Why the World Darts Championship makes snooker's Crucible Curse look even more menacing

The Chinese cueist created history in the spring of 2025 when he became the first player from Asia to conquer snooker's blue riband event.

At the time without a tour card and playing as an invited amateur, Zhao came all the way from the opening qualifying round to reach the final where he defeated three-time champion Mark Williams 18-12 to lift the trophy amidst memorable scenes.

And if Zhao wants to go back-to-back in Sheffield later this season, he will have to conjure up more history and achieve something else that no-one has ever done before.

No first-time winner of the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible has successfully defended the title.

Before Zhao, 23 different players have worn the world crown since the sport's premier competition moved and settled in South Yorkshire in 1977, and none of them - including several of snooker's all-time greats - have managed to retain their maiden title.

Six-time champion Steve Davis was crushed in the first round in 1982. Seven-time champion Stephen Hendry's initial reign came to an end during the quarter-finals in 1991. Ronnie O’Sullivan - arguably the GOAT - was dismissed in the semi-finals of his first defence.

Five of the last eight maiden world champions have gone on to lose their first round assignment upon their Crucible return, this includes the two most recent new world champions Luca Brecel and Kyren Wilson who both lost on the opening day of the televised stages via a deciding frame.

This bizarre statistic is labelled the ‘Crucible Curse’.

The two players who have come closest to breaking this hex are two of the more unlikely Crucible champions. 1986 king Joe Johnson reached the final again 12 months later, but the tables were turned as Steve Davis extracted baize revenge with an 18-14 win.

Ken Doherty ended Hendry's sensational Crucible winning-streak in the 1997 final, and the Irishman made the title fixture again the following year where he was denied 18-12 by John Higgins.

Navigating the gruelling 17-day gauntlet - or even longer in the case of qualifiers who won the title, like Zhao - is extremely challenging, but with the Crucible approaching nearly half-a-century of hosting the extravaganza, it is a bit perplexing how this sequence remains undefeated.

The 'Crucible Curse' appears even more menacing when you compare it to another indoor, one-on-one sport - darts.

The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) - the undisputed premier organisation in top flight darts these days - has held its world championship every year since 1994;around 17 years after the first World Snooker Championship at the Crucible was staged.

Since the inauguration of the PDC World Darts Championship 32 years ago, only 13 players have won the title, but four of those managed to successfully defend their maiden crown - in stark contrast to snooker’s number one tournament.

After Dennis Priestley claimed the historic first outing in 1994, Phil Taylor won the next eight consecutive editions from 1995 to 2002 inclusive.

Adrian Lewis scored his first major televised title at the event in 2011 - by now held at the Alexandra Palace in London, the tournament's home ever since - and retained the accolade the next year.

Gary Anderson added his name to the roll of honour in 2015 before immediately doubling up in 2016.

On Saturday night at the 'Ally Pally' in the capital city, darting wonderkid 18-year-old Luke Littler went back-to-back following a 7-1 final defeat of Gian Van Veen to collect the record £1 million top prize and become a multiple-time world champion at the first possible avenue.

And if you take a look at darts' original world championship - the version run by the British Darts Organisation that begin in 1978 and ended in 2020 - there have also been instances of maiden champions keeping hold of the crown with Eric Bristow (1980, 1981), Raymond van Barneveld (1998, 1999) and Glen Durrant (2017, 2018) all doing so.