker Championship had been held at the Crucible, and was the final ranking event of the 2014–15 snooker season. Sports betting company Betfred sponsored the event for the first time in three years, having previously done so from 2009 to 2012. The top sixteen players in the snooker world rankings were placed into the draw, and another sixteen players qualified for the event at a tournament taking place from 8 to 15 April 2015 at the Ponds Forge International Sports Centre, Sheffield.

The 2016 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 16 April to 2 May 2016 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was the 40th year that the World Snooker Championship had been held at the venue. The event was tenth and last event that carries ranking points of the 2015–16 snooker season.

The 2017 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 15 April to 1 May 2017 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was the 19th and final ranking event of the 2016–17 season which followed the China Open. It was the 41st consecutive year that the World Snooker Championship had been held at the Crucible.

The 2018 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament held from 21 April to 7 May 2018 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. Hosted by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, it was the 20th and final ranking event of the 2017–18 snooker season and the 42nd consecutive time the World Snooker Championship had been held at the venue. The tournament was broadcast by BBC Sport and Eurosport in Europe, and sponsored by betting company Betfred.

The 2019 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 20 April to 6 May 2019 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was the 43rd consecutive year the World Snooker Championship had been held at the Crucible, and the 20th and final ranking event of the 2018–19 snooker season. Qualifying for the tournament took place from 10 to 17 April 2019 at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield. Sports betting company Betfred sponsored the event.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Professional snooker career of Ronnie O'Sullivan</span>

Ronnie O'Sullivan started his professional snooker career in 1992 and is widely considered one of the greatest players in the history of the sport. His play and accomplishments are described by some peers and pundits as being the greatest in the modern era of snooker. O'Sullivan is a seven-time world champion, and holds many records, including the fastest maximum break in professional competition; the highest number of century breaks; the highest number of maximum breaks, and the most Triple Crown event titles (22).

The 2022 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 16 April to 2 May 2022 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England, the 46th consecutive year the World Snooker Championship was held at the venue. The 16th and final ranking event of the 2021–22 snooker season, the tournament was organised by the World Snooker Tour and sponsored by sports betting company Betfred. It was broadcast in the United Kingdom by the BBC, in Europe by Eurosport, and elsewhere in the world by Matchroom Sport and other broadcasters. The total prize fund was £2,395,000, of which the winner received £500,000.

References

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