There have been 21 winners at the Crucible (not including this year’s ongoing championship) and any one of those individuals will tell you the painstaking and arduous journey that’s required to reach that mountaintop. Most will already know this information but sometimes it’s worth reinforcing the voyage that players must undertake in order to, as Dennis Taylor says, ‘reach their ambition’.

Duration

The World Championship spans the course of 17 days in order to accommodate the longer form matches. Considering almost every tournament in the snooker calendar lasts the duration of one week, players have to find a way to hold their form and temperament for such a length of time.

Matches

The winner of the Worlds will have to overcome 5 opponents/matches in order to lift the coveted trophy. For the rare cases in which the individual happens to be a qualifier (much like Shaun Murphy in 2005), you can add at least another three matches to this total.

Frames

As we all know, WSC matches are significantly longer than the events that come before it. Winners need to best their opponents with 10 frames in Round 1; 13 in Round 2 and the Quarter-Final; 17 in the Semi-Finals; and 18 in the Final. Simple maths will tell us that 71 frames are needed to win the WSC. Again, in the case of a qualifier, you can add at least another thirty frames to this number.

Audience

The Crucible seats an impressive 980 spectators and for snooker’s largest tournament, you can expect it to be a packed and lively atmosphere. Some players can cope better than others, but the crowd certainly play their part in WSC matches. Not to mention the millions that watch from home, particularly on final day.

Late Nights

Due to the length of matches and structure of the tournament, you can expect some sessions to run into the late evenings, sometimes even past midnight. If you’re up against a player that is on the verge of being eliminated, you can be sure that they’ll do everything they can to stay in the event. So plenty of coffee and rest!

Fiercer Competition

The nature of the WSC means that you won’t get an easy route to the final, as it whittles out the weaker competition and the best performers remain. In certain iterations (such as this year) there will be significantly harder halves of the draw, meaning you will always have to face top players in order to reach the summit. And when it’s the World Championship, you can be certain that they’re on the ball.

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