Crucible curse

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Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates The "Crucible curse" (also known as "The curse of the Crucible") is a quip in professional snooker, referring to the fact that no first-time winner of the World Snooker Championship has retained the title since the tournament moved to Sheffield's Crucible Theatre in 1977.Template:Refn Beginning with the 1979 champion Terry Griffiths, who lost in the second round of the 1980 event, 20 first-time world champions have failed to defend their titles, although Joe Johnson and Ken Doherty made it to the final the year after their maiden victories. Most recently, the 2024 champion Kyren Wilson lost in the first round of the 2025 World Snooker Championship. Zhao Xintong, first-time winner of the 2025 event, can attempt to break the Curse in the 2026.

Several world champions successfully defended their first title in the pre-Crucible era; the last to do so was John Pulman in 1964.[1]

The curse

The first-time world champions listed below all experienced the "Crucible curse", as they did not successfully defend their title at the following year's World Championship.

Year[1][2] Defending champion[1][2] Progress Result Opponent Ref
1980 Template:Flagathlete Second roundTemplate:Efn 10–13 Template:Flagathlete [3]
1981 Template:Flagathlete Semi-finals 10–16 Template:Flagathlete [4]
1982 Template:Flagathlete First round 1–10 Template:Flagathlete [5]
1986 Template:Flagathlete First round 6–10 Template:Flagathlete [6]
1987 Template:Flagathlete Final 14–18 Template:Flagathlete [7]
1991 Template:Flagathlete Quarter-finals 11–13 Template:Flagathlete [8]
1992 Template:Flagathlete Quarter-finals 12–13 Template:Flagathlete [9]
1998 Template:Flagathlete Final 12–18 Template:Flagathlete [10]
1999 Template:Flagathlete Semi-finals 10–17 Template:Flagathlete [11]
2001 Template:Flagathlete Second round 12–13 Template:Flagathlete [12]
2002 Template:Flagathlete Semi-finals 13–17 Template:Flagathlete [13]
2003 Template:Flagathlete Quarter-finals 12–13 Template:Flagathlete [14]
2006 Template:Flagathlete Quarter-finals 7–13 Template:Flagathlete [15]
2007 Template:Flagathlete First round 7–10 Template:Flagathlete [16]
2011 Template:Flagathlete First round 8–10 Template:Flagathlete [17]
2015 Template:Flagathlete Second round 9–13 Template:Flagathlete [18]
2016 Template:Flagathlete First round 9–10 Template:Flagathlete [19]
2020 Template:Flagathlete Quarter-finals 9–13 Template:Flagathlete [20]
2024 Template:Flagathlete First round 9–10 Template:Flagathlete [21]
2025 Template:Flagathlete First round 9–10 Template:Flagathlete [22]

Of the 20 players to have won their first world title at the Crucible Theatre, eight lost in their first match as defending champion: Terry Griffiths in 1980, Steve Davis in 1982, Dennis Taylor in 1986, Graeme Dott in 2007, Neil Robertson in 2011, Stuart Bingham in 2016, Luca Brecel in 2024 and Kyren Wilson in 2025. Only two of the 20 were able to reach the final as defending champions: Joe Johnson in 1987 and Ken Doherty in 1998. Johnson came closest to breaking the curse, getting within four frames of retaining his crown, while Doherty came within six.

Four players have won consecutive world titles at the Crucible (having already won the championship previously): Steve Davis (1983–1984 and 1987–1989), Stephen Hendry (1992–1996), Ronnie O'Sullivan (2012–2013), and Mark Selby (2016–2017).[1][23]

Pre-Crucible

Out of all the first-time world snooker champions, only three retained their title at the next World Championship: Joe Davis in 1928, his brother Fred Davis in 1949, and John Pulman at his first challenge match in 1964. No player in the modern era (post-1969) has successfully defended a first world title, even before the tournament was staged at the Crucible Theatre.

John Spencer, Ray Reardon and Alex Higgins won the World Championship for the first time before the event was moved to the Crucible in 1977, and failed to retain the title the following year (although this could not be attributed to the "Crucible curse"). All three players subsequently won the championship at the Crucible for the first time, but then fell to the "curse" when they failed to successfully defend the title the following year.

Year[1][2] Defending champion[1][2] Progress Result Opponent Ref
Defending first world title:
1970 Template:Flagathlete Semi-finals 33–37 Template:Flagathlete [24]
1971 Template:Flagathlete Semi-finals 15–34 Template:Flagathlete [25]
1973 Template:Flagathlete Semi-finals 9–23 Template:Flagathlete [26]
Defending first world title at Crucible Theatre:
1978 Template:Flagathlete Last 16 8–13 Template:Flagathlete [27]
1979 Template:Flagathlete Quarter-finals 8–13 Template:Flagathlete [28]
1983 Template:Flagathlete Semi-finals 5–16 Template:Flagathlete [29]

Notes

Template:Notelist

References

Template:Reflist

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  1. ↑ a b c d e f Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk
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  27. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  28. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  29. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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