(1) Luca Brecel vs David Gilbert

(16) Robert Milkins vs Pang Junxu

(9) Ali Carter vs Stephen Maguire

(8) Shaun Murphy vs Lyu Haotian

(5) Mark Selby vs Joe O'Connor

(12) Kyren Wilson vs Dominic Dale

(13) John Higgins vs Jamie Jones

(4) Mark Allen vs Robbie Williams

(3) Judd Trump vs Hossein Vafaei

(14) Tom Ford vs Ricky Walden

(11) Zhang Anda vs Jak Jones

(6) Mark Williams vs Si Jiahui

(7) Ding Junhui vs Jack Lisowski

(10) Gary Wilson vs Stuart Bingham

(15) Barry Hawkins vs Ryan Day

(2) Ronnie O'Sullivan vs Jackson Page

Odds: (Coral)

 

Ronnie O'Sullivan 11-5f

Judd Trump 9-2

Mark Selby 8-1

Mark Allen 10-1

Mark Williams 12-1

Luca Brecel 18-1

Ding Junhui 20-1

John Higgins 20-1

Shaun Murphy 22-1

Ali Carter 22-1

Kyren Wilson 25-1

Gary Wilson 33-1

Zhang Anda 33-1

Barry Hawkins 40-1

Jack Lisowski 40-1

Si Jiahui 40-1

Hossein Vafaei 50-1

Dave Gilbert 55-1

Stuart Bingham 66-1

Jak Jones 80-1

Stephen Maguire 80-1

Tom Ford 80-1

Lyu Haotian 100-1

Pang Junxu 100-1

Ricky Walden 100-1

Robert Milkins 100-1

Ryan Day 100-1

Joe O'Connor 125-1

Jackson Page 150-1

Jamie Jones 150-1

Robbie Williams 200-1

Dominic Dale 250-1

 

 

Many thanks DoBelieveTheHype for posting the draw, much appreciated, :)

No really long odds this year then. 250/1 for Dominic Dale and 200/1 for Robbie Williams seem a bit stiff.

 

Jak Jones all seems a bit sting at 80/1.

 

You can get 300/1 for Dominic Dale on William Hill.

 

@1781310452569391597

 

 

Eddie Hearn says snooker must "embrace" investment from different parts of the globe as the debate over whether the World Championship should leave its iconic Sheffield home continues.

 

The Crucible Theatre has hosted snooker's flagship event since 1977.

 

But with a capacity of just 980, calls to move the event have grown louder, with the venue's contract set to expire in 2027 on its 50-year anniversary.

 

"The problem is the Crucible is very small," Hearn told BBC Radio 5 Live.

Crucible 1st Round Schedule by seeds

 

Sat morning - Luca Brecel / Zhang Anda

Sat afternoon - Judd Trump / Ali Carter

Sat evening - Luca Brecel ( finish ) / Tom Ford

 

Sun morning - Mark Selby / Zhang Anda ( finish )

Sun afternoon - Shaun Murphy / Judd Trump ( finish )

Sun evening - Ali Carter ( finish ) / Tom Ford ( finish )

 

Mon morning - Gary Wilson / Shaun Murphy ( finish )

Mon afternoon - Mark Williams / Mark Selby ( finish )

Mon evening - Robert Milkins / Gary Wilson ( finish )

 

Tue morning - Kyren Wilson / Ding Junhui

Tue afternoon - Mark Allen / Mark Williams ( finish )

Tue evening - Barry Hawkins / Robert Milkins ( finish )

 

Wed morning - Kyren Wilson ( finish ) / Ding Junhui ( finish )

Wed afternoon - Ronnie O'Sullivan / Mark Allen ( finish )

Wed evening - John Higgins / Barry Hawkins ( finish )

@1781329893961203962

 

 

What a lovely looking bunch of people! And of course we get started again tomorrow.

Luca concedes the match only needing 1 snooker !!

 

The Curse has struck again !!

Luca concedes the match only needing 1 snooker !!

 

The Curse has struck again !!

I do not understand what he was thinking. To concede a match needing only one snooker and with reds still on the table is truly bizarre.

Seven world champions have lost in their first match as defending champion:

Terry Griffiths in 1980, Steve Davis in 1982, Dennis Taylor in 1986, Graeme Dott in 2007, Neil Robertson in 2011, Stuart Bingham in 2016 and Luca Brecel in 2024

I do not understand what he was thinking. To concede a match needing only one snooker and with reds still on the table is truly bizarre.

 

His post-match interviews shed some light on his thought process. Don't think he's going to win the worlds again and more importantly I don't think he even wants to.

 

Anyway we've got 4 matches playing to a finish today. Should be good.

 

Sunday 21st April:

 

Morning Session:

 

Zhang Anda (11) [China] 4-10 Jak Jones [Wales]

Mark Selby (5) [England] 2-7 Joe O'Connor [England]

 

Afternoon Session:

 

Judd Trump (3) [England] 10-5 Hossein Vafaei (Iran)

Shaun Murphy (8) [England] 6-3 Lyu Haotian (China)

 

Evening Session:

 

Tom Ford (14) [England] 10-6 Ricky Walden (England)

Ali Carter (9) [England] 7-10 Stephen Maguire (Scotland)

 

Today:

 

Morning Session:

 

Shaun Murphy (8) [England] 10-5 Lyu Haotian (China)

Gary Wilson (10) [England] 3-6 Stuart Bingham (England)

 

Afternoon Session (Currently)

 

Mark Selby (5) [England] 5-9 Joe O'Connor [England]

Mark Williams (6) [Wales] 3-2 Si Jiahui [China]

Former world champion Shaun Murphy has described Hossein Vafaei's criticism of the Crucible Theatre as "almost sacrilege", saying the Iranian has "not helped the sport at all".

 

On Sunday, world number 19 Vafaei said the Crucible, which has hosted the World Snooker Championship since 1977, "smells really bad", the practice room is like a "garage" and the tournament should move elsewhere.

 

After his 10-5 win over Lyu Haotian, Murphy responded to those comments, with a passionate defence of the venue, regarded as the sport's home.

 

"This is a working theatre, it’s not a purpose-built snooker venue," said Murphy. "We’re coming up to the 50th anniversary of snooker being here and if World Snooker Tour turned up tomorrow and did a site visit, they would probably not come here because it’s not big enough, but there’s nothing we can do about that.

 

"But this is holy ground. It’s almost sacrilege for a professional snooker player to be so openly critical of our home. Hossein should educate himself on how our tour works in relationships with the WST and our broadcast partners, our venues and how special this place is."

 

 

If Joe O'Connor loses from this position it will be the biggest sporting anti climax since Coventry lost in the FA Cup semi final.

67 break from Selby and he trails 9-6 to O'Connor.

Si edges ahead for the first time in the match, 4-3 to Si against Willo.

Three-time world champion Mark Williams became the sixth seeded player to be eliminated in the 2024 event as he lost 10-9 in a deciding frame against China's Si Jiahui.

 

Welshman Williams, the 49-year-old fifth seed, led 5-4 in his first-round match against Si after Monday's first session.

 

However, last year's semi-finalist won four frames in a row to move 8-5 ahead, before Williams pulled two frames back.

 

Si took the next to go 9-7 in front and had a glorious chance to seal the victory before missing a pink when 39-14 ahead to give Williams hope.

 

The 2000, 2003 and 2018 champion took it to 9-9, but left a red on into the middle and Si made a match-winning break of 77.

 

It has been a tournament of shocks and Williams joins top seed Luca Brecel, fifth seed Mark Selby, ninth seed Ali Carter, 10th seed Gary Wilson and 11th seed Zhang Anda in making an early exit.

 

Si will face another Welsh player in the last 16 when he meets world number 44 Jak Jones, after he defeated China's Zhang on Sunday.

Wednesday 24th of April

 

10am

 

**Kyren Wilson 8-1 Dominic Dale Wilson leads 7-3

**Ding Junhui 4-5 Jack Lisowski Ding Junhui leads 3-0

 

2.30pm

 

**Mark Allen 7-2 Robbie Williams Allen leads 4-1

Ronnie O'Sullivan v Jackson Page O'Sullivan leads 2-0

 

7pm

 

John Higgins v Jamie Jones Tied at 2-2

**Barry Hawkins 4-5 Ryan Day Tied at 19-19