Snooker World Championship guide: Draw, seeds & coverage

The 2025 World Snooker Championship gets under way at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield on Saturday, with Kyren Wilson bidding to retain his title.

The Englishman defeated Jak Jones 18‍–‍14 in the 2024 final to win his maiden world championship.

Seven-time winner Ronnie O'Sullivan, who has been struggling with health issues, has yet to decide if he will play in a 33rd consecutive edition of the tournament.

BBC Sport has comprehensive live coverage of the championship on BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Four and Red Button, while every match will be shown in full on iPlayer, the BBC Sport website and the BBC Sport app.

The final takes place over two days starting on Sunday 4 May.

A total of 144 players started the qualifying tournament at Sheffield's English Institute of Sport on 7 April. It runs until 16 April.

Among those bidding to qualify are two-time runner-up Ali Carter and former semi-finalist Gary Wilson.

China's Zhao Xintong, the 2021 UK champion, is also aiming to secure his place at the Crucible after returning to the sport in September following a 20-month ban for his involvement in a match-fixing scandal.

Six-time finalist Jimmy White's bid to play at the Crucible for the first time since 2006 ended in the second round, while former semi-finalist Joe Perry and Dominic Dale both retired from the sport after going out in the third round.

Stuart Bingham, the 2015 champion, also suffered a third qualifying round defeat.

Jackson Page made the first 147 maximum break of his career during the third round of qualifying, and incredibly the 23-year-old Welshman added a second later in the same match - a 10-2 win against Allan Taylor.

That earned Page a £147,000 bonus and put him in line for the £15,000 World Championship highest break prize.

Sixteen qualifiers will join 16 seeded players in the first round proper.

The draw for the first round will take place at 08:45 BST on Thursday at BBC Sport's MediaCity UK headquarters in Salford.

You can watch the draw live on BBC iPlayer, the BBC Sport website and the BBC Sport app from 08:40 BST or follow it on BBC Radio 5 Live.

As the defending champion, Kyren Wilson has the honour of being the top seed.

World number one Judd Trump is the second seed, with four-time champions John Higgins and Mark Selby third and fourth respectively.

Higgins beat Selby in the Tour Championship final earlier in April to move above him in the listings.

Ronnie O'Sullivan, bidding for an eighth title to surpass the record he shares with Stephen Hendry, is seeded fifth.

The 49-year-old is seeded to play 12th seed Zhang Anda in the second round, Selby in the quarter-finals and Wilson in the semi-finals.

Full seedings:

1) Kyren Wilson, 2) Judd Trump, 3) John Higgins, 4) Mark Selby

5) Ronnie O'Sullivan, 6) Mark Williams, 7) Luca Brecel, 8) Mark Allen

9) Neil Robertson, 10) Ding Junhui, 11) Barry Hawkins, 12) Zhang Anda

13) Si Jiahui 14) Xiao Guodong, 15) Shaun Murphy, 16) Jak Jones

No first-time champion has managed to retain the title since the championship moved to the Crucible Theatre in 1977.

Kyren Wilson will start his bid to break the 'Crucible curse' on Saturday morning.

The winner will receive £500,000 and there is total prize fund of £2,395,000.

Winner: £500,000

Runner-up: £200,000

Semi-finalists: £100,000

Quarter-finalists: £50,000

Last 16: £30,000

Last 32: £20,000

Last 48: £15,000

Last 80: £10,000

Last 112: £5,000

Highest break (qualifying stage included): £15,000

First-round matches are the best of 19 frames.

Second round and quarter-final matches are played over a maximum of 25.

Semi-final matches are best of 33 frames.

The final is the best of 35 frames.

Watch live coverage on BBC One, BBC Two and BBC Four, or take your pick of the matches on iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.

For further coverage, audiences can tune into Snooker Extra every night on BBC Two and iPlayer to catch up on the action from the day's early games.

Radio 5 Live will have regular updates and features in programmes throughout the tournament.

Meanwhile, the BBC Sport website and app will have text updates on the early rounds and quarter-finals before full live text commentary on the semi-finals and final.

World Snooker Championship

19 April to 5 May

The BBC's presenting team will be Hazel Irvine, Seema Jaswal and Rishi Persad, with reporting from Shabnam Younus-Jewell and Abigail Davis.

Audiences can expect expert commentary and insights from snooker legends Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry, John Parrott, Ken Doherty, Dennis Taylor and John Virgo, alongside some of the game's current players including Masters winner Shaun Murphy.

First round

Live coverage

10:00-12:00 - BBC Two

10:00-14:00 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app

13:15-16:00 - BBC One

14:30-18:00 - iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

16:30-18:00 - Red Button

19:00-22:00 - BBC Four

19:00-22:30 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app

Highlights

00:05-02:05 - World Championship Extra - BBC Two

First round

Live coverage

10:00-12:15 - BBC Two

10:00-14:00 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app

13:00-17:40 - BBC Two

14:30-18:00 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app

19:00-22:00 - BBC Four

19:00-22:30 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app

Highlights

00:05-02:05 - World Championship Extra - BBC Two

First round

Live coverage

10:00-12:00 - BBC Two

10:00-14:00 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app

13:00-18:00 - BBC Two

14:30-18:00 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app

19:00-22:00 - BBC Four

19:00-22:30 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app

Highlights

00:05-02:05 - World Championship Extra - BBC Two

First round

Live coverage

10:00-12:15 - BBC Two

10:00-14:00 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app

13:00-18:00 - BBC Two

14:30-18:00 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app

19:00-22:00 - BBC Four

19:00-22:30 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app

Highlights

00:05-02:05 - World Championship Extra - BBC Two

First round

Live coverage

10:00-11:15 - BBC Two

10:00-14:00 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app

13:00-18:00 - BBC Two

14:30-18:00 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app

19:00-22:00 - BBC Four

19:00-22:30 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app

Highlights

00:05-02:05 - World Championship Extra - BBC Two

First and second round

Live coverage

13:00-17:00 - BBC Two

14:30-18:00 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app

19:00-22:00 - BBC Four

19:00-22:30 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app

Highlights

00:05-02:05 - World Championship Extra - BBC Two

Second round

Live coverage

10:00-12:00 - BBC Two

10:00-14:00 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app

13:00-18:00 - BBC Two

14:30-18:00 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app

19:00-22:00 - BBC Four

19:00-22:30 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app

Highlights

00:05-02:05 - World Championship Extra - BBC Two

Second round/quarter-finals

Live coverage

10:00-12:00 - BBC Two & Red Button

10:00-14:00 - iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

13:45-16:30 - BBC Two

14:30-18:00 - iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

16:25-18:00 - Red Button

19:00-20:00 - BBC Two

19:00-22:30 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app

20:00-22:00 - BBC Four

Highlights

00:05-02:05 - World Championship Extra - BBC Two

Second round

Live coverage

10:00-12:25 - BBC Two

10:00-14:00 - iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app (Red Button 10:00-12:15)

13:00-18:00 - BBC Two

14:30-18:00 - iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app (Red Button 14:40-18:00)

15:00-18:00 - BBC Two

19:00-20:00 - BBC Two

19:00-22:30 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app

20:00-22:00 - BBC Four

Highlights

00:05-02:05 - World Championship Extra - BBC Two

Second round

Live coverage

13:00-17:00 - BBC Two

13:00-18:00 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app

19:00-20:00 - BBC Two

19:00-22:30 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app

20:00-22:00 - BBC Four

Highlights

00:05-02:05 - World Championship Extra - BBC Two

Quarter-finals

Live coverage

10:00-12:15 - BBC Two

10:00-14:00 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app

13:00-18:00 - BBC Two

14:30-18:00 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app

19:00-20:00 - BBC Two

19:00-22:30 - iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

20:00-22:00 - BBC Four

Highlights

00:05-02:05 - World Championship Extra - BBC Two

Quarter-finals

Live coverage

10:00-11:15 - BBC Two

10:00-14:00 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app

13:00-18:00 - BBC Two

14:30-18:00 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app

19:00-20:00 - BBC Two

19:00-22:30 - iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

20:00-22:00 - BBC Four

Highlights

00:05-02:05 - World Championship Extra - BBC Two

Semi-finals

Live coverage

13:00-16:00 - BBC Two

13:00-18:00 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app

19:00-20:00 - BBC Two

19:00-22:30 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app

20:00-22:00 - BBC Four

Highlights

00:05-02:05 - World Championship Extra - BBC Two

Semi-finals

Live coverage

10:00-12:00 - BBC Two

10:00-14:00 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app

14:00-18:00 - BBC Two

14:30-18:00 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app

19:00-20:00 - BBC Two

19:00-22:30 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app

20:00-23:00 - BBC Four

Semi-finals

Live coverage

10:00-12:00 - BBC Two

10:00-14:00 - iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

13:15-16:30 - BBC One

14:30-18:00 - iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

16:30-17:30 - BBC Two

19:00-22:00 - BBC Two

19:00-22:30 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app

20:00-23:00 - BBC Four

Final

Live coverage

13:00-18:00 - BBC Two

19:00-22:00 - BBC Two

Final

Live coverage

13:00-16:00 - BBC Two

19:00-22:00 - BBC Two