THE battle for the 49th Crucible event begins with a highly anticipated draw – and the fixtures will be drawn VERY SOON!
On Saturday morning, world champion Kyren Wilson starts defending his championship in an attempt to become the first person to win the title again and break the “Crucible curse.”
Along with the other top 15 seeds, Wilson, the top seed as champion, will be matched with a qualifier in the random draw.
Ronnie O’Sullivan, arguably the greatest snooker player of all time, has not yet stated if he would participate in this year’s tournament in an attempt to become the most successful champion of the modern era.
Since making his Crucible debut in 1993 at the age of 17, O’Sullivan has never missed the competition. He has won titles in 2001, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2020, and 2022.
- Draw time: 8.45am GMT
- Live stream: BBC iPlayer
- TV channel: BBC
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Follow our live blog below for the latest updates from the huge draw…
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Who are the top seeds in the World Snooker Championship draw?
These 16 players already qualified for the first round due to being top seeds.
- Kyren Wilson
- Judd Trump
- John Higgins
- Mark Selby
- Ronnie O’Sullivan
- Mark Williams
- Luca Brecel
- Mark Allen
- Neil Robertson
- Ding Junhui
- Barry Hawkins
- Zhang Anda
- Si Jiahui
- Xiao Guodong
- Shaun Murphy
- Jak Jones
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Welcome to the World Snooker Championship draw
World Snooker Championship returns for another year of scintillating action at the Crucible this weekend – but first up is the highly-anticipated draw!
Kyren Wilson will aim to break the Crucible Curse and defend his crown after beating Jak Jones in last year’s final.
Wilson has enjoyed a superb season but only enters the tournament as the third-favourite with the bookies, with World No1 Judd Trump and Mark Selby leading the way.
Sixteen seeds will be joined by 16 qualifiers to make up the round of 32.
Ronnie O’Sullivan is set to return to action, having not played in a snooker tournament since the start of the year, but his recent history of late pull-outs does not guarantee he will appear at the Crucible.
Trump is looking to win his first World Championship since 2019, while four-time winner John Higgins looks to keep his good form going.
Stay tuned as coming right up is the draw for this year’s World Snooker Championship.
