2025 World Snooker Championship: Full draw, results, match schedule, order of play, format from the Crucible

The World Snooker Championship title is the sport's ultimate accolade, having first been won by Joe Davis in 1927. The event has been held at the famous Crucible venue every year since 1977.

Carrying a prize fund of over £2.3 million, the winner of this year's blue riband spectacular will pocket the £500,000 top prize.

This is the final tournament of the 2024/25 professional snooker season. John Higgins won the most recent competition on the circuit at the 2024 Tour Championship.

How does the draw and tournament format for the 2025 World Snooker Championship work?

In total, 144 contestants were entered into this year’s Championship. Everyone with a professional tour card was eligible to enter, and several top amateurs were also awarded invites due to their performances in big tournaments over the past year.

The top 16 players from the world rankings following the 2024 Tour Championship automatically went through to the final stages at the Crucible, and gained a spot in the 32-player main draw.

The remaining 128 cueists had to attend the qualifying rounds for the competition held at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield between April 7th to 16th.

There were four qualifying rounds with a tiered draw used, meaning players entered the fray depending on their world ranking position. The amateurs and lowest ranked professionals needed to start in the opening round, while those ranked 17 to 48 didn’t have to come in until the penultimate round.

This process yielded 16 qualifiers who were then randomly drawn against the top 16 players for round one proper at the Crucible a few days later.

The top 16 seeds were already fixed in the draw bracket, meaning if all results went according to seeding, the top four would all reach the semi-finals.

Who are the seeds for the 2025 World Snooker Championship, who is playing at the Crucible?

Kyren Wilson is this year’s reigning and defending champion. ‘The Warrior’ defeated Jak Jones 18-14 in the 2024 final to win his first world title.

Wilson has enjoyed a stellar year with the crown, winning a further four ranking titles since. As the title holder, he is the number one seed and sits at the top of the draw.

No first-time Crucible champion has retained the title the following year; this anomaly is labelled the ‘Crucible Curse’.

World number one Judd Trump - champion here in 2019 - is the number two seed and is placed at the bottom of the draw. Wilson and Trump have faced each other three times in finals this season - Wilson winning them all - but only once before in Crucible history have the top two seeds met in the final; in 1987.

Nine of this year’s top 16 seeds have won the title here at least once before: Ronnie O’Sullivan (7 times), John Higgins, Mark Selby (4 times), Mark Williams (3 times), Kyren Wilson, Judd Trump, Luca Brecel, Neil Robertson, Shaun Murphy (once).

Three players will be making their debuts as Crucible top 16 seeds: Si Jiahui, Xiao Guodong, Jak Jones.

The top 16 seeds for the 2025 World Snooker Championship:

1: Kyren Wilson, 2: Judd Trump, 3: John Higgins, 4: Mark Selby, 5: Ronnie O'Sullivan, 6: Mark Williams, 7: Luca Brecel, 8: Mark Allen, 9: Neil Robertson, 10: Ding Junhui, 11: Barry Hawkins, 12: Zhang Anda, 13: Si Jiahui, 14: Xiao Guodong, 15: Shaun Murphy, 16: Jak Jones

What is the tournament format at the Crucible? How long are the matches?

The World Snooker Championship is like no other snooker event. Matches are long and held over multiple sessions - increasing as the competition goes on - the schedule is pretty relentless, and the intimate surroundings of the Crucible is like a pressure cooker.

For the opening 12 days, two tables are in operation in the arena. From the semi-finals, the venue is transformed into a one-table set-up, allowing more space for the players and officials.

• Round One (last 32): Best of 19 frames (two sessions)
• Round Two (last 16): Best of 25 frames (three sessions)
• Quarter-Finals: Best of 25 frames (three sessions)
• Semi-Finals: Best of 33 frames (four sessions)
• Final: Best of 35 frames (four sessions)

For information on who the referees are at the 2025 World Snooker Championship, please visit here.

For information on how to watch the 2025 World Snooker Championship, please visit here.