'Like one long soap opera' - Looking ahead to the 2022 World Snooker Championship at the Crucible

And so, this is it. After a season full of twists, turns and the unexpected, another World Championship is upon us. A month from now, it will all be over and one of the 144 entrants will have achieved snooker immortality, either joining the roll of honour as a first time champion or enhancing their status within the game by winning it again.

Ad/> The 17-day Crucible marathon, which begins on April 16th, is an endurance test for players, broadcasters and fans alike. But the championship starts today with ten days of qualifying which provide their own distinct drama. World ChampionshipWorld Championship qualifiers — Latest results, scores, schedule5 HOURS AGO The qualifiers are being played at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield, a few miles from the Crucible.

Snooker’s theatre of dreams is within touching distance but, for most, the drive out of the city will be one of disappointment. However, 16 players will advance to join the top 16 seeds in the first round draw. A total of four rounds will decide the line-up.

There are some big beasts standing in the way of hopefuls at the EIS, including former finalists Ding Junhui and Ali Carter, twice semi-finalist Stephen Maguire and the 2006 champion Graeme Dott. Fan Zhengyi and Joe Perry, who won the European Masters and Welsh Open respectively this season, will also be there, as will Shootout champion Hossein Vafaei and Dave Gilbert, who won the campaign-opening Championship League. Legendary figures such as Jimmy White and Ken Doherty enter the fray in the early rounds while Marco Fu, twice a semi-finalist, is returning to action after spending two years in Hong Kong during the pandemic.