The Snooker World Championship is already underway in Sheffield, but most of the favourites, including Ronnie O’Sullivan and Judd Trump, are yet to play their first match of the tournament. Here’s what you need to know about it.
Who Will Win the World Snooker Championship?
There are several fascinating angles at play among the 32 players contesting it, including their contrasting ages.
At one end of the scale are players like Ronnie O’Sullivan (odds of 6.0 to win it), John Higgins (36.0) and Mark Williams (34.0), known as the ‘class of 92’ (the year they all turned pro), all men who have won the tournament more than once in the past. At age 50, they’re all still extremely competitive, and no one should dismiss their chances of going all the way. O’Sullivan is the third favourite.
At the other end of the scale are ‘youngsters’ like Zhao Xintong, aged 29, who won last year’s tournament at a canter and is the red-hot 3.5 favourite to defend his title after winning three of the last five ranking tournaments this year. But to do so, he will have to overcome the famed ‘Crucible Curse’ whereby no first-time winner has ever defended their title.
But 29 is almost old by the standards of Stan Moody (75.0), described as the ‘Luke Littler of snooker’, who is just 19. 15-year-old Michael Szubarczyk, a Polish prodigy, nearly made the main draw but was knocked out in qualifying.
Chinese duo Si Jiahui (90.0) and Wu Yize (26.0) are in their early 20s.
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The In-Betweeners and China Against the Rest of the World
Then there are the ones ‘in the middle’, such as Judd Trump, the 6.2 second-favourite, who is 36. The left-hander, who won it in 2019, made headlines for saying he was ‘homeless’ after not being able to return to his home in Dubai as a result of the ongoing crisis in the Middle East.
Other ‘in-betweeners’ include Kyren Wilson (23.0), 34, the 2024 champion, and 37-year-old Chinese star Xiao Guodong (60.0).
Gudong was one of 11 Chinese entered in the main draw, the most ever at the World Championship after there were 10 last year, which is another interesting angle.
Chinese players made up 45% of the total number taking part, so these days snooker is almost a case of China v the Rest of the World.
Ding Junhui, the pioneer for Chinese players in snooker after making a splash in the sport in the mid-2000s, is 70.0 to win it and is already through to the next round.
O’Sullivan may ‘only’ be the third favourite, but no one can come close to him in terms of his record, having won it seven times in the past.
Next-best are Higgins and Mark Selby (odds of 10.0 to win it), who each won it on four occasions, and Williams, who won it three times.
