What happens when World Snooker Championship matches finish early at the Crucible?

Snooker is an extremely difficult sport to predict in terms of how long it will last, so what happens when matches are much shorter than fans would hope?

There are two second round matches at the Crucible which look set to come to an end pretty rapidly in their third sessions on Monday.

Ronnie O’Sullivan leads Pang Junxu 12-4 and Luca Brecel is ahead of Judd Trump by the same scoreline in a race to 13 frames.

Fans with tickets to see these games could watch just one frame on Monday evening, if the Rocket and the Bullet dart over the winning line at the first opportunity.

Supporters may well consider themselves unfortunate if that is the case as they will have been hoping for a lot more than that, but their evening may well be extended somewhat.

If one match ends before the other then the dividing wall will be lifted and fans on both sides of the arena will be able to watch the game that is still ongoing.

For fans to see anything after the two matches are completed then the games will have to be finished in less than four frames or in two hours.

As per the Crucible: ‘A scheduled final session of a match will be deemed completed if four or more frames are played.

‘At the sole discretion of the Event Promoter, alternative entertainment will be available:

• If the scheduled final session of a match is completed before four frames are played and is less than 2 hours duration, or
• If the scheduled final session of the match does not take place.’

If the matches are finished within those four frames or two hours then ‘alternative entertainment’ will be provided for the fans in attendance.

That usually takes the form of an exhibition and/or a Q&A, with an iconic snooker figure who is at the Crucible called upon to fill in.

No firm details are promised beforehand, but MC Rob Walker has been known to conduct proceedings, with the likes of Dennis Taylor or Ken Doherty brought in to perform on the table.

It is not quite a thrilling conclusion to a World Championship match, but will still be an entertaining show for the spectators.

The afternoon session on Monday looks set to deliver a lot more snooker than the evening as Si Jiahui resumes at 1pm leading Ben Woollaston 9-7, while Judd Trump is 10-6 ahead of Shaun Murphy.

Si or Woollaston will go on to play either O’Sullivan or Pang, while Trump or Murphy will meet Brecel or Ding in the quarter-finals.

The two quarter-finals already set will see John Higgins take on Mark Williams and Chris Wakelin face Zhao Xintong.

Higgins will play in his 19th Crucible quarter-final and Williams in his 12th, while Wakelin and Zhao are both at this stage for the first time.