World Snooker Championship 2023: Schedule, format, order of play from Crucible as Ronnie O'Sullivan eyes record

ByEurosport

Updated 14/04/2023 at 14:55 GMT

Ronnie O'Sullivan is set to defend his world title at the 2023 World Snooker Championship at the Crucible in Sheffield. The Rocket won a record-equalling seventh title by beating Judd Trump in the 2022 final. Follow the latest updates of the order of play, schedule and results from the Crucible here. Stream the 2023 World Championship live and on-demand on discovery+ and eurosport.com

O'Sullivan makes 140 break after potting two reds in one shot to miss out on 147

The qualifiers for the World Snooker Championship are entering the business end and that can only mean one thing: the World Championship is soon to start.

Qualifying concludes on the evening of April 12. And the draw for the first round will happen on April 13 at 08:45 BST.

Ronnie O’Sullivan is the defending champion. O’Sullivan is currently the world No. 1 but sits at 23rd on the one-year list.

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The form players coming into the season finale are Mark Allen and Shaun Murphy.

Allen has won the Northern Ireland Open, the UK Championship and World Grand Prix, and Murphy has claimed a Players and Tour Championship double.

While O’Sullivan, Judd Trump, Neil Robertson, Mark Selby and John Higgins have had far from stellar years, they can’t be discounted over the 16-day marathon at the Crucible.

When is the World Snooker Championship? How to watch the event

The World Snooker Championship runs from April 15 to May 1 at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre.

The World Snooker Championship 2023 will be available live and on-demand via eurosport.com and discovery+.

All the latest news, reaction, and highlights on eurosport.com and the Eurosport app.

What is the format? What is the schedule?

Sixteen players will emerge from the epic 128-person qualifiers and will then join the 16 top-ranked players in the world in the first-round draw.

The first round is best-of-19 frames, the second and quarter-final rounds best of 25. The semi-finals are best-of-33 and the final best-of-35.

April 15-19: Round 1
April 20: Round 1 and Round 2
April 21-24: Round 2
April 25-26: Quarter-finals
April 27-29: Semi-finals
April 30-May 1: Final

What is the draw and the order of play?

FIRST ROUND (BEST OF 19 FRAMES)

Saturday, 15 April - Thursday, 20 April

Ronnie O'Sullivan (1) v Pang Junxu
Stuart Bingham (14) v David Gilbert
Luca Brecel (9) v Ricky Walden
Neil Robertson (6) v Wu Yize
Ali Carter (11) v Jak Jones
Ding Junhui (16) v Hossein Vafaei
Mark Williams [8] v Jimmy Robertson
Mark Allen (3) v Fan Zhengyi
John Higgins (10) v David Grace
Robert Milkins (13) v Joe Perry
Jack Lisowski (12) v Noppon Saengkham
Gary Wilson (15) v Elliot Slessor
Judd Trump (5) v Anthony McGill
Kyren Wilson (7) v Ryan Day
Mark Selby (2) v Matthew Selt
Shaun Murphy (4) v Si Jiahui

SECOND ROUND (BEST OF 25 FRAMES)

Thursday, 20 April - Monday, 24 April
Luca Brecel/ TBD v Mark Willaims / TBD
Mark Allen/ TBD v Stuart Bingham/ TBD
Ali Carter/ TBD v Neil Robertson/ TBD
Ronnie O'Sullivan/ TBD v Ding Junhui/ TBD
Judd Trump / TBD v Jack Lisowski/ TBD
Robert Milkins/ TBD v Shaun Murphy/ TBD
Gary Wilson/ TBD v Mark Selby/ TBD
Kyren Wilson/ TBD v John Higgins/ TBD

QUARTER-FINALS (BEST OF 25 FRAMES)

Tuesday, 25 April - Wednesday, April 26

TBD v TBD

SEMI-FINALS (BEST OF 33 FRAMES)

Thursday, April 27 - Saturday, April 29

TBD v TBD
TBD v TBD

FINAL (BEST OF 35 FRAMES)

Sunday, April 30 - Monday, May 1

TBD v TBD

Previous Winners

The World Championship has been running since 1927 and, prior to its move to the Crucible in 1977, it was dominated by Joe Davis, Walter Donaldson, Fred Davis, John Pulman, John Spencer and Ray Reardon, with Alex Higgins and Horace Lundrum winning it once apiece. Since the move to Sheffield, the winners are:

1977: John Spencer

1978: Ray Reardon

1979: Terry Griffiths

1980: Cliff Thorburn

1981: Steve Davis

1982: Alex Higgins

1983: Steve Davis

1984: Steve Davis

1985: Dennis Taylor

1986: Joe Johnson

1987: Steve Davis

1988: Steve Davis

1989: Steve Davis

1990: Stephen Hendry

1991: John Parrott

1992: Stephen Hendry

1993: Stephen Hendry

1994: Stephen Hendry

1995: Stephen Hendry

1996: Stephen Hendry

1997: Ken Doherty

1998: John Higgins

1999: Stephen Hendry

2000: Mark Williams

2001: Ronnie O'Sullivan

2002: Peter Ebdon

2003: Mark Williams

2004: Ronnie O'Sullivan

2005: Shaun Murphy

2006: Graeme Dott

2007: John Higgins

2008: Ronnie O'Sullivan

2009: John Higgins

2010: Neil Robertson

2011: John Higgins

2012: Ronnie O'Sullivan

2013: Ronnie O'Sullivan

2014: Mark Selby

2015: Stuart Bingham

2016: Mark Selby

2017: Mark Selby

2018: Mark Williams

2019: Judd Trump

2020: Ronnie O'Sullivan

2021: Mark Selby

2022: Ronnie O'Sullivan

- - -

Stream the 2023 World Championship live and on-demand on discovery+ and eurosport.com

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