The World Snooker Championship is the most prestigious tournament in professional snooker. The latest edition of the event had a total prize pool of £2,395,000, including £500,000 for the winner. It is now one of the three tournaments (together with the UK Championship and the invitational Masters) that make up snooker's Triple Crown Series. The reigning world champion is Wu Yize.
The event was first held in 1927 as a professional competition organised by the Billiards Association and Control Council, and Joe Davis won the title. In 1952, a rival tournament called the World Professional Match-play Championship was introduced by the Professional Billiards Players' Association to compete with the 1952 World Snooker Championship, which had only two entrants. The World Professional Match-play Championship was held as the world championship for snooker until 1957. From 1964 to 1968, the event was played using a challenge format, where the current champion would be challenged by another player. John Pulman won all seven challenge matches.
History
Overview Joe Davis dominated the tournament over its first two decades, winning the first 15 world championships before he retired undefeated after his final victory in 1946. The distinctive World Championship trophy, topped by a Greek shepherdess figurine retrospectively known as the Silver Lady, was acquired by Davis back in 1926. No tournaments were held between 1941 and 1945 due to World War II, or between 1952 and 1963 due to a dispute between the Professional Billiards Players' Association (PBPA) and the Billiards Association and Control Council (BACC) where the PBPA held an unofficial alternative championship; the official championship was revived on a challenge basis in 1964 and reverted to the knockout format in 1969, now known as the beginning of snooker's modern era.
It has taken place annually with every edition since 1977 staged at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, with only a planned exception in 2029 in order for the venue to undergo renovations. Under a format that has remained largely unchanged since 1982, 32 players reach the Crucible each year; the top 16 players in the world rankings qualify automatically, while another 16 players win places through a qualification tournament; only four qualifiers have ever won the tournament (Alex Higgins in 1972, Terry Griffiths in 1979, Shaun Murphy in 2005 and Zhao Xintong in 2025).
Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O'Sullivan have each won seven times to jointly hold the record of most world titles in the modern era. Ray Reardon and Steve Davis have won six titles; John Higgins and Mark Selby four; John Spencer and Mark Williams three; and Alex Higgins two. As of 2026, 92 editions of the World Championship have been staged and 30 players have won the Championship.
Fifteen maximum breaks have been made in the history of the tournament, by eleven different players—Cliff Thorburn compiled the first in 1983, and Mark Allen made the most recent in 2025. A record 109 century breaks were made at the Crucible in 2022.
Professional Snooker Championship (1927–1934)
Year Champion Runner-up 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934
The first championship was held in 1927, where it was known as the Professional Snooker Championship. It was the first professional snooker tournament although the English Amateur Championship has been contested since 1916. Ten professionals entered including most of the leading English billiards players. Matches were over 15 frames with the semi-finals over twenty-three frames and final over 31 . The first match played was between Melbourne Inman and Tom Newman at Thurston's Hall, Leicester Square in London. The snooker was played as an added extra to the main event, a billiards match played over two weeks. The match started on Monday 29 November 1926 and one frame of snooker was played at the end of each session. The final between Joe Davis and Tom Dennis was played over four days in early May at Camkin's Hall in Birmingham. Davis won the first seven frames, and took a winning 16–7 lead on the third day, eventually winning 20–11. The highest break of the tournament was sixty, made by Albert Cope in his semi-final match against Davis, in a dead frame after Davis had won the match.
The 1928 Championship was played on a challenge basis, with the other six entries playing-off for the right to challenge Davis in the final. Fred Lawrence progressed to the final, but lost 13–16. The challenge system was dropped in the 1929 event. Davis met Dennis in the final, played in Dennis's home town of Nottingham. Davis made a new record break of 61, on the way to a 19–14 victory. The same pair met in the 1930 final, played for the first time at Thurston's Hall in London, with Davis winning 25–12, with a day to spare and made a new record break of 79. With little prospect of success and little prospect of financial gain, there were only two entries for the 1931 Championship. Davis and Tom Dennis met for the fourth time, the event being played in Nottingham. Dennis led 19–16 at one stage, but Davis won nine of the next eleven frames to take the Championship 25–21.
There were three entries for the 1932 tournament. Clark McConachy met Davis in the final, played at Thurston's Hall. Davis took the title after a 30–19 win, and set a new record with a break of 99, missing out on his century after he snookered himself. There were five entries in 1933, with debutant Willie Smith meeting Davis in the final, but lost 18–25. There were just two entries in 1934, Davis being opposed by Tom Newman, six times World Billiards Champion. The match was held partly in Nottingham before finishing in Kettering, with Davis winning 25–22.
Thurston's Hall era (1935–1940)
Year Winner Runner-up 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940
The 1935 Championship introduced some significant changes. It was the first to incorporate "world" in its name, being called the World's Professional Snooker Championship. There was also a change in the organisation of the event with the matches being played consecutively at the same venue, Thurston's Hall in London. In the period from 1935 to 1940, nearly all World Championship matches were played there and with good attendances the professionals could make some money from their share of the entrance charges. Because of the importance of gate receipts, all frames were played out, even if a player had already won the match.
There were five entries in 1935 Championship. Joe Davis beat Willie Smith 28–21 in the final. Davis recorded the first century break in the history of the championship, 110 in his semi-final match against Tom Newman. The break was made in a dead frame but was still regarded as a championship record. The success of the 1935 championship resulted in a record 13 entries in 1936. Joe Davis and Horace Lindrum met in the final, with Davis having won one of his prior matches 29–2 after taking a winning 16–0 lead; whilst Lindrum had won his semi-final by the same score, 29–2, In the final, Lindrum led 26–24 at the start of the final day and then won the first frame on the last day. However Davis won the last ten frames in a row to win 34–27.
Qualifying was introduced for the first time in 1937. As the event had nine entries, two players were chosen to play a qualification match. The two were Fred Davis, Joe's younger brother and Bill Withers. Withers won the match 17–14, a defeat that Fred put down to ignoring his worsening eyesight. Lindrum played Joe Davis in the final, and led 17–13 at the half-way stage, but Davis recovered to win the match 32–29. Davis made a break of 103 in the final, the first championship century in live play.
Lindrum chose not to enter the 1938 event, which Davis also won, beating Sidney Smith in the final. The following year, Davis met Smith again in the final, and took a winning 37–25 lead on the final day. The 1940 Championship featured the Davis brothers meeting in the final. Joe led 15–10 but then Fred won eleven frames in succession to lead 21–15. On the final day Joe made a 101 break to take a winning 37–35 lead. The spectators cheered for nearly a minute when Joe made his century. In October 1940, during The Blitz, Thurston's Hall was destroyed by a parachute mine which demolished the south-western corner of Leicester Square. No tournaments were played during the remainder of World War II.
Post-war era (1946–1952) Year Winner Runner-up 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952
The championship resumed in 1946 where Joe Davis again met Lindrum in the final. The Royal Horticultural Hall in London was converted to a snooker venue, seating 1,250 for the championships. The match was extended from one week to two, allowing up to 30,000 spectators to be accommodated with prices ranging from 5s to £3. Davis maintained a small lead throughout and won, early on the final day, leading 73–62. Davis made six centuries in the final, setting new championship records of 133 and 136. The event proved a financial success for the players, with Davis receiving £1,800 and Lindrum £550.
In October 1946, Joe Davis announced that he would no longer play in the World Championship, having never lost a match in the championship from its inception in 1927. He did not, in any other sense, retire from snooker, continuing to play in other tournaments and exhibition matches for many years. The finalists for the 1947 Championship, Fred Davis and Walter Donaldson, agreed to delay the final until the autumn so that it could be played at the rebuilt Thurston's Hall. Donaldson got off to a good start, leading 44–28 after the first week and eventually took a winning 73–49 lead early on the 11th day. The pair met again in the 1948 final, Fred Davis and Walter Donaldson again reached the final, with Davis winning 73–49. They also contested the 1949 Championship final, and although Donaldson led 39–33 after the first week, Davis pulled ahead on the second week and eventually took a winning 73–58 lead. After three finals at Leicester Square Hall the 1950 Championship final moved to Blackpool Tower Circus. Fred Davis and Donaldson met in the final for the next two years, with Donaldson winning in 1950, 49–42, and Davis in 1951.
Following a dispute between the Professional Billiards Players' Association (PBPA) and the Billiards Association and Control Council (BACC), members of the PBPA boycotted the 1952 Championship. The BACC thought the championship should be primarily a matter of honour, and financial considerations should come second. As a consequence of the boycott there were only two entries, Lindrum and McConachy. McConachy had played in the recent News of the World Tournament but had performed badly, losing all eight of his matches. Although Lindrum did not play in the News of the World Tournament, he had been receiving more generous starts in recent handicap tournaments and had even withdrawn from the 1950 Sporting Record Masters' Snooker Tournament in 1950, complaining about his overly generous handicap. Lindrum won the championship, reaching a winning 73–37 position early on the tenth day.
World Professional Match-play Championship (1952–1957)
Year Winner Runner-up 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957
Having boycotted the official championship, the PBPA established their own championship called the PBPA Snooker Championship which attracted ten entries. Fred Davis and Donaldson were given byes to the semi-final stage, and met again in the final, held at the Blackpool Tower Circus, as Davis won 38–35. A second such championship was played the following year, referred to as the 1953 World Professional Match-play Championship, with the same finalists. Played at Leicester Square Hall, it was tied at 33–33 at the start of the final session but Davis won 37–34. The pair met in the 1954 Championship final, held in Manchester, their eighth successive final. It was the most one-sided of the eight finals, Davis taking a winning 36–15 lead early on the fifth day.