2023 World Snooker Championship
The 2023 World Snooker Championship (officially the 2023 Cazoo World Snooker Championship)[1] is an upcoming professional snooker tournament that will be held from 15 April to 1 May 2023 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England,[2] the 47th consecutive year that the World Snooker Championship will have been staged at the venue.[3] Organised by the World Snooker Tour, it is the 15th and final ranking tournament of the 2022–23 snooker season. The championship will be sponsored for the first time by British car retailer Cazoo, which is sponsoring all three Triple Crown tournaments during the season.[4] It will be broadcast in the United Kingdom by the BBC[5] and Eurosport.
 | |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 15 April – 1 May 2023 |
| Venue | Crucible Theatre |
| City | Sheffield |
| Country | England |
| Organisation | World Snooker Tour |
| Format | Ranking event |
| Total prize fund | £2,395,000 |
| Winner's share | £500,000 |
| Defending champion |  Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) |
← 2022 | |
Ronnie O'Sullivan is the defending champion, having defeated Judd Trump 18–13 in the final of the previous year's event.
Background
The first World Snooker Championship final took place in 1927 at Camkin's Hall in Birmingham, England, and was won by Joe Davis.[6] Since 1977, the tournament has been held annually at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England.[7] The 2023 event will be the 47th consecutive year that the tournament is held at the Crucible, and the 55th successive year that the World Championship is contested through the modern knockout format.[8][9][10] Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O'Sullivan have been the most successful participants at the World Championship in the modern era, both players having won the title seven times each.[11][12] O'Sullivan will be the defending champion, having defeated Judd Trump 18–13 in the previous year's final.[13]
Format
The 2023 World Snooker Championship will take place from 15 April to 1 May 2023,[14] as the last ranking event in the 2022–23 season.[15] It will be preceded by a qualifying tournament held from 3 to 12 April 2023.[16]
World Snooker Championship qualifying tournaments from 2020 to 2022 had featured three rounds played as the best of 11 frames and a final round played as the best of 19 frames. However, events from 2023 onwards are to revert to the best-of-19 format used prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, but with the seeded draws remaining in place.[17] Qualification is being broadcast by Discovery+ in Europe; Liaoning TV, Superstar online, Migu, Youku and Huya.com in China; and by Matchroom Sport in all other territories.[18]
Prize fund
The winner of the event will receive £500,000 from a total prize fund of £2,395,000. The breakdown of prize money is shown below:
- Winner: £500,000
- Runner-up: £200,000
- Semi-finalists: £100,000
- Quarter-finalists: £50,000
- Last 16: £30,000
- Last 32: £20,000
- Last 48: £15,000
- Last 80: £10,000
- Last 112: £5,000
- Highest break (qualifying stage included): £15,000
A bonus of £40,000 is on offer for a maximum break made at the Crucible, and £10,000 for a maximum made in the qualifying rounds. These bonuses will be in addition to the £15,000 highest break prize.[19]
Summary
Qualification for the event is being played over four rounds between 3 and 12 April. Matches, played over two sessions, are being played as the best of 19 frames. Players below 80th in the world rankings and selected amateur players will contest the opening qualification round.[20][21] Five female players took part in qualification, the most in the event's history.[22] Mink Nutcharut completed her first professional century break in her 10–7 loss to Dechawat Poomjaeng. This was the first female century break made at the event since 2002.[23] The following day, Ng On-yee made a 115, the highest break made by a woman in the event's history.[24] The seven-time winner of the event, Hendry, lost to James Cahill.[25] Stan Moody, 16-year-old amateur player, winner of the WSF Junior Snooker Championship won his first round match against Andres Petrov 10–7.[26] The 2022 Hong Kong Masters finalist Marco Fu was defeated 5–10 by Martin O'Donnell.[27]
In the second round of qualification, Sean O'Sullivan made a break of 140; whilst on course to complete a maximum break, he potted two red balls in one shot which meant he could not achieve a maximum.[28]
Main draw
The numbers given in brackets after the players' names show their seedings.
| 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 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 15 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 21, 22 & 23 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 16 & 17 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
 Ding Junhui (CHN) (16) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 25 & 26 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 15 & 16 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} Luca Brecel (BEL) (9) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 20 & 21 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 16 & 17 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
 Mark Williams (WAL) (8) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 27, 28 & 29 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 18 & 19 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Judd Trump (ENG) (5) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 22, 23 & 24 Apr | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 18 & 19 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jack Lisowski (ENG) (12) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 25 & 26 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 17 & 18 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Robert Milkins (ENG) (13) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 22, 23 & 24 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 19 & 20 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shaun Murphy (ENG) (4) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 30 April & 1 May | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 17 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} Mark Allen (NIR) (3) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 20, 21 & 22 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 15 & 16 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stuart Bingham (ENG) (14) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 25 & 26 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 15 & 16 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ali Carter (ENG) (11) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 21 & 22 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 15 & 16 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} Neil Robertson (AUS) (6) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 27, 28 & 29 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 19 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kyren Wilson (ENG) (7) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 23 & 24 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 17 & 18 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
 John Higgins (SCO) (10) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 25 & 26 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 18 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gary Wilson (ENG) (15) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 22, 23 & 24 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 19 & 20 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mark Selby (ENG) (2) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Qualifying draw
The results from qualifying are shown below. Numbers given before players' names show World Championship seedings, and "a" indicates the amateur players at the time of the draw. The match winners are denoted in bold text. The WPBSA selected 16 amateur players to participate in the qualifying rounds together with the 103 professionals outside the top 16 of the world rankings and the top nine from the 2022 Q School Order of Merit.[29][30][31]
.svg.png.webp){kind=small}
Century breaks
Qualifying stage centuries
A total of 56 century breaks have been made during the qualifying rounds.[32]
- 140, 111 – Barry Pinches
- 140 – Sean O'Sullivan
- 137 – Ken Doherty
- 137 – Ross Muir
- 136, 116, 106, 102 – Louis Heathcote
- 136 – Ben Mertens
- 133, 125, 119, 109 – David Lilley
- 132 – Fergal O'Brien
- 131, 129 – Alexander Ursenbacher
- 130 – Dylan Emery
- 128 – Lei Peifan
- 127, 125, 119 – John Astley
- 127, 116 – Haydon Pinhey
- 127 – Andy Hicks
- 126, 100 – Iulian Boiko
- 125 – Marco Fu
- 122 – Sanderson Lam
- 120 – Craig Steadman
- 115 – Jak Jones
- 115 – Ng On-yee
- 114 – Ross Bulman
- 113 – Dominic Dale
- 110 – Stan Moody
- 110 – Allan Taylor
- 106, 104 – Jamie O'Neill
- 106, 103 – Aaron Hill
- 105, 101 – Wu Yize
- 105 – Asjad Iqbal
- 105 – Xu Si
- 104 – Mark Davis
- 102 – Stephen Hendry
- 102 – Jackson Page
- 102 – George Pragnell
- 102 – Liam Pullen
- 101 – Liam Graham
- 101 – Andres Petrov
- 100 – James Cahill
- 100 – Gao Yang
- 100 – Mink Nutcharut
- 100 – Dechawat Poomjaeng
- 100 – Daniel Wells
- 100 – Zhang Anda
References
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- "2023 Cazoo World Snooker Championship". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 10 May 2022. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
- "World Snooker Championship 2023 – Sheffield – Snooker Trips". Snooker Trips. 6 April 2022. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
- "Cazoo To Become Title Sponsor Of World Snooker Championship". World Snooker. 9 May 2022. Archived from the original on 9 May 2022. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
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- "Embassy World Championship". snookerscene.co.uk. Snooker Scene. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
- "John Higgins eyes more crucible titles". The Daily Telegraph. London. 5 May 2009. Archived from the original on 30 April 2010. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
the modern era, which began in 1969 when the World Championship became a knockout event.
- "O'Sullivan Beats Trump For Magnificent Seventh". World Snooker. 2 May 2022. Archived from the original on 3 May 2022. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
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- "2023 Cazoo World Snooker Championship". World Snooker Tour. Archived from the original on 10 May 2022. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
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- "Calendar 2022/2023 | World Snooker Live Scores". Archived from the original on 1 April 2023. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
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- "How to Watch the Cazoo World Championship Qualifiers". 2 April 2023. Archived from the original on 3 April 2023. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
- "Cazoo World Championship – 147 Bonuses". World Snooker. 31 March 2023. Archived from the original on 31 March 2023. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
- "How to Watch the Cazoo World Championship Qualifiers". 2 April 2023. Archived from the original on 3 April 2023. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
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- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 3 April 2023. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - Bisset, Roddy (4 April 2023). "Poomjaeng Defeats Valiant Mink – World Snooker". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 5 April 2023. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 5 April 2023. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - "Seven-time champion Hendry misses out on Worlds". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 7 April 2023. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
- "Moody, 16, wins first match in Worlds qualifying". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 7 April 2023. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
- "Moody, 16, wins first match in Worlds qualifying". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 3 April 2023. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 5 April 2023. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - Ivan (13 March 2023). "WPBSA Qualifiers Announced For Cazoo World Championship". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 28 March 2023. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
- "2023 Cazoo World Championship Qualifiers" (PDF). wst.tv. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 28 March 2023. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 March 2023.
- Haigh, Phil (28 March 2023). "Nine players join World Snooker Championship qualifying field ahead of draw". Metro. Archived from the original on 28 March 2023. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
- "Cazoo World Championship 2023 Qualifiers | Centuries". livescores.worldsnookerdata.com. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
External links
| Early events | |
|---|---|
| Match-play | |
| Challenges | |
| Knock-outs | |
| Crucible era | |
| Related articles | |
