World Snooker Championship

Written on April 17, 2009 by Laymybet.co.uk

The 888.com World Snooker Championship breaks off at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield on Saturday 18th April 2009.

The 888.com World Snooker Championship will see 32 of the Worlds best snooker players compete in the most important tournament in World snooker.

World Snooker Championship Odds

World Snooker Championship Odds supplied by 888 who are currently offering a £50 free bet for all new customers.

World Snooker Championship Coverage

The World Snooker Championship is famous for its long frame format which makes it one of the longest events to watch in sport. Round 1 breaks off this Saturday and is available to watch via BBC Two, BBC Radio 5 Live, Red Button and live coverage, results and reports on the BBC Sport website.

* Round 1 (Best of 19 Frames) – 18th to 23rd April

Ronnie O’Sullivan vs Stuart Bingham

Mark Allen vs Martin Gould

Peter Ebdon vs Nigel Bond

Ryan Day vs Stephen Lee

John Higgins vs Michael Holt

Joe Perry vs Jamie Cope

Graeme Dott vs Barry Hawkins

Mark Selby vs Ricky Walden

Shaun Murphy vs Andrew Higginson

Marco Fu vs Joe Swail

Ding Junhui vs Liang Wenbo

Stephen Hendry vs Mark Williams

Allister Carter vs Gerard Greene

Neil Robertson vs Steve Davis

Mark King vs Rory McLeod

Stephen Maguire vs Jamie Burnett

* Round 2 (Best of 25 Frames) – 24th to 27th April
* Quarter Finals (Best of 25 Frames) – 28th to 29th April
* Semi Finals (Best of 33 Frames) – 30th April to 2nd May
* Final (Best of 35 Frames) – 3rd to 4th May

World Snooker Championship Prize Fund

This years prize fund will see each player pick up cheques for the following amounts (based on their final position in the competition):

Winner: £250,000, Runner Up: £125,000, Semi Finalist: £52,000, Quarter Finalist: £24,050, Last 16: £16,000, Last 32: £12,000, Last 48: £8200, Last 64: £4600. Stage 1 High Break: £1000, Stage 1 Maximum Break: £5000. Stage 2 High Break: £10,000, Stage 2 Maximum Break: £147,000. Total Prize Fund: £1,111,000.

Official World Snooker Championship Rankings

1. Ronnie O’Sullivan, 2. Stephen Maguire, 3. Shaun Murphy, 4. Mark Selby, 5. John Higgins MBE, 6. Stephen Hendry MBE, 7. Allister Carter, 8. Ryan Day, 9. Peter Ebdon, 10. Neil Robertson, 11. Ding Junhui, 12. Joe Perry, 13. Graeme Dott, 14. Marco Fu, 15. Mark King and 16. Mark Allen.

Legends of the World Snooker Championship include Joe Davis (15 titles), Fred Davis (8), John Pulman (8), Ray Reardon (6), Steve Davis (6), Stephen Hendry (7) and Ronnie O’Sullivan (3).

Priced at 2/1 Ronnie O’Sullivan appears to be the heavy favourite to retain his World Snooker Championship title. However, we’ll stake our 888.com £50 free bet on Ali Carter who is looking to avenge his defeat to Ronnie in the final last year.