All 32 World Snooker Championship players ranked by form ahead of the Crucible
Who is heading to the Crucible in the best shape?
The best players on the planet battle it out at the Crucible over the next 17 days at the World Snooker Championship, but not all of them head to Sheffield in great form.
Only the top 16 in the world rankings and 16 qualifiers make it to the iconic home of snooker, a feat in itself and one that some players never manage.
However, the way the season and the rankings work, there are a number of players who arrive at the Crucible having played very little competitive snooker of late.
For some their opening round will be the first match they’ve played for weeks, and in some cases months.
In contrast, there are some star names who will be bouncing through the doors of the Crucible having been in fine fettle of late.
The idea of form is subjective to some extent, so for the purposes of judging the nick these players are in, the last four tournaments have been taken into account.
That means going back two months to include the World Open, World Grand Prix, Players Championship and Tour Championship, while the qualifiers have the added bonus of having already played games in this World Championship.
Here are the 32 players at the Crucible this year ranked by form from worst to best…
32. Ronnie O’Sullivan
It’s not often the Rocket comes out bottom of any snooker list but there is little choice but to have him propping up the table here.
The seven-time world champion has not played competitively since January so form-wise, well…he has none.
31. Luca Brecel
The 2023 world champion has also been out of action for a while, not playing since the Welsh Open in February, so his form is also non-existent.
However, he was playing well before he withdrew from the World Open and failed to qualify for the next three tournaments, reaching the semis in Wales, so on countback he edges ahead of the Rocket.
30. Jak Jones
Last year’s runner-up has had other things on his mind after welcoming his first child into the world (congratulations Jak!) and he pulled out of the World Open as a result.
He did play at the World Grand Prix but lost his opener 4-3 to Xiao Guodong so failed to make the Players or Tour Championships.
29. Zhang Anda
After a great previous season there has been a significant drop off this campaign for Zhang, who last won a match on February 10 in the Welsh Open against Ross Muir.
First round defeats at the World Open and Grand Prix leave him coming to Sheffield pretty cold.
28. Mark Allen
The Pistol is another player who has not won a game since the Welsh Open, which represents a terrible run of form for a player of his standard.
Shock defeats to David Lilley and Jimmy Robertson at the World Open and Grand Prix followed by a loss to Kyren Wilson at the Players saw him fail to make the Tour.
27. Si Jiahui
Si Jiahui last won a match at the Championship League in early February, having suffered immediate exits at the Welsh, Grand Prix, Players and Tour, while failing to qualify for the World Open.
His early season form got him into the big events at the back end of the campaign, so at least he was playing and winning some frames, but he is not in good form.
26. Fan Zhengyi
Another player we’ve seen little of as he didn’t qualify for the World Open or the three events which followed. Fan did, though, look good in qualifying.
Four centuries over pretty comfortable wins against Robbie Williams and Michael Holt was impressive.
25. Matt Selt
Matt Selt didn’t make the World Open but did very nearly pull off a great result at the Grand Prix, narrowly losing to world champ Kyren Wilson in his first round.
He comfortably beat Anthony Hamilton in his first qualifier and came back from 8-3 behind to beat Jimmy Robertson 10-9 in his second.
24. Mark Williams
Struggling with his eyesight, it has not been a great spell for the three-time world champion.
He didn’t play at the World Open, did beat Ding Junhui in his Players Championship opener, but that is his only victory since the Welsh.
23. Dave Gilbert
The Angry Farmer started the season really well but the second half has not been so good. He did beat Chris Wakelin in his Grand Prix opener, but didn’t qualify for the World Open, Players or Tour.
Gilbert beat Gong Chenzhi in his first World Championship qualifier and encouragingly showed a lot of fight to come from behind and edge Aaron Hill 10-9 in his second.
22. Ben Woollaston
One win and a deciding-frame defeat for Woollaston at the World Open, then he nearly pulled off an amazing win over Shaun Murphy at the Grand Prix. With almost no notice he stepped into the draw at the last minute, flew to Hong Kong and hours later lost 4-3 to the Magician.
Wins over Mark Davis and Ross Muir in qualifying got him to the Crucible.
21. Lei Peifan
This season’s shock Scottish Open champion will make his Crucible debut after beating David Lilley and Gao Yang in qualifying.
He won just one match in his previous three events, although that was a good win over Elliot Slessor at the Grand Prix before a narrow defeat to Xiao.
20. Ryan Day
We hadn’t seen Dynamite since a run to the last 16 of the World Open, but he was solid in qualifying for the Crucible, with 10-5 wins over Sanderson Lam and Sunny Akani.
19. Daniel Wells
The Welshman makes his Crucible debut this year after continuing to be the scourge of Gary Wilson this season.
Wells beat Wilson 5-4 at the World Open, before losing in the last 32, then beat the Tyneside Terror 10-9 in his third and final qualifier after good wins over Huang Jiahao and a retiring Dominic Dale.
18. Chris Wakelin
It’s been a good season for Wakelin but he arrived at World Championship qualifying without a match win since the Welsh. Although defeats to Gilbert and Higgins at the Grand Prix and Players were bother in deciders.
He was one of the more impressive in qualifying, though, beating Xing Zihao 10-5 before demolishing Martin O’Donnell 10-2.
17. Zhou Yuelong
Back at the World Open in Yushan Zhou picked up a couple of wins, the second of which was over Kyren Wilson before only losing a decider to John Higgins.
10-5 victories over Ishpreet Singh Chadha and Yuan Sijun in qualifying will have him feeling pretty good.
16. Wu Yize
Wu played in all four tournaments from the World Open to the Tour, although they yielded just two match wins. He was competitive, though, with narrow defeats to Xiao at the Players (6-5) and Tour (10-8).
The 21-year-old was one of the favourites to come through qualifying but really had to scrap to a 10-9 win over Matthew Stevens.
15. Zhao Xintong
The only amateur at the Crucible so he has not been playing much ahead of the World Championship, but he did win four qualifying matches as he came in at the first round.
He played 63 frames in qualifying as he beat Cheung Ka Wai, Long Zehuang, Lyu Haotian and Elliot Slessor.
14. Pang Junxu
Pang had a good run at the World Open, reaching the quarter-finals before losing to eventual champion Higgins.
He hammered Ashley Carty 10-2 in his first qualifier before a very good 10-6 victory over the tough Jamie Jones.
13. Hossein Vafaei
Despite a shoulder injury Hossein Vafaei looked excellent in qualifying, beating Duane Jones before making five centuries in a win over Wang Yuchen.
He beat Si Jiahui and Xu Si on his way to the quarter-finals of the Grand Prix after being a late replacement for O’Sullivan.
12. Ali Carter
The Captain flew through to the semis of the World Open, which included wins over Jack Lisowski and Barry Hawkins.
He hasn’t done much since but battled through a neck problem in qualifying to beat Ian Burns and then He Guoqiang.
11. Ding Junhui
Ding has been a bit unpredictable this season but he was in the last 16 at the World Open and the semi-finals at the Tour, with an impressive 10-5 win over Kyren Wilson en route to the last four in Manchester.
First round exits at the Grand Prix and Players were less good, but the Dragon has produced some good stuff of late.
10. Zak Surety
Surety was a shock semi-finalist at the World Open where he played brilliantly before a narrow and painful loss to Higgins.
He didn’t qualify for the next three events but his form clearly had not dipped as he was superb in qualifying, beating Antoni Kowalski, Jack Lisowski and Ricky Walden impressively.
9. Xiao Guodong
One of the most consistent performers of the season has kept that up of late, reaching the quarter-finals of the Grand Prix, Players and Tour.
A defeat early at the World Open was a surprise, but the only men to beat him since have been Neil Robertson and John Higgins.
8. Shaun Murphy
Murphy actually arrives in Sheffield after receiving a couple of wallopings, losing 6-0 to Judd Trump at the Players and 10-1 to Barry Hawkins at the Tour.
However, that should not diminish some good performances beforehand, with a quarter-final run at the World Open, semi-final of the Grand Prix and that Trump loss coming in the quarters of the Players.
7. Joe O’Connor
O’Connor was brilliant on his way to the final of the World Open, beating the likes of Trump, Murphy and Carter to make the showpiece in style.
He didn’t make the next three events, but was very strong in qualifying to beat Iulian Boiko and Jackson Page.
6. Barry Hawkins
The Hawk looked as good as he ever has at the Tour Championship, really hitting stunning form as he battered Murphy and Trump before losing to Higgins but still looking good.
He’d also been to a quarter-final at the World Open, only losing to Murphy at the Grand Prix and Players.
5. Judd Trump
The world number one is not in top form by his immense standards, but he was in a big ranking final only a few weeks ago, losing to Kyren Wilson at the Players.
He had forgettable trips to the World Open and Tour but made the semis of the Grand Prix, including making four tons in a 5-0 win over Vafaei.
4. Neil Robertson
Neil Robertson did an extremely Neil Robertson thing as he missed the World Open by getting the dates of the qualifiers wrong and not turning up.
It didn’t hold him back too much though as he did turn up for the Grand Prix and won it, beating Stuart Bingham 10-0 in the final. A semi at the Players followed and a heavy loss to Mark Selby in a Tour quarter-final while under the weather shouldn’t remove too much shine.
3. Mark Selby
Mark Selby has been looking increasingly good for a while and at the Tour Championship really did seem in excellent nick, thrashing Robertson and Ding and only losing to an inspired John Higgins in the final.
Quarter-finals at the Grand Prix and Players were solid enough and he won the Welsh in February.
2. Kyren Wilson
The world champion won his fourth title of the season at the Players Championship, beating Allen, Williams, Robertson and Trump along the way – no small feat.
The Warrior has actually been beaten relatively early elsewhere in recent weeks, but that Telford triumph showed what he has got in his locker at the moment.
1. John Higgins
Undoubtedly the form horse going into the World Championship is John Higgins after the Wizard won two of the last four events.
He ended a four-year ranking title drought by winning the World Open, made the Grand Prix quarters and Players semis before winning the Tour Championship.
His wins over Hawkins and Selby in Manchester were exceptional and the four-time world champ’s confidence will be at its highest levels in years as he arrives in Sheffield.
