World Snooker Championship 2024 returns to Sheffield for another year as Ronnie O’Sullivan targets his eighth title.
The tournament runs from April 20 to May 6 at The Crucible with the winner taking home half a million pounds. This year, Luca Brecel is the defending champion.
O’Sullivan equalled the record in 2022 of seven Crucible crowns, in the past season he has won five titles including the Masters and has sights to break the record for himself with 8 World Championship titles.
In Sheffield, it’s a highly anticipated event for the residents with many people claiming tickets as soon as they’re released.
Eliot Goldsack, 20, a waiter from Sheffield said: “It’s an event I look forward to every year and I feel a very strong sense of pride that it’s hosted in my city”.
“Working in the centre of the city during the tournament, you can really tell how much money and tourism it brings in and it would really be a shame if it stopped being hosted in my home city”.
The speculation of the tournament not being hosted in Sheffield comes after the Saudi Arabia Riyadh Season has become a commercial partner of the tournament and O’Sullivan signing a three-year ambassadorial agreement with the company to grow the sport in the Middle East.
The Crucible has hosted snooker’s most prestigious event for the last 47 years and the current contract with Sheffield City Council is about the run expire in 3 years’ time.
The tournament format begins with 32 players which leads to the last 16, inevitably leaving the quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final.
The top seed, Luca Brecel, will be playing tomorrow morning on opening day, defending his title against David Gilbert.
Mr Goldsack said: “If I had to put money on the event, I would say it’s O’Sullivan’s championship to lose, but it could be anyone’s and that’s the beauty of this championship”