Backgroundedit
The World Snooker Championship is an annual cue sport tournament and the official world championship of the game of snooker.2 Founded in the late 19th century by British Army soldiers stationed in India,3 the sport was popular in the British Isles.4 However, in the modern era it has become increasingly popular worldwide, especially in East and Southeast Asian nations such as China, Hong Kong and Thailand.b4

The championship features 32 professional and qualified amateur players competing in one-on-one snooker matches in a single elimination format, each played over several frames. The 32 competitors in the main tournament are selected using a combination of the top players in the world snooker rankings and a pre-tournament qualification stage.56 Joe Davis won the first World Championship in 1927, the final match being held in Camkin's Hall, Birmingham, England.78 Since 1977, the event has been held in the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England.9

Stephen Hendry is the most successful player in the modern era, having won the World Championship a record seven times.b11 The 2018 World Championship was won by Welsh professional player Mark Williams, who defeated Scotland's John Higgins 18–16 in the final.1213 This was Williams' third world title, having won the championship in 2000 and 2003. The winner of the 2019 tournament earned prize money of £500,000, from a total pool of £2,231,000.14 The title sponsor of the event was sports betting company Betfred,1 who had sponsored the World Snooker Championship every year since 2015 (having previously sponsored the event from 2009 to 2012).1516

Formatedit
The 2019 World Snooker Championship took place between 20 April and 6 May 2019 in Sheffield, England. The tournament was the last of twenty ranking events in the 2018/2019 season on the World Snooker Tour. It featured a 32-player main draw that was held at the Crucible Theatre, as well as a 128-player qualifying draw that was played at the English Institute of Sport from 10 to 17 April 2019, finishing three days before the start of the main draw. This was the 43rd consecutive year the tournament was held at the Crucible, and the 51st consecutive year the championship was contested using the modern knockout format.56

The top 16 players in the latest world rankings automatically qualified for the main draw as seeded players.c Defending champion Mark Williams was automatically seeded first overall. The remaining 15 seeds were allocated based on the latest world rankings, which were released after the China Open, the penultimate event of the season. Matches in the first round of the main draw were played as the best of 19 frames. The number of frames required to win a match increased progressively with each successive round, leading up to the final match which was played as the best of 35 frames.56

All 16 non-seeded spots in the main draw were filled with players who had advanced through the qualifying rounds. There were 128 players in the qualifying draw, which comprised 106 of the remaining 112 players on the World Snooker Tour, as well as 22 wildcard places allotted to non-tour players. These invited players included the women's world champion, the European junior champion, and the four semi-finalists at the amateur championship. As with the main draw, half of the participants in the qualifying draw were seeded players; those ranked from 17th to 80th in the world rankings were allocated one of 64 seeds in order of their ranking, while the other competitors were placed randomly into the draw. To reach the main draw at the Crucible, players needed to win three best-of-19-frames qualifying matches.517

Participant summaryedit
Eight former world champions participated in the main tournament at the Crucible. They were Ronnie O'Sullivan (five titles: 2001, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2013), John Higgins (four titles: 1998, 2007, 2009, 2011), Mark Williams (defending champion, three titles: 2001, 2003, 2018), Mark Selby (three titles: 2014, 2016, 2017), Shaun Murphy (one title: 2005), Graeme Dott (one title: 2006), Neil Robertson (one title: 2010), and Stuart Bingham (one title: 2015).5 This was O'Sullivan's 27th consecutive appearance in the final stages of the World Championship since his debut in 1993, equalling Stephen Hendry's record for consecutive appearances, and three short of Steve Davis's overall record of 30 appearances. Four other former World Championship finalists also competed: Ali Carter (twice: 2008 and 2012), Judd Trump (once: 2011), Barry Hawkins (once: 2013), and Ding Junhui (once: 2016).517 The youngest player to participate in the main stage of the tournament was Luo Honghao at 19 years of age,18 while 46-year-old Mark Davis was the oldest; both players entered the main draw through qualifying.19

Three former world champions participated in the qualifying rounds: Ken Doherty (1997), Peter Ebdon (2002) and Graeme Dott (2006). Of these, only Dott succeeded in qualifying for the main tournament at the Crucible. Also, four former World Championship finalists participated in the qualifying rounds: Jimmy White (six times: 1984 and 1990–1994), Nigel Bond (once: 1995), Matthew Stevens (twice: 2000 and 2005), and Ali Carter (twice: 2008 and 2012).517 Of these, only Carter qualified for the main tournament at the Crucible.17