Curse of the Crucible

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The Curse of the Crucible (English: Crucible curse or The curse of the Crucible ) describes the fact that in snooker no world champion was able to defend his first title in the following year after the snooker world championship in 1977 was moved to the Crucible Theater in Sheffield . The last player to defend his first title was John Pulman in 1964 , when the world championship was still decided in so-called challenge matches .

In the crucible

The following world champions could not defend their first title in the next year. Of the fifteen players who won their first World Championship title at the Crucible Theater, six lost their first match as defending champions ( Terry Griffiths 1980, Steve Davis 1982, Dennis Taylor 1986, Graeme Dott 2007, Neil Robertson 2011 and Stuart Bingham 2016) and it only two players could reach the final ( Joe Johnson 1987 and Ken Doherty 1998). Players who kicked the defending champions from the tournament are jokingly referred to as 'Keepers of the Curse'.

year Defending champion resigned in Result opponent proof
1980 Terry Griffiths Round of 16 10:13 Steve Davis
1981 Cliff Thorburn Semifinals 10:16 Steve Davis
1982 Steve Davis Round 1 1:10 Tony Knowles
1986 Dennis Taylor Round 1 6:10 Mike Hallett
1987 Joe Johnson final 14:18 Steve Davis
1991 Stephen Hendry Quarter finals 11:13 Steve James
1992 John Parrott Quarter finals 12:13 Alan McManus
1998 Ken Doherty final 12:18 John Higgins
1999 John Higgins Semifinals 10:17 Mark J. Williams
2001 Mark J. Williams Round of 16 12:13 Joe Swail
2002 Ronnie O'Sullivan Semifinals 13:17 Stephen Hendry
2003 Peter Ebdon Quarter finals 12:13 Paul Hunter
2006 Shaun Murphy Quarter finals 7:13 Peter Ebdon
2007 Graeme Dott Round 1 7:10 Ian McCulloch
2011 Neil Robertson Round 1 8:10 Judd Trump
2015 Mark Selby Round of 16 9:13 Anthony McGill
2016 Stuart Bingham Round 1 9:10 Ali Carter
2020 Judd Trump Quarter finals 9:13 Kyren Wilson

Before the Crucible

The only world champions who managed to defend their first title are Joe Davis in 1928 , Fred Davis in 1949 and John Pulman in the first Challenge Match in 1964 .

Ray Reardon , Alex Higgins and John Spencer are the only players to win the World Championship both before and during the Crucible era. All three could neither defend their first world championship title nor their first Crucible title in the following year.

year Defending champion resigned in Result opponent proof
1970 John Spencer Semifinals 33:37 Ray Reardon
1971 Ray Reardon Semifinals 15:34 John Spencer
1973 Alex Higgins Semifinals 9:23 Eddie Charlton

Remarks

  1. ↑ Griffiths, along with the eight seeded players, received a bye in round 1, and so the round of 16 was his first match.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ John Dee: Murphy aiming to exorcise the Crucible curse , The Daily Telegraph . April 14, 2006. Retrieved April 21, 2007. 
  2. ^ Cruise for Ebdon as Crucible curse strikes champ , nationalmultimedia.com. Archived from the original on July 14, 2007. Retrieved April 21, 2007. 
  3. ^ Crucible Curse Strikes Ebdon , Sporting Life. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved April 21, 2007. 
  4. ↑ Jamie Jackson: Australia's Neil Robertson aiming to break the curse of the Crucible , The Guardian . April 15, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2011. 
  5. ↑ a b c d e Chris Turner: World Professional Championship . In: cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk . Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on April 16, 2013. Retrieved April 21, 2011.
  6. ↑ 1980 World Championships Results . Snooker Database. Retrieved December 28, 2010.
  7. ↑ 1981 World Championships Results . Snooker Database. Retrieved December 28, 2010.
  8. ↑ 1982 World Championships Results . Snooker Database. Retrieved December 28, 2010.
  9. ^ 1986 World Championships Results . Snooker Database. Retrieved December 28, 2010.
  10. ↑ 1987 World Championships Results . Snooker Database. Retrieved December 28, 2010.
  11. ↑ 1991 World Championships Results . Snooker Database. Retrieved December 28, 2010.
  12. ↑ 1992 World Championships Results . Snooker Database. Retrieved December 28, 2010.
  13. ↑ 1998 World Championships Results . Snooker Database. Retrieved December 28, 2010.
  14. ↑ 1999 World Championships Results . Snooker Database. Retrieved December 28, 2010.
  15. ↑ 2001 World Championships Results . Snooker Database. Retrieved December 28, 2010.
  16. ↑ 2002 World Championships Results . Snooker Database. Retrieved December 28, 2010.
  17. ↑ 2003 World Championships Results . Snooker Database. Retrieved December 28, 2010.
  18. ↑ 2006 World Championships Results . Snooker Database. Retrieved December 28, 2010.
  19. ↑ 2007 World Championships Results . Snooker Database. Retrieved December 28, 2010.
  20. ↑ 2011 World Championships Results . Snooker Database. Retrieved May 5, 2015.
  21. ↑ 2015 World Championships Results . Snooker Database. Retrieved May 5, 2015.
  22. ↑ 2016 World Championship. In: CueTracker Snooker Results & Statistics Database. Ron Florax, accessed April 17, 2016 .
  23. ↑ 2020 World Championship. In: CueTracker Snooker Results & Statistics Database. Ron Florax, accessed August 11, 2020 .
  24. ↑ 1970 World Championships Results . Snooker Database. Retrieved December 28, 2010.
  25. ↑ 1971 World Championships Results . Snooker Database. Retrieved December 28, 2010.
  26. ↑ 1973 World Championships Results . Snooker Database. Retrieved December 28, 2010.