2021 World Snooker Championship

in Sheffield, England. The World Snooker Championship features 32 professional players competing in one-on-one snooker matches in a single-elimination format, each match played over a number of . The 32 players for the event are selected through a mix of the snooker world rankings and a pre-tournament qualifying stage. The 2020 championship had been won by English player Ronnie O'Sullivan, who defeated compatriot Kyren Wilson in the final 18–8 to win his sixth world title. The event was returned to its traditional April schedule after the 2020 championship was delayed to late July because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The winner of the 2021 championship received £500,000 from a total prize fund of £2,395,000. Format , who also presented the trophy (trophy presentation pictured). The 2021 World Snooker Championship took place between 17 April and 3 May 2021 at the Crucible Theatre. The event featured a 32-player main draw, preceded by a 128-player qualifying draw held at the English Institute of Sport. Qualifying for the event was played between 5 and 14 April, finishing three days before the start of the main draw. The qualifying stage was played over four rounds, and the higher-ranked players were seeded and given byes to the later rounds. The tournament was the last of 15 ranking events in the 2020–21 season on the World Snooker Tour. It was the 45th consecutive year that the tournament had been held at the Crucible, and the 53rd successive world championship to be contested through the modern knockout format. The tournament was sponsored by sports betting company Betfred, as it had been since 2009. The top 16 players in the latest 2020–21 snooker world rankings automatically qualified for the main draw as seeded players. Defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan was automatically seeded first overall. The remaining 15 seeds were allocated based on the latest world rankings, released after the 2021 Tour Championship. Matches in the first round of the main draw were played as the best of 19 frames, second-round matches and quarter-finals were played as the best of 25 frames, and the semi-finals were played as the best of 33 frames. The final was played over two days as a best-of-35-frames match. Coverage The tournament was broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC and Eurosport. The event was broadcast in Europe and Australia by Eurosport. Other international broadcasts were provided by Kuaishou, Migu, Zhibo.tv, Youku, and CCTV in China; by NowTV in Hong Kong; and by DAZN in Canada, the United States, and Brazil. In territories where there was no other coverage, the event was broadcast by Matchroom Sport. On 13 March 2021, World Snooker announced that the championship would welcome a limited number of spectators, as part of the Events Research Programme run by the British government in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Details were announced on 7 April, beginning with an audience of 33 per cent of the arena's full capacity for the first round, an increasing number of spectators through the tournament, and a full-capacity crowd to be admitted for the final. All spectators were tested for COVID-19 before and after attending the event. Prize fund The winner of the event received £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 ==Summary==

Qualifying progressed through qualifying for the first time. Qualifying for the event was held between 5 and 14 April over four rounds, and 16 players qualified for the main stage. Matches in this round were played over the best of 19 frames. David Gilbert, the 2019 semi-finalist, won seven of the first eight frames of his match against Chris Wakelin, winning the first session 7–2 and the match 10–4. Murphy faced the last Chinese player remaining, Yan, and won the opening session 6–2, making the highest break of the tournament, a 144. After they were tied at 8–8 at the end of the second session, With a of 99 per cent in the first four frames, Selby won the opening session 6–2, Williams defended the strategy and commented that he had received backlash from fans and fellow players. McGill had the first chance in frame 22, but went in-off, allowing Bingham to win the frame. However, McGill won the next two frames to force a deciding frame. McGill had the first chance in the final frame, but was unable to get position on a red after going into . Bingham, however, made a break of 125 to win the match, which he called "the best of my career". Wilson ended the first session 6–2 ahead. After winning frame nine, Wilson was placed into a from which he failed to escape on several occasions, conceding 53 foul points to Murphy and allowing him to win the frame. Wilson won frames 11, 13 and 14 to lead by six frames at 10–4. Murphy won the final two frames of the session, punching the air in celebration, to trail by four. Wilson won the first frame of the third session, but Murphy won six of the next seven frames to tie the match 12–12. In the final session, Murphy won five straight frames to win the match 17–12. In total, Murphy won 13 out of the last 15 frames to win the match. After the match, Wilson commented that some of Murphy's celebrations were "theatrical", but Murphy replied that they were "in a theatre and we are putting on a show." Bingham took the opening frame against Selby, but trailed 1–3 into the mid-session interval. Bingham, however, made breaks of 92 and 82 in winning three straight frames to lead 4–3 and the match was tied at 4–4 after the first session. Selby made a break of 52 in frame nine, but still lost the frame as Bingham led again at 6–5. Selby won four of the next five frames to lead 9–7, during which he made two century breaks. Bingham tied the scores at 9–9 after breaks of 131 and 96, before frame 19 was also won by Bingham on the final black ball. During the frame, Selby was asked to play a shot by the referee after not having acted for three minutes. Bingham also won the next two frames, before the one after was halted twice for a and won by Selby. Selby won the next frame, but Bingham won the last of the session to lead 13–11. In the fourth session, Selby tied the score by winning the opening two frames, before Bingham won the next to lead 14–13. Selby then won three straight frames to get to one frame away from victory. Bingham won the next frame, but due to the length of the session, the remaining frames were delayed until the culmination of the other semi-final with the scores at 16–15. Returning three hours later, Selby won frame 32 after laying a snooker behind the green ball. This match was more than three and a half hours longer than the other semi-final, in part due to extended safety play and two frames having to be restarted twice. Final won his fourth world title with an 18–15 victory over Shaun Murphy in the final. The final was played on 2 and 3 May as the best of 35 frames held over four sessions, between Mark Selby and Shaun Murphy. Both players had won the World Championship previously. Murphy was appearing in his fourth final, having won the title in 2005, and been runner-up in 2009 and 2015; Selby was playing in his fifth final, having won the event in 2014, 2016, and 2017, and been runner-up in 2007. The two players shared the same coach, Chris Henry. Murphy won the first two frames of the match, but missed a pot in the third frame on a break of 65, allowing Selby to win the frame. Selby compiled a break of 89 in frame four to draw level at 2–2. Murphy took three of the next four frames to lead by two after the first session. Selby then tied the score again at 6–6 by winning three of the first four frames in the second session, despite Murphy not missing a pot in the first three. Selby then won four of the next five frames to end the second session 10–7 ahead, as Murphy failed to pot a ball for an hour. Murphy won the first frame of the third session with a break of 77, but missed the final black ball in the next, allowing Selby to win frame 19. Murphy won the next frame, but Selby scored the first century break of the final, a 107, in frame 21. Selby won frame 22 to lead by four frames, before Murphy made a break of 100. Murphy also won the next frame, but trailed 11–14 after Selby won the final frame of the third session. Selby won the opening frame of the fourth and final session, before Murphy cleared the table with a break of 43 to cut Selby's lead to 15–12. The two went into the mid-session interval at 16–13 after Selby played a poor shot. After a safety battle, Selby won the next frame with a break of 120, and was one frame away from victory at 17–13. Murphy, however, won the next two frames with breaks of 100 and 102. After Murphy missed a pot on a red down the cushion in frame 33, Selby cleared the table to win the match 18–15. This was Selby's fourth championship, behind only Hendry (with seven), Steve Davis, Ray Reardon, and Ronnie O'Sullivan (each with six) in the modern era, and equal with John Higgins. Davis commented that Selby was the "best all-rounder we have ever seen", and suggested he may win more world championships than Hendry. The final was broadcast to a peak audience of 4.1 million viewers on domestic television, equating to 27 per cent of all viewers in the United Kingdom, compared with the 2.9 million viewers for the 2020 event. The win raised Selby from fourth in the world rankings up to world number two. Murphy, who had celebrated specific shots throughout the event, vowed to use the experience to be more of an entertainer for the coming 2021–22 season. He reflected: "In terms of performance, it turned my year around and ended a poor season on a high note." Selby commented: "To win it once against Ronnie O'Sullivan for the first time was a dream come true – to win it four times is something I could only have dreamed of." ==Main draw==

The results for the main draw are shown below. Numbers given in brackets are the players' seedings. Match winners are denoted in bold. ==Qualifying==

in Sheffield. Qualifying for the main stages of the tournament took place between 5 and 14 April 2021 at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield. The WPBSA selected 16 amateur players to participate in the qualifying rounds together with the 112 professionals outside the top 16 of the world rankings. The amateur players were selected based on performances in the 2020–21 season, and because of the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, performances in the 2019–20 season were also included. Finally, additional amateur players were given places to fill out the remaining places. Qualifying draw The results from qualifying are shown below. Numbers given before players' names show world rankings of the top 112 players, while "a" indicates the amateur players in the draw. The match winners are denoted in bold text. ==Century breaks==

Main stage centuries A record number of century breaks, 108, was made during the main event. There were 22 players that made at least one century break. The highest break was a 144 made by Shaun Murphy in his second-round match against Yan Bingtao. • 144, 131, 124, 120, 117, 113, 109, 104, 103, 100, 100 Shaun Murphy • 142, 135, 134, 134, 134, 132, 132, 125, 121, 120, 107, 101 Mark Selby • 139, 133, 131, 127, 121, 119, 115, 110, 107, 102 Kyren Wilson • 139, 116, 102 Mark Allen • 138, 137, 124, 112, 105 Ronnie O'Sullivan • 138 Liam Highfield • 137, 135, 126, 126, 113, 110, 108, 105, 100, 100 Neil Robertson • 137, 126, 123, 107 Barry Hawkins • 136, 130, 130, 126, 126, 119, 106, 105 Anthony McGill • 135, 127, 113, 107 John Higgins • 132, 111, 100 David Gilbert • 131, 131, 129, 127, 125, 122, 120, 119, 117, 108, 104, 102, 100 Stuart Bingham • 130, 116, 101, 100 Yan Bingtao • 126 Liang Wenbo • 121, 116 Jack Lisowski • 121 Jamie Jones • 116, 114, 111, 111, 107, 105, 105 Judd Trump • 112, 105 Ricky Walden • 111, 108, 102, 101 Mark Williams • 111 Tian Pengfei • 109 Martin Gould • 105 Ding Junhui Qualifying stage centuries A total of 106 century breaks were made during the qualifying rounds. The highest was a 143 made by Mark Davis in his third-round match against Stuart Carrington. • 143 Mark Davis • 142, 137, 135, 110, 110, 106 Matthew Selt • 140, 140, 120, 108 Stuart Bingham • 140 Fergal O'Brien • 139 Ali Carter • 139 Alexander Ursenbacher • 138, 131 Li Hang • 138 Lei Peifan • 137, 134, 125, 122 Oliver Lines • 137, 114, 114, 104 Joe O'Connor • 137, 112, 103 Duane Jones • 136, 113, 102 Bai Langning • 136 Gerard Greene • 135, 125, 111, 110, 100 Chang Bingyu • 135 Mark Joyce • 134, 134 Lukas Kleckers • 133, 120 Xiao Guodong • 133, 105, 104 Igor Figueiredo • 132 Liam Highfield • 132 Michael Holt • 131, 114, 100 Lyu Haotian • 131, 108 Gary Wilson • 130, 123 Jak Jones • 130, 106 Liang Wenbo • 130 Lu Ning • 126, 120, 107, 100 Chris Wakelin • 126, 117, 106 Sam Craigie • 125 Robbie Williams • 124, 116, 100 Stuart Carrington • 124, 104 Dominic Dale • 123, 113, 104 Zhao Jianbo • 122 Nigel Bond • 122 Si Jiahui • 121, 114, 110, 108 Tian Pengfei • 120, 111 Mark King • 119, 106, 104 Kurt Maflin • 117, 103, 101, 100, 100 Jamie Jones • 114 Julien Leclercq • 114 Michael White • 110 Chen Zifan • 109 Ricky Walden • 108, 103 Fraser Patrick • 108 Dylan Emery • 106 Pang Junxu • 105 Ashley Hugill • 105 Yuan Sijun • 104, 100 Louis Heathcote • 103, 102 Steven Hallworth • 103, 100 Martin Gould • 103 Elliot Slessor ==References==