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.
Mark James Williams is a Welsh professional snooker player who is a three-time World Champion, winning in 2000, 2003 and 2018. Often noted for his long potting ability, Williams has earned the nickname "The Welsh Potting Machine", and is regarded as one of the greatest snooker players of all time.
A maximum break is the highest possible break in snooker in normal circumstances and is a special type of total clearance. A player compiles a maximum break by potting all 15 reds with 15 blacks for 120 points, followed by all six colours for a further 27 points. Compiling a maximum break is regarded as a highly significant achievement in the game of snooker, and may be compared to a nine-dart finish in darts or a 300 game in ten-pin bowling.
The UK Championship is a professional ranking snooker tournament. It is one of snooker's prestigious Triple Crown events, along with the World Championship and the Masters. It is usually held at the Barbican, York. Ronnie O'Sullivan has won the tournament a record eight times, followed by Steve Davis with six titles and Stephen Hendry with five. O'Sullivan is the reigning champion, winning his eighth title in 2023.
The World Open is a professional ranking snooker tournament. Throughout its history, the tournament has undergone numerous revamps and name changes. It started out in 1982 as the Professional Players Tournament, but for most of the 1980s and 1990s it was known as the Grand Prix. It was renamed the LG Cup from 2001 to 2003 before reverting to the Grand Prix until 2010. Since then it has been known as the World Open.
The Welsh Open is a professional ranking snooker tournament that has been held annually since 1992. It replaced the Welsh Professional Championship, which ran annually from 1980 to 1991 and was open only to Welsh players. The Welsh Open is now the longest running ranking event after the World Championship and the UK Championship. Since the 2016–17 season, it has been one of four tournaments in the Home Nations Series, alongside the Northern Ireland Open, the Scottish Open, and the English Open. Since 2017, the winner of the event has received the Ray Reardon Trophy, named after the Welsh six-time world champion. Reardon himself presented the newly named trophy to 2017 winner Stuart Bingham.
The Scottish Open is a ranking professional snooker tournament held in the United Kingdom. The tournament had many name changes in its history, as the tournament was formerly called International Open, Matchroom Trophy and Players Championship. Apart from a hiatus in the 1990/1991 and 1991/1992 seasons, the tournament remained a ranking event until 2003/2004. In the 2012/2013 season the tournament was added back to the calendar as part of the Players Tour Championship minor-ranking series.
The Masters is a professional invitational snooker tournament. Held every year since 1975, it is the second-longest-running professional snooker tournament after the World Championship. It is one of the three Triple Crown events, along with the UK Championship and the World Championship. Although not a ranking event, it is regarded as one of the most prestigious tournaments on the World Snooker Tour. The reigning champion is Ronnie O'Sullivan, who won his eighth Masters title in 2024, defeating Ali Carter 10–7.
The European Masters is a professional ranking snooker tournament that has been staged periodically since 1989 as the European Open. Between 2005 and 2008 it was known as the Malta Cup and was the sole ranking tournament in Europe outside the British Isles, before being discontinued. In 2016, the event was resurrected and rebranded the European Masters.
Ryan Day is a Welsh professional snooker player. He is a prolific break-builder, having compiled over 450 century breaks during his career, including four maximum breaks. He is a three-time World Championship quarter-finalist, has been ranked at no. 6 in the world and has won four ranking tournaments.
In snooker, a century break is a break of 100 points or more, compiled in one visit to the table. A century break requires potting at least 25 consecutive balls, and the ability to score centuries is regarded as a mark of the highest skill in snooker. Ronnie O'Sullivan has described a player's first century break as the "ultimate milestone for any snooker player".
The Triple Crown in professional snooker refers to winning the sport's three longest-running and most prestigious tournaments: the World Snooker Championship, the invitational Masters, and the UK Championship. In January 2020, the three tournaments were formally named the Triple Crown Series.
The 2011 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.
Shaun Peter Murphy is an English professional snooker player who won the 2005 World Championship. Nicknamed "The Magician", Murphy is noted for his straight cue action and his long potting.
The Home Nations Series is a snooker tournament series in the four home nations of the United Kingdom. It began in the 2016–17 snooker season, combining two existing tournaments, the Scottish Open and Welsh Open, with two newly created tournaments, the English Open and Northern Ireland Open.
The 2021 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 17 April to 3 May 2021 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was the 45th consecutive year the World Snooker Championship was held at the Crucible Theatre and the 15th and final ranking event of the 2020–21 snooker season. It was organised by the World Snooker Tour. The event was sponsored by sports betting company Betfred and broadcast by the BBC, Eurosport and Matchroom Sport. It featured a total prize fund of £2,395,000 of which the winner received £500,000.
Judd Trump has made eight maximum breaks and more than 950 century breaks in the professional sport of snooker.
The 2021 UK Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 23 November to 5 December 2021 at the York Barbican, in York, England. The event was the first Triple Crown and fifth ranking event of the 2021–22 snooker season. The tournament featured a prize fund of £1,009,000, with the winner receiving £200,000. It was sponsored by car retail company Cazoo and broadcast in the UK by the BBC and Eurosport.
The 2021 British Open was a professional snooker event played from 16 to 22 August 2021 at the Morningside Arena, Leicester, England. It was the 2021 edition of the British Open event, and the first since the 2004 British Open. It was the second ranking event of the 2021–22 snooker season, following the 2021 Championship League and preceding the 2021 Northern Ireland Open. It was broadcast by ITV Sport in the UK, and sponsored by Matchroom Sport. The winner received £100,000 from a total prize pool of £470,000.
The 2022 British Open was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 26 September to 2 October 2022 at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, England. The third ranking tournament of the 2022–23 snooker season, it was organised by the World Snooker Tour and sponsored by car retailer Cazoo. Qualifying for the tournament took place from 9 to 14 August 2022 at the Robin Park Arena and Sports Centre in Wigan, although qualifiers featuring the top 16 players in the snooker world rankings were held over and played at the Marshall Arena. The event featured a total prize fund of £478,000, of which the winner received £100,000.
Mark Williams (WAL)
