Starting from April 20th, the Snooker World Championship of 2024 begins. Luca Brecel must defend his title against the best snooker players in the world in the 48th edition of this championship at the Crucible. If he succeeds, he will break the ‘Crucible curse’. However, the top favorites for the title are clear, as the battle for the Fred Davis Trophy is likely to be between Judd Trump and Ronnie O’Sullivan.
Snooker World Championship
The Snooker World Championship has been the premier tournament in snooker since 1927. Since 1977, it has been held at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, United Kingdom. The first final of the Snooker World Championship took place in 1927 at Camkin’s Hall in Birmingham, and was won by Joe Davis. Davis dominated the tournament in the first two decades, winning a total of 15 titles before retiring undefeated. The World Championship is also the most lucrative championship, with a total prize pool of almost 3 million euros and nearly 600,000 euros for the winner.
The main competition is a knockout tournament featuring 32 players. The top 16 players in the world rankings automatically qualify for the tournament. The other 16 places are allocated after a qualification tournament. The qualification took place from April 8th to 17th at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield. There, 128 players competed in four qualification rounds. The draw for the last 32 will take place on April 18th.
Favorites
Luca Brecel is the reigning world champion and the first Belgian to claim the world title. He won the final 18-15 against Mark Selby, securing his fifth world title. This year, Brecel must try to overcome the Crucible curse. This refers to the fact that a player who won for the first time at the Crucible has never managed to retain the title. It hasn’t been a particularly good year for the Belgian; he has won almost nothing this year. Only the World Mixed Doubles went Brecel’s way, but if there’s anything we should remember from last year, it’s that form means almost nothing to Brecel.
Ronnie O’Sullivan and Stephen Hendry are the two record holders with the most victories in the modern era. Both have 7 titles to their name. O’Sullivan has won the two majors so far, the UK Championship and the Masters, and has also had several victories in Shanghai, Riyadh, and Leicester. He is sometimes called the greatest player of all time, and with a quick look at his career, it’s not hard to believe.
Judd Trump is also a top favorite. Even with five tournament wins, he is not the only title contender, which also says a lot about O’Sullivan’s level. But it has been a very good year for Judd Trump, and if he wins in Sheffield, he will also take the number 1 position in the world rankings from Ronnie O’Sullivan.
The two top favorites have faced each other twice this season, and both times the victory went to O’Sullivan. During the final of the World Grand Prix in Leicester, he won 10-7, and in Riyadh, he defeated Trump 4-1. O’Sullivan has also won the last five encounters with Trump, and in the last duel in Sheffield, in the final, O’Sullivan prevailed.
And of course, there are still a number of contenders. One of them is Mark Williams, who last week won the Tour Championship against Ronnie O’Sullivan, achieving something that was almost impossible.
In addition to Williams, Ding Junhui also had an excellent season. The Chinese player seems to have found his best form and could complete the Triple Crown with a victory in Sheffield. This refers to winning the three biggest snooker championships: the World Championship, the Masters, and the UK Championship. Only eleven players have ever done that, including Ronnie O’Sullivan.
Finally, Mark Allen might also complete his snooker trilogy, the Triple Crown. The Northern Irishman came close last year but ended up losing in the semifinals against Mark Selby.
Selby might also be able to pull something off, but his form in recent months hasn’t been very good. The four-time world champion even considered quitting after his defeat to Gary Wilson at the Tour Championship.
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