2020 Warld Snooker Championship

The **2020 Warld Snooker Championship** (an aw referred tae as the **2020 Betfred Warld Snooker Championship** for the purposes of sponsorship) wis a professional snooker tournament that teuk place frae 31&nbsp;Julie tae 16&nbsp;August 2020 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It wis the 44th consecutive year that the Warld Snooker Championship wis held at the Crucible, an it wis the final ranking event o the 2019–20 snooker season. The tournament wis oreeginally scheduled tae tak place frae 18&nbsp;Apryle tae 4&nbsp;May 2020, but the qualifyin stage and televised roonds war postponed as a result o the COVID-19 pandemic. The event wis ane o the first tae allou live audiences syne the outbrak o the pandemic, but on the first day it wis annoonced that the event wad be played behind closed doors for subsequent days; houiver, a leemitit nummer of spectators war later allowed in for the final twa days o the championship.

The tournament wis organised bi the Warld Professional Billiards an Snooker Association an the Warld Snooker Tour, and wis broadcast bi the BBC, Eurosport and Matchroom Sport. The event haed a tot prize fund of £2,395,000, wi the winner receiving £500,000. Qualifyin for the tournament wis due tae be held atween 8&nbsp;and 15&nbsp;Apryle 2020 at the English Institute of Sport, Sheffield, but this wis an aw postponed. Qualifyin insteid teuk place frae 21&nbsp;tae 28&nbsp;Julie at the oreeginally planned venue. Thare war 128 participants in the qualifyin roonds, wi a mix of professional and invited amateur players; 16 players reached the main stage o the tournament whaur thay played the tap 16 players in the snooker warld rankings. The event wis sponsored bi sports betting company Betfred.

Judd Trump wis the defendin champion, haein won his maiden warld title at the previous year's event, defeatin John Higgins 18–9 in the final. He lost in the quarter-final stage tae Kyren Wilson, acomin the 18t player tae faw tae the Crucible curse. Ronnie O'Sullivan won his saxt warld title, defeatin Wilson 18–8 in the final. This wis O'Sullivan's 37th ranking event win of his career, the heichest of ony player. Higgins made a maximum brak in the 12t frame of his seicont-roond loss tae Kurt Maflin. This wis Higgins' tenth career maximum brak and his first at the Warld Championship; aged 45, he became the auldest player tae mak a maximum in a professional competeetion.

## Background
The Warld Snooker Championship features 32 professional players competin in ane-on-ane snooker matches in a single-elimination format, each match played ower several . The 32 players for the event are selected throu a mix o the snooker warld rankings and a pre-tournament qualification roond. The first Warld Snooker Championship in 1927, held at Camkin's Hall in Birmingham, England, wis won bi Joe Davis. Syne 1977, the event haes been held at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. Stephen Hendry is the event's maist successfu participant in the modren era, haein won the championship seiven times. The previous year's championship wis won bi England's Judd Trump, who defeatit Scotland's John Higgins in the final 18–9. The winner o the 2020 championship received £500,000, frae a tot prize fund of £2,395,000.

### Format

The 2020 Warld Snooker Championship wis scheduled tae tak place atween 18&nbsp;Apryle and 4&nbsp;May 2020 in Sheffield, England, but wis postponed until Friday 31&nbsp;Julie tae Sunday 16&nbsp;August as a result o the COVID-19 pandemic. The event features a 32-player main draw tae be contested at the Crucible Theatre as well as a 128-player qualifyin draw played at the English Institute of Sport; qualifyin wis oreeginally due tae tak place frae 8&nbsp;tae 15&nbsp;Apryle but wis an aw delayed, eventually takkin place frae 21&nbsp;tae 28&nbsp;Julie 2020 and finishing three days prior tae the stairt o the main draw. In May 2019, Warld Snooker Tour chairman Barry Hearn annoonced the event's qualifyin format wad be changed frae the previous year, wi seeding gien tae players wi a higher ranking, an played ower fower roonds insteid of three. The tournament is the last of 17 ranking events in the 2019–20 season on the Warld Snooker Tour. This is the 44th consecutive year that the tournament haes been held at the Crucible, an the 52nd successive warld championship tae be contested throu the modren knockout format. The tournament is sponsored bi sports betting company Betfred, as it haes been syne 2015.

The tap 16 players in the latest 2019–20 snooker warld rankings automatically qualified for the main draw as seedit players. Defendin champion Judd Trump wis automatically seedit first oweraw. The remainin 15 seeds war allocated based on the latest warld rankings, released efter the 2020 Tour Championship which wis the penultimate event o the season. Matches in the first roond o the main draw war played as best of 19 frames, seicont-roond matches and quarter-finals war played as best of 25 frames, an the semi-finals war played ower a maximum of 33 frames. The final wis played ower twa days as a best-of-35-frames match.

### Coverage
The tournament wis broadcast in the United Kinrick on BBC Television and BBC Online, as well as Eurosport. Internationally, the event wis broadcast bi Eurosport in Europe and Australie, Superstars Online, Zhibo.tv, Youku and CCTV in Cheenae, NowTV in Hong Kong and DAZN in Canadae, USA and Brazil. In ither countries, Matchroom Sport broadcast the tournament, as well as the qualifyin.

The Warld Snooker Championship wis intendit tae be ane o the first sporting events tae allou spectators efter the stairt o the COVID-19 pandemic. A reduced audience wis tae be admitted tae allou for social distancing. The event, alang wi the Glorious Goodwood Festival and twa county cricket matches, wis bein uised as a trial for live audiences bi the UK govrenment, ahead of restrictions bein lifted in October. During the first day o the event, Boris Johnson, the UK prime meenister, annoonced that the sporting pilots war bein ended, an fans wad no langer be allowed inside the venue. The Warld Snooker Tour annoonced an oor later that fans wad be allowed in the venue for the rest o the first day, but matches war tae be played behind closed doors for the remainder o the tournament.

During the semi-final stages, the UK Govrenment annoonced that the sporting event pilots, previously postponed, wad resume. This meant that the reduced capacity crowd frae the stairt o the tournament wad be allowed back for baith days o the final.

### Prize fund
The brakdown of prize money for the event is shawn ablo.

* 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 brak (qualifyin stage included): £15,000
* **Tot**: £2,395,000
* Maximum brak in the main event: £40,000
* Maximum brak at the qualifyin stage: £10,000

## Tournament summary
### Qualifyin

Qualifyin for the event wis held ower fower roonds, atween 21 and 28 Julie 2020 wi 16 players progressing. James Cahill, who defeatit five-time champion Ronnie O'Sullivan in the main stage in 2019, lost in the openin roond tae amateur player Ben Mertens. Mertens, aged 15, became the youngest player tae win a match at the event. Mertens lost in the seicont roond tae Sam Baird. Allan Taylor won the Challenge Tour play-off tae gain a twa-year professional tour card prior tae qualifyin, an won baith of his first twa matches 6–1. In thir matches he scored fower century braks, includin a career-heich 145 – the heichest brak in qualifyin. Sax-time runner-up Jimmy White won his first twa qualifyin matches, includin a 6–4 win ower Michael Georgiou, but lost in the third roond tae Robert Milkins. Gary Wilson, who reached the semi-finals in the 2019 event, lost in the third roond of qualifyin tae Swiss player Alexander Ursenbacher 3–6. Twa-time runner-up Ali Carter stairtit in roond three, but lost his openin match tae Louis Heathcote. This wis the first time in 17 years that Carter did nae play in the main stage o the event.

The final roond of qualifyin wis played on 27 and 28 Julie, wi matches played as best-of-19 frames ower twa . Alexander Ursenbacher is the first Swiss player tae play the mainstages o the tournament, efter defeatin Andrew Higginson 10–8. Ursenbacher led 6–2 efter the first session, but the lead wis cut tae 9–8 afore he won frame 18. Alan McManus qualified for the main stage for the first time syne reachin the semi-finals in 2016 efter defeatin Louis Heathcote 10–5. Elliot Slessor won the final nine frames o the match tae defeat Martin O'Donnell 10–3. Slessor haed promised tae plan a wedding wi his girlfriend if he made it throu the qualifyin roonds. Liang Wenbo led Fergal O'Brien 5–2, but won juist twa frames o the next aicht tae trail 7–8. The match went tae a  at 9–9 which Liang won wi a brak of 141. Anthony McGill lost anly ane frame in his win ower Sam Baird, whilst Norwegian player Kurt Maflin defeatit Matthew Selt bi the same scoreline 10–1, tae qualify for the first time syne 2015.

Slessor and Ursenbacher made thair debuts in the main draw. Ither debutants in the main draw war Jamie Clarke, Ashley Carty and Jordan Brown. Anthony Hamilton qualified for the main draw o the Warld Championship for the first time syne 2008, but withdrew acause of heal concerns ower the coronavirus. As an asthmatic, he haed criticised the decision tae allou a leemitit nummer of spectators intae the Crucible. Defendin champion Judd Trump said Hamilton should hae made his decision earlier, as bi pairteecipatin in the qualifiers despite knowing thare wad be spectators in the final stages he haed denied a place tae anither player.

### First round
The first roond wis played frae 31 Julie tae 5 August. Matches war played as best-of-19 frames held ower twa sessions. Defendin champion Judd Trump played Tom Ford in the openin match. Ford won the first frame, an attempted a maximum brak but missed the pot on the 13t . Ford won the seicont and third frame as well, afore Trump won the next twa. Ford won the follaein twa frames, includin a brak of 140 tae lead 5–2, but lost the last twa tae lead 5–4 efter the first session. Ford won the openin frame on the resumption of play, but Trump won the next three frames tae tak the lead for the first time in the match. Ford won frame 14, afore Trump made a brak of 131 in the next – his 100th century brak o the season. Trump an aw won the next frame tae lead 9–7. Ford won frame 17, but Trump won the match in the next 10–8. Trump's 100th century wis anly the seicont time a player haed made that mony braks in a season, efter Neil Robertson in the 2013–14 snooker season.

The 2015 winner Stuart Bingham met qualifier Ashley Carty and led 5–4 efter the first session. Bingham then won the next fower frames, includin a maximum attempt that fell apart on 12 black balls, an a 109 tae lead 9–4. Carty then won the next three frames, afore Bingham won frame 17 wi a brak of 82 tae win 10–7. The 2019 UK Championship winner Ding Junhui played Mark King. Ding haed nae played in ony tournaments syne the COVID-19 pandemic, but teuk a 5–4 lead efter the first session. The pair war tied at 5–5 tae 7–7 afore Ding won twa frames tae lead 9–7. Twa 50-minute frames war won bi King, leadin tae a deciding frame. Ding won the frame efter potting a mid-range  tae win 10–9.

The three-time champion Mark Williams wis drawn against Alan McManus. Efter the first session of play, McManus led 5–4, despite losin the first twa frames. In the seicont session, Williams won sax straucht frames tae win the match 10–5. Efter the performance, Williams said "he outplayed me and I was happy to be 5–4 down because it could have been 7–2" efter the first session, an in the seicont session he "put pressure on [McManus], then he got frustrated and I knew I had him as long as I didn't make silly mistakes". Four-time champion John Higgins met twa-time finalist Matthew Stevens, and held a 6–3 lead efter the first session. Stevens won frame 10 wi a brak of 138, afore Higgins won the next twa frames tae lead 8–4. Stevens won frame 13 afore Higgins won the next frame despite requirin  and then frame 15 tae win 10–5. The 2010 winner Neil Robertson met Liang Wenbo, an led 5–4 efter the first session efter braks of 140, 123 and 87. Liang won the openin frame o the seicont session tae tie the match at 5–5, afore Robertson won the next five frames tae win the match 10–5.

The previous year's semi-finalist David Gilbert played Kurt Maflin, who haed nae qualified syne the 2015 event. Maflin led 3–1 and later 5–4 efter the first session. Baith players made a brak of 102 in frames 10 and 11, wi fower century braks in a row. Maflin attempted a maximum brak, scoring 105 in frame 16 tae tie the match at 8–8. Efter running oot of poseetion for the 14t black, he gae "the finger" tae the table, an received a warning frae referee Tatiana Woollaston. Maflin then won the next twa frames tae win 10–8. Five-time champion Ronnie O'Sullivan averaged less nor 14 seconds per shot as he opened a 8–1 lead in the first session against Thepchaiya Un-Nooh. In the seicont session, O'Sullivan clinched the next twa frames in less nor hauf an oor. Wi a match time of 108 minutes, his veectory set a new record for the fastest match in a best-of-19. This wis 41 minutes faster than the previous record bi Shaun Murphy in his 10–0 veectory ower Luo Honghao in 2019. Yan Bingtao played debutant Elliot Slessor, an led 8–1 efter the first session. Yan an aw led 9–2, afore Slessor won five frames in a row. Yan won the match 10–7. Anthony McGill teuk a 5–4 lead efter the first session ower Jack Lisowski. McGill led 9–6 afore Lisowski won three frames tae force a deciding frame. The frame wis focht ower the final , which wis potted bi McGill tae win 10–9. The 2005 champion Shaun Murphy wis defeatit bi Noppon Saengkham 10–4 in a match Murphy descrived as "the worst two days of my snooker years".

Three-time champion Mark Selby struggled for form as he defeatit Jordan Brown 10–6. In his match against Jamie Clarke, Mark Allen scored twa century braks in the first twa frames, and made three ither century braks but lost the match 8–10. Alexander Ursenbacher won the first frame in his match against Barry Hawkins, but won anly ane ither frame and lost 2–10. The final match o the first roond wis held atween Stephen Maguire and Martin Gould. Maguire haed won the preceding event at the Tour Championship. Gould made three braks of 103 and a brak of 100 tae open a 7–2 lead efter the first session, an eventually won the match 10–3.

### Second round

The seicont roond wis played frae 5 tae 9 August as best-of-25 frames held ower three sessions. Kurt Maflin teuk on John Higgins, wi Higgins takkin the first twa frames. Maflin responded bi winnin the next fower frames in a row, afore Higgins won frame 7 wi a brak of 101. The final frame o the session wis won bi Maflin wi a brak of 81 tae lead 5–3. Higgins won frame nine, but Maflin won the next twa frames tae tak a 7–4 lead. In frame 12, Higgins made the heichest brak o the tournament, a maximum brak of 147. This wis the first time syne Stephen Hendry in 2012 that thare wis a maximum at the event. Thay shared the next twa frames, houiver, Higgins won the next twa frames tae tie the match at 8–8. Maflin won the next twa frames, afore Higgins teuk the lead bi winnin the next three. Maflin, houiver, an aw won the next three frames tae win the match 13–11.

Mark Williams won the first frame in the match against Stuart Bingham, wi Bingham winnin the next twa frames. In frame fower, Bingham wis seiven pynts ahead, but missed potting the black ball off the . Williams potted the black, an an aw the  tae win the frame. Williams then teuk the next three frames, an led 5–3 efter the first session. Williams teuk frame nine, afore Bingham won fower straucht frames tae lead 7–6. Williams won the next twa frames, but missed a  in frame 16 allouin Bingham tae tie the match at 8–8. Bingham won frame 17 wi a brak of 70, afore Williams won the next twa frames. Wi the scores later tied at 11–11, Williams won the next twa frames tae win the match 13–11.

Warld nummer ane Judd Trump won the first frame against Yan Bingtao, while Yan scored a brak of 133 in frame twa, afore Trump won frame three. Yan then won the next fower frames tae lead 5–2. Yan missed the final  in frame aicht, allouin Trump tae mak a  and finish the session 3–5 behind. Trump won the seicont session 6–2, tae cairy a 9–7 lead intae the final session, which he won 13–11 wi a brak of 127. Mark Selby and Noppon Saengkham war tied at 8–8 efter the first twa sessions of thair match, wi three-time champion Selby takkin a 12–10 lead. Noppon won the next twa frames, houiver, tae force a deciding frame. In frame 25, Selby made a century brak tae win the match 13–12.

Kyren Wilson received a bye throu the first roond, an met Martin Gould. Wilson won five o the first sax frames o the match, afore Gould won the final twa o the session. At 5–3 ahead, Wilson won the next five frames in a row tae lead 10–3. Gould won the next twa frames, but Wilson won the final frame o the seicont session tae lead 11–5. In the final session, Gould won the first three frames, an haed won the fowert baring foul shots. In a snooker, Gould missed and conceded a , allouin Wilson eneuch pynts tae win the frame. Kyren won the match in frame 21 13–9. Barry Hawkins trailed  2010 champion Neil Robertson 3–5 efter the first session of thair match, wi Robertson winnin frame nine tae lead bi three frames. Hawkins won the next fower straucht frames tae tak the lead 7–6. Robertson won the next twa frames tae lead again, but Hawkins tied the match at 8–8 efter twa sessions. Robertson won the next twa frames, afore Hawkins scored a century brak in frame 19. Robertson won the next three frames tae win 13–9.

Ronnie O'Sullivan, makin a record 28t consecutive appearance at the event, wis level wi Ding Junhui efter the first session 4–4. O'Sullivan won frame nine, afore Ding won three frames wi braks of 64, 118 and 101 tae lead 7–5. O'Sullivan an aw won three frames in a row, afore Ding won frame 16 tae level at 8–8. O'Sullivan won the match 13–10 tae reach a record 19t quarter-final at the event. The final match o the seicont roond wis played atween twa qualifiers – Anthony McGill and debutant Jamie Clarke. Clarke led 7–2; but wis reprimanded bi McGill for staundin in his line of sicht during a shot. The pair war calmed bi referee Jan Verhaas, houiver, Clarke wis followed oot o the arena bi McGill. Clarke later tweeted "You want to dance, let's dance". McGill won the remainin five frames o the session tae trail 7–8. The pair war tied at 11–11 afore Clarke teuk frame 23 and missed match-ball  in the next allouin McGill tae tie the scores at 12–12. In the deciding frame, Clarke failed tae escape frae a snooker, an left a free ball, which wis eneuch for McGill tae win the match 13–12.

### Quarter-finals

The quarter-finals war played frae 9 tae 11 August as best-of-25 frames, held ower three sessions. Mark Selby played Neil Robertson, wi the first frame lasting ower 58 minutes. Selby teuk the frame, an aw o the first five o the match. Robertson won the next three frames, includin a fower-ball  in the final frame o the session. Selby then won the seicont session o the match 6–2 tae lead 11–5 efter the seicont session, winnin fower frames in a row. Selby won frame 17 wi a brak of 91 tae lead 12–5, but Robertson won the next twa frames. Selby won the match 13–7 when Robertson missed a black ball frae the spot. Robertson praised Selby's  throughout the match, whilst Selby commented that he haed lost confidence at reachin the stage o the tournament again.

Defendin champion Judd Trump played Kyren Wilson in the seicont quarter-final. Wilson led 5–3 efter the first session, but Trump pulled tae ane behind twice in the seicont session. Wilson, houiver extendit the lead tae 10–6 bi winnin the last three frames o the seicont session. Trump made braks of 72, 100 and 62 tae trail bi ane frame, but Wilson won three frames of his ain tae win the match 13–9. As a first-time champion, Trump wis contesting the Crucible curse, whaur syne 1970 no sic player haed retained the championship. Trump finished the season wi the maist amount of ranking events won in a single season (sax), an the maist century braks of ony player this season (102), juist ane shy of Neil Robertson's record in 2013-14.

Twa umwhile champions played in Ronnie O'Sullivan and Mark Williams. O'Sullivan wis asked afore the match aboot the players meetin in 2020, as baith players turned professional in 1992. He commented that the younger players war "so bad", and that he wad hae tae "lose an arm and a leg" tae nae be in the tap 50 players in the snooker warld rankings. Williams wad later consider that the comments war an aw aimed at himsel, an thay war "disrespectful". O'Sullivan teuk a 2–1 lead, but Williams won five straucht frames tae lead the session bi fower. O'Sullivan missed  in frame nine and went five behind, afore he won sax o the next seiven tae tie the match 8–8 efter twa sessions. Williams won twa o the next three frames tae lead 10–9, afore O'Sullivan made braks of 104, 61, 65 and 133 tae gang 12–10, ane frame frae veectory. In frame 23, O'Sullivan missed the blue, which wis the anly ball he required tae win the match, wi Williams makin a clearance tae force a respotted black. Williams missed a shot on the black, wi O'Sullivan potting it tae win 13–10.

Twa qualifiers, Scot Anthony McGill and Norawa's Kurt Maflin contested thair first quarter-finals. McGill won the first three frames o the match wi braks of 53, 63 and 78. Maflin won frame fower, an wis 54 pynts ahead in the fift until he missed a routine pot on the reid ball, wi McGill winnin the frame. McGill finished the first session 7–1 ahead. Maflin won five o the next seiven frames o the match, afore McGill won the final frame o the seicont session tae stay 10–6 ahead. While McGill won the first frame o the final session tae gang 11–6 up, Maflin then won fower o the next five frames afore McGill wrapped up a 13–10 win.

### Semi-finals
The semi-finals war played frae 12 tae 14 August as best-of-33 frames, held ower fower sessions. Kyren Wilson, who haed reached this stage ance afore in 2018, played Anthony McGill who haed nae reached the semi-finals previously. McGill won the first twa frames wi braks of 83 and 78, afore winnin frame three efter Wilson missed a pot on the green. Wilson won frame fower, afore McGill won the next twa tae lead 5–1, wi the session endin 6–2 tae McGill. In the seicont session, Wilson won three o the next fower frames includin a century brak tae trail 5–7. McGill won frame 13, but Wilson won the final three frames o the seicont session wi three braks ower 75 tae tie the match 8–8. Wilson made braks of 99 and 116 tae lead 13–10, but the final frame o the third session wis won bi McGill.

McGill made his first twa century braks o the tournament in the final session tae tie the match at 14–14, an then teuk the lead at 16–15. The penultimate frame saw McGill be trapped in a snooker, an leave the final reid available and Wilson made a  tae set a deciding frame. In the final frame, McGill wis snookered behind the yellae ball, an conceded 35 penalty pynts, missing the shot on aicht occasions. This wis eneuch pynts for McGill tae require snookers tae remain in the competeetion. In the next shot, Wilson played a safety shot, an went  allouin McGill eneuch pynts tae be able tae win. Wi the final reid ball bein slichtly abuin the middle pocket, baith players missed shots frae the  cushion, afore McGill potted the reid, but ran oot of poseetion. Wilson then  the green, which won the match.

The frame lasted 62 minutes and set a new record for the maist combined pynts in a single frame at the Crucible, 103–83. Efter fluking the match winnin ball, Wilson became emotional, an apologised tae McGill. He later commented "I didn't want it to end that way, I have dreamed of this situation and I didn't want to win the match on a fluke." McGill commented "I feel as if the match was stolen from me – not by Kyren [Wilson] but by the snooker gods". 1991 champion John Parrott commented on the deciding frame, saying "I have never, in 44 years of playing this wonderful game, seen a frame of snooker like that. It was unbelievable."

The seicont semi-final wis atween Mark Selby and Ronnie O'Sullivan. O'Sullivan won fower o the first five frames, despite thare bein a lot of  wi the balls bein replaced tae counteract the nummer of bad contacts. Selby trailed 1–5, but won the final twa frames o the session tae trail 3–5. Sax-time champion Steve Davis commented that Selby wad hae considered the session tae hae been won efter claiming the final twa frames. Selby then won the next fower frames o the match tae lead 7–5, afore winnin twa mair frames tae win the seicont session 6–2. In the final frame o the session, O'Sullivan rasped his haund on the table in frustration afore Selby made a brak of 76. Selby teuk frame 17 wi a brak of 97, an shared the first fower frames tae lead 11–9. Selby then won the next frame tae lead 13–9, haein won 12 oot of 16 frames. O'Sullivan then won the last twa frames o the session. He an aw won the next twa frames o the final session, includin a brak of 114, the first century o the match. Selby won the next twa frames tae lead 16–14, wi O'Sullivan playin attacking shots and "going for broke". O'Sullivan then won the next twa frames wi braks of 138 and 71 tae an aw gang tae a deciding frame. In the decider, O'Sullivan made a , but broke doun efter missing a shot on the green. Selby cleared until the final reid, an a series of safety shots war played, wi O'Sullivan playin controlled shots that he haed previously nae, an potted match ball efter Selby failed tae escape a snooker.

Post-match, Selby said "I felt he was being a bit disrespectful to me and the game, not many players would just get down and hit them at 100 mph when you put them in a snooker. Some would look to work it out or put you in trouble. It just felt like he was doing that throughout the match and I thought it was a bit disrespectful to me and the game". O'Sullivan, houiver, responded tae aw questions statin that his  wis poor, an that he haed been strugglin tae play during the tournament. He an aw stated that his shot choice wis due tae nae bein able tae control shots oot of snookers the same as Selby.

### Final

The final wis played on 15 and 16 August as a best-of-35-frames match, held ower fower sessions. German referee Marcel Eckardt teuk charge of his first warld championship final. The final wis held atween five-time champion Ronnie O'Sullivan and first-time finalist Kyren Wilson. O'Sullivan haed won fower o the sax previous meetins atween the twa players, houiver Wilson haed won thair latest encounter in the semi-finals o the 2020 Welsh Open. O'Sullivan teuk a 3–1 lead in the first session efter misses bi Wilson. He then left the pink ball ower the pocket in frame five tae allou Wilson tae win, an get back tae within a single frame. O'Sullivan won the next three frames, includin the first century brak o the match in frame sax tae lead 6–2 efter the first session. BBC pundit Stephen Hendry commented "I tend to think the match is over. I hope I'm wrong, but I think 6–2 is too far for Kyren to come back from".

Wilson made a brak of 53 in frame nine, but made a tactical error tae lose the frame, afore O'Sullivan won the next frame tae lead 8–2. Trailing bi sax, Wilson won three frames wi braks of 92, 50 and 58. In frame 15, Wilson went intae the , but inadvertently pocketed a reid ball, allouin O'Sullivan tae win the frame. Wilson made a century brak in the next frame, but missed a reid in the final frame o the session tae trail 7–10 overnight. The 1997 winner Ken Doherty commented that the missed reid wis a missed opportunity for Wilson, whilst O'Sullivan wad be "over the moon", tae anly lose five frames in the session. Sax-time champion Steve Davis commented that his body leid during the session suggestit that O'Sullivan wis "struggling", and "deteriorating".

Wilson made a lang pot in frame 18, an made a brak of 73. O'Sullivan then responded bi winnin the next seiven frames in a row tae lead 17–8 going intae the final session. The final session lasted anly 11 minutes and featurt a single frame, as O'Sullivan won the match 18–8 wi a brak of 96. The win wis O'Sullivan's saxt and his 37th ranking event veectory. O'Sullivan suggestit that he did nae think his form wis good eneuch tae win the event: "There was a part of me that decided that I didn't play enough – and I still probably don't play enough – to justify winning a tournament of this stature".

## Main draw
Numbers gien in brackets efter players' names show the seedings for the tap 16 players in the competeetion. Players in bold denote match winners.

## Qualifyin

Qualifyin for the 2020 Warld Snooker Championship teuk place frae 21 tae 28 Julie 2020 at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield, uisin an aicht-table set-up. Stairtin wi a pool of 128 players, the qualifyin competeetion consisted of fower knock-oot roonds. Oreeginally organised for aw matches tae be best of 19 frames, the first three roonds war played as best of 11 frames, wi anly the final roond bein played as best of 19. The 16 winners o the fowert-roond matches progressed tae the main stage o the tournament at the Crucible Theatre. The 128 qualifiers included 94 tour players ranked ootside o the tap 16, who war jynt bi 34 wildcard amateur players. The amateur players war selected as follows:
* WSF Open semi-finalists: Ashley Hugill, Iulian Boiko, Dylan Emery, Ross Muir
* Challenge Tour 2019/2020 – top ranked player: Lukas Kleckers
* WSF Junior Open semi-finalists: Sean Maddocks, Aaron Hill, Wu Yize
* Warld Weemen's Snooker Tour – top ranked player: Reanne Evans
* EBSA European Snooker Championship winner: Andrew Pagett
* EBSA European Under-21 Snooker Championship semi-finalists: Hayden Staniland, Ben Mertens, Brian Ochoiski
* EBSA European Under-18 Snooker Championship semi-finalist: Connor Benzey
* Challenge Tour 2019/2020 Play-off competitors: Dean Young, Adam Duffy, Oliver Brown, Allan Taylor, Patrick Whelan, Rory McLeod, Jake Nicholson, Tyler Rees
* Q School Order of Merit: Ross Bulman, Ian Preece, Paul Davison, Hamza Akbar, Chae Ross, Christopher Keogan, Robin Hull, Sydney Wilson, Daniel Womersley
* Austrian naitional champion: Florian Nüßle
* Pols naitional champion: Antoni Kowalski
* Roushie naitional champion: Ivan Kakovskii

A tot of 17 professional players – 13 frae mainland Cheenae – chose nae tae participate at the event due tae COVID-19 safety concerns: Zhou Yuelong, Xiao Guodong, Zhao Xintong, Li Hang, Yuan Sijun, Marco Fu, Mei Xiwen, Zhang Anda, James Wattana, Zhang Jiankang, Chang Bingyu, Andy Lee, Chen Zifan, Xu Si, Bai Langning, Lei Peifan and Steve Mifsud. The 2002 champion Peter Ebdon vacated his qualifyin poseetion efter retiring in Apryle 2020. An aw, twa invited players frae the Warld Weemen's Snooker Tour, Ng On-yee and Nutcharut Wongharuthai, declined tae participate due tae COVID-19 safety concerns.

The qualifyin draw wis released on 10 Julie 2020. The first qualifyin roond consisted of 64 players. Professional tour players ranked 81–112 war seedit 65–96, wi the remainin tour players and invited amateurs bein unseedit. The seicont qualifyin roond consisted of players seedit 33–64 against first roond winners. The third qualifyin roond consisted of players seedit 1–32 against seicont roond winners. The fowert qualifyin roond war played oot atween the 32 third roond winners.

### Qualifyin draw
The results frae qualifyin are shawn ablo. Players in bold denote match winners.

## Century braks
### Main stage centuries
A tot of 79 century braks war made bi 27 players during the main stage o the Warld Championship.

*147, 101 John Higgins
*140, 132, 122, 105 Neil Robertson
*140 Tom Ford
*138, 133, 117, 115, 114, 112, 106, 105, 104, 101, 101, 101 Ronnie O'Sullivan
*138 Matthew Stevens
*136, 122, 105, 105, 104 Mark Allen
*136, 122 Anthony McGill
*136 Jamie Clarke
*133, 130, 119 Yan Bingtao
*131, 127, 104, 100 Judd Trump
*131, 102 David Gilbert
*130 Mark Williams
*129, 103, 103, 103, 100 Martin Gould
*125, 119, 118, 104, 101 Ding Junhui
*124, 120, 119, 102 Mark Selby
*124, 105, 102, 101 Kurt Maflin
*123 Elliot Slessor
*122, 105 Noppon Saengkham
*118 Ashley Carty
*117, 111, 104 Barry Hawkins
*116, 116, 113, 109, 105, 104, 100, 100 Kyren Wilson
*115, 109 Stuart Bingham
*113 Liang Wenbo
*111 Mark King
*107, 102 Jack Lisowski
*105 Alan McManus
*101 Shaun Murphy

### Qualifyin stage centuries
A tot of 53 century braks war made bi 33 players during the qualifyin stage o the Warld Championship.

*145, 134, 120, 112 Allan Taylor
*141 Liang Wenbo
*141 Alexander Ursenbacher
*139, 124 Robert Milkins
*134 Wu Yize
*133, 111, 101 Tom Ford
*133, 105 Hossein Vafaei
*133 Liam Highfield
*131, 110, 104 Ricky Walden
*131, 109 Anthony Hamilton
*130, 124, 111, 101 Elliot Slessor
*127, 114, 102 Luca Brecel
*127, 109 Jordan Brown
*127 Martin Gould
*125 Mark King
*123, 108 Ryan Day
*123, 108 Anthony McGill
*121 Michael Georgiou
*120 Michael White
*117, 106 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
*114, 111 Barry Pinches
*112 Oliver Lines
*110 Sam Baird
*109 Chen Feilong
*109 Craig Steadman
*104 Hammad Miah
*103 Kurt Maflin
*102 Sunny Akani
*102 Si Jiahui
*101 Aaron Hill
*101 Jackson Page
*100 Gerard Greene
*100 Robbie Williams

## References

## External links
*