Yesterday we celebrated the 40th anniversary of the World Championship at the Crucible. It has to be said, World Snooker made a magnificent job of it.

The day started with the top 16 players meeting the press before all players walked through the Green Carpet, a novelty in Britain. In the evening, the Crucible theatre hosted a great night where all living and past World Champions were invited and celebrated. Mark Williams went missing …

Barry Hearn signed a new agreement with the Sheffield authorities to keep the World Championship at the Crucible until 2027. He also made a very popular announcement: Jimmy White and Ken Doherty were offered a two years “wild card” … for a start said Barry. This came apparently to a surprise to both recently relegated players who were absolutely over the moon.

Here are some pictures of the press day shared on social media by various sources (WS, BBC, Jason Francis and more) and courtesy of Tai Chengzhe (Thanks Tai!)

World Snooker were live on Facebook to share the evening celebration and here it is:

Enjoy!

I will not do a preview, but I want to say a few words about Ronnie’s opening match. Gary Wilson, his opponent, is no push over. He played extremely well in Ponds Forge, he made 8 centuries in his three matches there. He has reached the QF in the 2015 Welsh Open and was runner-up in the 2015 China Open, so don’t underestimate him. He’s dangerous and the first match at the Crucible is always hard for the seeds: they get nothing if they lose and all expectations is on them.