The 2015 Betfred World Snooker Championship is a professional snooker tournament that is taking place from 18 April to 4 May 2015 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It is the 78th edition of the World Snooker Championship and the last ranking event of the 2014/2015 season.[1]Betfred are sponsoring the event for first time in three years, having previously sponsored the tournament from 2009 to 2012.[2][3] The final will be officiated by Olivier Marteel, who will become the first Belgian to do so.[4]
Mark Selby was the defending champion,[5] but lost in the second round 9–13 to Anthony McGill. Selby fell to the Crucible curse, as he became the sixteenth first-time champion who couldn't defend his title at the Crucible Theatre.
Tournament summary
Seeding
The top 16 seeded players received a bye to the first round of the Championship. 2014 World ChampionMark Selby was seeded 1. The other seeded places were allocated to players based on the latest world rankings (revision 7) except that Ali Carter was seeded 13, despite being ranked 31, because of illness that had stopped him from playing for an extended period.[6] Players ranked 13 to 15 were seeded 14 to 16 while Michael White, ranked 16 had to play in the qualifying tournament.
Qualifying
Former world champions Peter Ebdon,[7]Steve Davis,[8] and Ken Doherty[9] lost in the qualifying rounds, as did six-time runner-up Jimmy White.[10] Despite losing 10–1 to Kurt Maflin, Davis set a record for the most matches in the World Championship (100), including qualifiers.[11]Reanne Evans was the only female representative but lost narrowly to Doherty in the first round of qualifying. For the first time, players will have to win three qualifying games, including those ranked 17-32 (they previously needed only one victory).[12] This was seen as unfair by some players in the top 32, such as Graeme Dott.[13] Concerns were raised that players who played three qualifiers would be unable to last until the end of the competition, and so were disadvantaged as compared to top 16 players. An argument in support of the changes is that players who made the last 32 would be guaranteed more money.[14]
The Crucible curse continued as Mark Selby, defending champion, lost to Anthony McGill with a score of 9–13. Ding Junhui defeated John Higgins 13–9 to reach only his third quarter-final in nine years. Barry Hawkins reached the quarter-finals for the third time in a row, after defeating Mark Allen 13–11, coming back from 8–11 behind in the final session. Stuart Bingham reached his second Crucible quarter-final defeating Graeme Dott 13–5, winning 7 out of the last 8 frames.
Prize fund
The total prize money of the event was raised to £1,364,000 from the previous year's £1,214,000. The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:[20][21]
Winner: £300,000
Runner-up: £125,000
Semi-final: £60,000
Quarter-final: £30,000
Last 16: £20,000
Last 32: £12,000
Last 48: £9,000
Last 80: £6,000
Non-televised highest break: £1,000
Televised highest break: £10,000
Total: £1,364,000
Main draw
Shown below are the results for each round. The numbers in parentheses beside some of the players are their seeding ranks (each championship has 16 seeds and 16 qualifiers).[22][23][24] The draw for the first round took place at Hallamshire Golf Club on 16 April 2015, one day after the end of last qualifying round.[25][26]
Template:World Snooker Championship Rounds
There are 47 century breaks in the televised stage of the World Championship.[31] For every century break that is made during the 17-day championship in Sheffield, the title sponsor, Betfred, will donate £200 to World Snooker’s official charity, the Bluebell Wood Children's Hospice. If the century tally reaches 70, the donation will be rounded up to £25,000.[32]
Mark Selby
