The 2024 World Snooker Championship will be memorable…but for all the wrong reasons.
No seed higher than 12 advanced to the semifinals, there were no 147 breaks, not even a grain of orange dough.
Instead the events were dominated by discussion of a separate tour and possibly moving the event abroad after 2027 when the World Snooker Tour’s deal with Sheffield expires.
But as we look towards an uncertain future, here are some of the lows and some of the highs from this year’s 17-day snooker extravaganza.
Kieran Wilson won a tournament that will be remembered for all the wrong reasons
take off
sheffield
The Crucible can only hold 980 spectators, but it has been snooker’s cathedral since 1977. Lots of memories: 18.5 million watch Dennis Taylor shake his finger as Hendry wins his seventh match, Ronny does the same; ‘Good luck, buddy’ and Mark Williams on his birthday suit.
Pilgrims travel from all over the world for their annual snooker fix. Yes, there is unlimited cash and space in the desert but will 300 people travel there, let alone 3,000?
Snooker brings in an estimated £3 million every year for the snooker-mad city. Remove it and what does it look like?
john’s happiness
Four-time Crucible champion John Higgins wept with joy in his dressing room after coming from 62–0 down to win the deciding frame against Mark Allen.
The second-round tie was the match of the tournament and the 48-year-old produced a superb 72 clearances, inspired by a tremendous double on red.
‘it’s the best. “It will always be with me,” Higgins said.
John Higgins won the match of the tournament with a brilliant final frame clearance of 72
neil robertson
The 2010 World Champion welcomes you to the commentary box. Calm and full of genuine insight, the Australian speaks with authority about shot selection, chalk break building choices and pocket size.
Certainly, Robertson would have preferred to stay on the job, but his debut as a pundit was encouraging.
passion in fashion
Stephen Maguire and Shaun Murphy showed admirable levels of passion in their last-16 match.
True, the pair had a history due to Chokegate – a feud at junior level in 2004 in which Maguire was docked a frame – but when Murphy celebrated winning a frame with a fist pump at the end of the first session, So Maguire went ballistic and punched. At the celebration table after their 13-9 victory.
Maguire later said, ‘I did well to get out of there before I broke something.’
ups and downs
desert Storm
Rumblings of a breakaway tour continue and snooker’s biggest stars are demanding more prize money.
Ronnie O’Sullivan said, ‘Every player has the right to do what he wants to do – you see it in other sports like golf.’ ‘The main thing is you have to be prepared to walk away from the game, if I don’t get what I want am I prepared to walk away from the game? And the answer is yes.
The game’s biggest star Ronnie O’Sullivan is leading the call for more prize money
‘I want to be taken care of, I want to be pampered, whoever wants to pamper me and take care of me, I’m your man.’
With Barry Hearn saying it really is ‘all about the money’, there could be trouble ahead. Big dilemma.
corporate feud
See those empty seats in the front rows? This happens when you sell them to corporate clients. Here’s an idea: instead of the Century Club, why not sell them to snooker fans?
root happiness
When the draw came out fans were salivating at the prospect of a semi-final between Judd Trump and Ronnie O’Sullivan.
But Trump was feeling relieved after his quarterfinal loss to Jack Jones. Trump said, ‘In a way he did me a favor because if I had played like that I would have lost to Ronnie 17-0.’ But they need not have worried – O’Sullivan also fell into the quarters.
Judd Trump feeling somewhat relieved after losing to Jack Jones in the quarters
fly low
In one of the most bizarre moments of this or any other year, Stephen Maguire ate a fly that fell on the table during his quarter-final defeat to David Gilbert.
‘Oh, it was just a fly,’ explained the 43-year-old Glaswegian. ‘I spat it out when no one was looking.’
ronnie badass
In his latest clash with an official, Ronnie O’Sullivan repeatedly asked referee Desislava Bozhilova to re-mark the black in that quarter-final defeat against Bingham.
He declined a pot on principle – described by BBC pundit Robertson as ‘perhaps the greatest example of sportsmanship I have ever seen in any game’.
Speaking on Eurosport afterwards, O’Sullivan said: ‘Some of the referees, I think they’ve got it down to me. So I just want to prove to him that he has got it wrong.
Then, in the 21st frame, the 48-year-old lost his focus as a group of spectators returned to their seats on the other side of the field.
When Bozhilova insisted on playing again, O’Sullivan told her to ‘relax’ and ‘just stay calm’.