A Potted History Of The World Snooker Championship And Tips For This Year’s Tournament

With the final qualifying round for the 2023 World Snooker Championship being played as I type, this weekend will see the final 32 players left standing begin their quest to be the next World Snooker Champion.

Snooker fans will enjoy just over two weeks of great action culminating on Monday 1^st May with the crowning of the new champion.

But before we take a look at the 2023 tournament, let’s first take a look at the history of this popular event.

World Championship History

• The first official World Championship was first contested in 1927.
• Brothers Joe and Fred Davis dominated the early years of the sport winning 23 world titles between them from 1927 to 1956.
• Only two other players won a World title over that period, Walter Donaldson (twice) and Horace Lindrum once.
• John Pulman next dominated the sport winning seven world titles when the tournament was re-established in 1964, winning twice in 1964, three times in 1965, once in 1966 and once in 1968.
• The first Knockout Tournament was organised for 1969 with John Spencer winning the first of his three world titles.
• Ray Reardon dominated the early knockout era, winning in 1970 and from 1973 to 1976 inclusive. Alex Higgins first World title came in 1972.
• The first World Championship at the Crucible came in 1977, with John Spencer winning his third title. Ray Reardon won a year later followed by Terry Griffiths and Cliff Thorburn.
• The 1980s was the era of Steve Davis with the Nugget winning six titles from 1981 to 1989, but his most famous final was a loss to Dennis Taylor in 1985, when Taylor won on the final black ball of the final.
• Apart from Taylor, only Alex Higgins (1982) and Joe Johnson (1986) lifted the World title in the 1980s other than Davis.
• The first maximum break at the World Championships was made by Cliff Thorburn in the 1983 tournament.
• The 1990s was the era dominated by Stephen Hendry who won seven titles throughout the decade, only failing to win in 1991, 1997 and 1998 when John Parrott, Ken Doherty and John Higgins won the titles.
• The ‘Class of ‘92” featuring John Higgins, Ronnie O’Sullivan and Mark Williams then dominated the World Championship from the 2000s to 2013 and beyond. Between them they won 10 of the 14 Championships contested in that 14-year period (3 for Higgins, two for Williams, and 5 for O’Sullivan).
• From 2014, Mark Selby has been a very consistent performer, winning four world titles in 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2021. Mark Williams added a third World crown in 2018, with Ronnie O’Sullivan adding two more in 2020 and 2022 to tie Stephen Hendry’s record.
• Judd Trump (2019) and Stuart Bingham (2015) are the only other winners during this period.

World Championship 2023 Preview

This year’s World Championship will see current champion Ronnie O’Sullivan defend his crown and go for a record-setting eighth World Title at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.

O’Sullivan defeated Judd Trump 18-13 in last year’s final to draw him level with Stephen Hendry’s seven World Titles and the Rocket will be amongst the favourites once again to lift the title this year.

Prize Pool

The total prize pool is £2,395,000 with the money divided amongst the players as follows:

• Winner – £500,000
• Runner Up – £200,000
• Semi Finalists – £100,000 each
• Quarter Finalists – £50,000 each
• Last 16 – £30,000 each
• Last 32 – £20,000 each
• Last 48 – £15,000 each
• Last 80 – £10,000 each
• Last 112 – £5,000 each

In addition, there is a £15,000 prize for the highest break, as well as a bonus of £40,000 for a maximum break made at the Crucible and a £10,000 bonus for a maximum made in the qualifying rounds.

Jamie Day currently holds the highest break in the 2023 tournament with a break of 146 in qualifying.

Final Referee

In his final year as a professional referee, Brendan Moore will referee the final for the third time after previously officiating at the 2014 and 2018 finals.

The Top 16 Seeds

Based on their performances in this event last year, as well as their performances on the professional circuit, the top 16 seeds that automatically qualify for the First Round at the Crucible this year are:

1. Ronnie O’Sullivan (Eng)
2. Mark Selby (Eng)
3. Mark Allen (N.Ir)
4. Shaun Murphy (Eng)
5. Judd Trump (Eng)
6. Neil Robertson (Aus)
7. Kyren Wilson (Eng)
8. Mark Williams (Wal)
9. Luca Brecel (Bel)
10. John Higgins (Sco)
11. Ali Carter (Eng)
12. Jack Liswoski (Eng)
13. Robert Milkins (Eng)
14. Stuart Bingham (Eng)
15. Gary Wilson (Eng)
16. Ding Junhui (Chn)

Players shown in italics have been previous winners of the World Championship at least once.

The top 16 seeds will be drawn at random against one of the 16 qualifiers that make it through the Qualifying campaign which is currently being held at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield and streamed online on World Snooker’s Facebook and YouTube channels.

Eight of those qualifiers are already known:

Qualifiers Confirmed For World Snooker Championship First Round

Also shown in brackets is the players nationality and their current WPBSA ranking.

• Anthony McGill (Sco) – 19
• Noppon Saengkham (Tha) – 30
• Matthew Selt (Eng) – 27
• Ricky Walden (Eng) – 22
• Si Jiahui (Chn) – 74
• Wu Yize (Chn) – 58
• Fan Zhengyi (Chn) – 34
• Jak Jones (Wal) – 50

The other eight qualifiers will be confirmed at the end of play today (12^th April).

The draw for the first round will then take place at 8.35am on Thursday 13^th April, with the first days play starting on Saturday 15^th April running through to the final which will be contested over two days on the 30^th April and 1^st May.

Latest World Snooker Championship Betting Odds And Tips

A quick look at the latest betting odds with bet365 Sport reveals the following odds for the players:

• Ronnie O’Sullivan – 4/1 favourite
• Judd Trump – 5/1
• Mark Selby – 6/1
• Neil Robertson – 7/1
• Shaun Murphy – 9/1
• Kyren Wilson, Mark Allen – 14/1
• Mark Williams, John Higgins – 16/1
• Ding Junhui – 20/1
• Jack Lisowski – 25/1
• Ali Carter – 33/1
• Luca Brecel, Stuart Bingham – 40/1
• Anthony McGill – 50/1
• 66/1 bar

It is not surprising that Ronnie O’Sullivan will start this tournament as the favourite even though his build up to the event has not been ideal given his outspoken views about the state of the sport and criticism of the organisations that run the game.

Those views have put him at odds with some of his opponents such as Mark Selby and Shaun Murphy.

However, he remains the main attraction on the baize and while he has not enjoyed the best of seasons on the circuit, picking up just £63,500 in prize money in the past year, he still remains a threat at the biggest events.

His closest threats could be from Mark Allen, who has been the most consistent player on tour this season and who at 14/1, represents great each way value, especially as he is in the other half of the draw to O’Sullivan and can’t meet him until the final.

However, for a bet on the winner it’s hard to look past the Rocket to win his eight title here hence the odds of 4/1.