The Crucible of dreams

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The Crucible in Sheffield has played host to the World Championship since 1977 and first opened as a theatre in 1971. Snooker came to Sheffield by chance after the tournament director attended a play there with his wife. Snooker had lost its home at the time and he was so impressed with the structure and intimacy of the venue that a contract was signed.

The theatre is unique because it is small and only actually has 950 seats. When the World Championship is played, a screen is lowered between the two tables in the early rounds. Players have to manoeuvre themselves between the screen and the cameras to play and the audience are within touching distance of the table.

The Crucible has had many historic moments including Thorburn’s, 1983 maximum, the Davis/Taylor black ball final in 1985 and streaker or two!


The Crucible will continue to host the World Championship but it is under threat from changing times. With the expansion and mass investment of snooker in China, pressure has been put on World Snooker to move the tournament to China. The country now hosts five of the calendar’s events and is able to provide large venues to host events.

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