What is the format for the 2024 World Snooker Championship?

A total of 144 players will be entered into the 2024 World Snooker Championship this spring. 

Snooker’s ultimate prize was first won by the legendary Joe Davis at Camkin’s Hall, Birmingham in 1927. Albeit a very different format to what we’ve had in the modern era, Davis won the first 15 editions of the championship and retired from the competition undefeated following his final triumph in 1946. 

The tournament structure for the 2024 installment is the same as last year’s. The top 16 players in the world rankings after the 2024 Tour Championship will be seeds for the main event. As the defending champion, Luca Brecel will automatically be the number one seed. 

These seeds go straight through to the final stages at the Crucible Theatre between April 20 to May 6, assured of a spot in the 32-player main draw without needing to qualify.

All the professional players ranked outside the world’s top 16 will need to attend and be successful at the qualifying rounds at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield (April 8-17) in order to join the seeds on snooker’s grandest stage. 

These lower ranked professionals will be joined by several amateur players who have been invited due to their achievements on this season’s secondary circuit. A total of 128 players will be in the draw for the qualifying phase. 

There are four qualifying rounds, with all matches across the process being the best of 19 frames (first to ten). Matches are scheduled to be held across two sessions. 

The qualifying rounds are ‘tiered’ meaning a player will enter the event depending on how high or low their world ranking is. It means that the lowest ranked players and the amateur invitees will need to navigate four rounds of qualifying, whilst higher ranked players need to come through fewer rounds. 

A total of 16 players will emerge from the qualifiers. These cueists will then be randomly drawn against the 16 seeds in the opening round at the Crucible.

2024 Crucible Theatre Format

The format and general round-by-round schedule at the Crucible Theatre for the main draw of the World Snooker Championship has generally remained the same for decades. 

The target number of frames, length of matches and number of scheduled sessions for matches in each round are as follows: 

• Round One (Last 32): Best of 19 frames / First to 10 frames / Two sessions 

• Round Two (Last 16): Best of 25 frames / First to 13 frames / Three sessions 

• Quarter-Finals: Best of 25 frames / First to 13 frames / Three sessions 

• Semi-Finals: Best of 33 frames / First to 17 frames / Four sessions 

• Final: Best of 35 frames / First to 18 frames / Four sessions 

If there is slow play in a session, the full number of scheduled frames for the session may not be completed. If slow play occurs in a concluding session, players may have to come back later in the day when a table becomes available to complete the match. 

From the second round onwards, if a match is particularly one-sided, it could be completed with a session to spare. 

Three world snooker championship finals at the Crucible Theatre have been won with a session to spare – Steve Davis 18-6 Cliff Thorburn in 1983, Steve Davis 18-3 John Parrott in 1989 and Stephen Hendry 18-5 Jimmy White in 1993. 

The opening three rounds at the Crucible – round one to the quarter-finals – will be played across two tables. 

From the semi-finals, there will be only one table in the arena – the fabled one-table set-up.