Every time a defending world snooker champion lost their opening match at the Crucible Theatre

Ten times a reigning world champion has had their title defence cut at the first take in Sheffield. We look back at when, who by, and how... 

1978: John Spencer 8-13 Perrie Mans 

Three-time world champion John Spencer was the first Crucible winner in 1977. 

Twelve months later, though, he was the first victim of the ‘Crucible Curse’ after losing in the first round to qualifier Perrie Mans. Spencer made two centuries in the contest – including the tournament’s highest break of 138 – but it was the South African who prevailed and eventually went all the way to the final.

1980: Terry Griffiths 10-13 Steve Davis  

Welshman Terry Griffiths shook the snooker world when he won the 1979 championship as a rookie qualifier. He enjoyed a fantastic few months before his Crucible defence, reaching the final of the UK Championship and winning the Masters. 

However, despite coming back from 7-0 and 10-3 down to level at 10-10, Griffiths had to hand back the world crown as a young Steve Davis – who had already won a round one/preliminary match at the venue – scored a 13-10 victory.

(In 1980, it was a 24-player field. As a seed, Griffiths began his campaign in the last 16/second round)

1982: Steve Davis 1-10 Tony Knowles 

From inflicting an opening round defeat to experiencing one himself, Steve Davis was on the wrong end of one of snooker’s most famous results, as the 2/5 on tournament favourite was sensationally dumped out first round by qualifier Tony Knowles in 1982. 

Davis claimed six titles in his maiden season as the world champion – including the UK and Masters – but he suffered a bemusing 10-1 loss to the Bolton cueist, one of just four defeats he experienced at the Crucible throughout the entire 1980s. 

1986: Dennis Taylor 6-10 Mike Hallett 

The hero of snooker’s most iconic scene 12 months earlier, 1985 king Dennis Taylor’s return to the Crucible Theatre was not a happy one. 

Mike Hallett, looking for his first win at the venue having lost in the first round for the past four years, was in dreamland at 7-0 up. Taylor once again showed his determination and battling qualities on the biggest stage to get within two at 8-6, but the qualifier held on.

2000: Stephen Hendry 7-10 Stuart Bingham 

Stephen Hendry set a new benchmark for world championship wins in the modern era when he collected his record seventh title in 1999. In the first Crucible campaign of the new millennium, though, he exited the party on the opening day. 

A 23-year-old Stuart Bingham was on his Crucible Theatre debut. The world number 92 had to navigate four rounds of qualifying, and his prize was to face the defending champ in the tournament’s opening session. It had the makings of a comfortable victory for Hendry, but Bingham had other ideas as he went 4-2 up. 

Hendry won the final three frames of the morning act; hitting a break of 107 to go 5-4 ahead. Was this the start of a sprint towards the finish line? No, it wasn’t.

On resumption that evening, Bingham produced the goods as he strung together the first four frames of the session to move 8-5 up. He then held his nerve at the climax to record one of the championship's biggest ever shocks.

2007: Graeme Dott 7-10 Ian McCulloch 

An unexpected, although thoroughly deserving, world champion in 2006, Graeme Dott had to deal with personal problems off the table during his time with the world crown. 

The determined Scot headed to Sheffield on a baize high, though, having just won his second ranking event title, the China Open in Beijing. However, his off-season began much sooner than he would have liked as Ian McCulloch eliminated him 10-7 on the opening day. 

2011: Neil Robertson 8-10 Judd Trump 

There is always anticipation for the reigning world champion’s walk down the stairs on the opening morning of the competition, but there was extra attention in 2011. 

Neil Robertson – who 12 months earlier became the first Australian to conquer the Crucible – faced Judd Trump in a blockbuster round one clash. 

Only his second appearance at the venue, Trump was no ‘normal’ qualifier having just won his maiden ranking event at the China Open a few weeks before. An engrossing affair, Trump lived up to new expectations and emerged a 10-8 victor. With his brand of ‘naughty snooker’ the youngster embarked on a memorable run to the final.

2016: Stuart Bingham 9-10 Ali Carter 

The oldest first-time world champion at the Crucible Theatre in 2015, Stuart Bingham could have received a kinder draw than two-time runner-up Ali Carter in round one. 

Bingham didn’t have the greatest of seasons prior to his trip up north, but there were some positive signs having narrowly missed out on the World Grand Prix title a few weeks earlier. 

After losing the first frame of this opening day Essex derby, Carter won the next five to go 5-1 up, although Bingham recovered to level at 5-5. Carter then went three clear, but Bingham bettered that with a four-frame streak to go on the hill at 9-8 up. A century helped Carter force a deciding frame before he took the last to dethrone the champ. 

2018: Mark Selby 4-10 Joe Perry 

For the first time in the sport since Stephen Hendry’s dominance in the 1990s, Mark Selby enjoyed a sustained spell of Crucible success by winning three world titles in just four years between 2014 to 2017. 

On a ten-match Sheffield winning streak and aiming for three triumphs in-a-row, Selby was expected to put together another run at the worlds, especially as he was fresh from winning the China Open a few weeks earlier. 

The experienced Joe Perry had other ideas. Ranked 22 in the world and aged 43 – the oldest player in the main draw that year – Perry outplayed Selby, leading 7-2 after the first session before converting for a comfortable 10-4 victory.

2024: Luca Brecel 9-10 David Gilbert

Having never won a match at the venue before, Luca Brecel memorably won it all at the Crucible in 2023, defeating three multiple-time world champions and conjuring up the biggest comeback ever seen there (numerically, anyway) on his way to the title in swashbuckling fashion.

The Belgian’s season with the world crown had been a largely disappointing one, although he had reached two big invitational event finals and won the World Mixed Doubles alongside Reanne Evans.

Against a former semi-finalist David Gilbert in round one on his return to the Crucible, despite being under-the-weather, Brecel was fluent and looked sharp amongst the balls in the opening session as he went 6-3 up.

On resumption in the evening, he extended his lead to four, but the tie became disjointed and there were signs that the champion was unravelling. From 9-6 ahead, Brecel squandered golden opportunities to get the match won and Gilbert continued to step in and punish, recording a famous 10-9 comeback victory on the opening day.