Snooker's most prestiguous tournament is here at last! April is the month of the World Championship, one of the sports' elite events and the longest lasting in its history, in which the entire World Snooker Tour makes the annual pilgrimage to Sheffield and the famous Crucible Theatre, for a chance to achieve their dream of becoming "Champion of the World". Snooker's ultimate marathon of the mind and of stamina sees 16 qualifiers do battle with the Top 16 of the world in multi-session matches: whoever can win 71 frames takes half-a-million pounds in prize money.

Unusually, for the first time since Ding Junhui did so in 2015, the winner of the World Championship this year will NOT become World Number One. Only a small number of players were able to do so, and as all of them have been eliminated in previous rounds, Mark Allen is guaranteed to become the first player from Northern Ireland in snooker history to reach the top of the rankings, as no remaining player can earn enough ranking points to overtake him,

The defending champion was Luca Brecel, who won his first world title last year by defeating Mark Selby in the final 18-15, having previously never won any match in the World Championship. Like all first-time champions, he succumbed to the Curse of the Crucible and lost in a decider 10-9 to Dave Gilbert in Round One.

Eyes were focused on the progress of Ronnie O'Sullivan in this tournament: having already won an 8th UK Championship and an 8th Masters title this season, he was on course to become the first player since Mark Williams to complete a Season Triple Crown, and also become the undisputed record holder with an 8th World Championship, but he lost 13-10 to Stuart Bingham in the Quarter-Finals.

We're at the business stages of this prestigous season-ending tournament, and now the Crucible Theatre comes into its own: the one-table set up has arrived for another year, with the commencement of the Semi-Finals! Two matches, four players, but only two spots available for someone to cement their legacy in the sport: who is going to outlast the other over 33 frames to reach the Final this year??

The host broadcaster is BBC Sport, with full uninterrupted coverage on the BBC's digital platforms, plus coverage on the BBC's TV channels (including BBC One, Two, Four and the Red Button Channel). For a full list of broadcasters wherever you are in the world, head to https://www.wst.tv/news/2024/april/17/how-to-watch-the-cazoo-world-championship-/

For those who are watching the event via the BBC, the TV channel scheduling and some other information can be found here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/snooker/68775898

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