World Championship: Qualifying, draw & coverage

The 2025 World Snooker Championship gets under way at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield on Saturday, with Kyren Wilson bidding to retain his title. The Englishman defeated Jak Jones 18‍–‍14 in the 2024 final to win his maiden world championship. Seven-time winner Ronnie O'Sullivan, who has been struggling with health issues, has yet to decide if he will play in a 33rd consecutive edition of the tournament.

BBC Sport has comprehensive live coverage of the championship on BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Four and Red Button, while every match will be shown in full on iPlayer, the BBC Sport website and the BBC Sport app. The final takes place over two days starting on Sunday 4 May. When is qualifying? A total of 144 players started the qualifying tournament, which was staged at Sheffield's English Institute of Sport from 7-16 April.



Among those to qualify are two-time finalist Ali Carter and 2021 UK champion Zhao Xintong. China's Zhao secured his place at the Crucible after returning to the sport in September following a 20-month ban for his involvement in a match-fixing scandal. Six-time finalist Jimmy White's bid to play at the Crucible for the first time since 2006 ended in the second round, while former semi-finalist Joe Perry and Dominic Dale retired from the sport after going out in the third round.

Stuart Bingham, the 2015 champion, also suffered a third qualifying round defeat, while two-time finalist Matthew Stevens went out in the fourth. Jackson Page made the first 147 maximum break of his career during the third round of qualifying, and incredibly the 23-year-old Welshman added a second later in the same match - a 10-2 win against Allan Taylor. That earned Page a £147,000 bonus and put him in line for the £15,000 World Championship highest break prize - but he did not qualify for the Crucible, losing to Englishman Joe O'Connor in the fourth and final qualifying round.

Sixteen qualifiers will join 16 seeded players in the first round proper. When's the draw? The draw for the first round will take place at 08:45 BST on Thursday at BBC Sport's MediaCity UK headquarters in Salford. You can watch the draw live on BBC iPlayer, the BBC Sport website and the BBC Sport app from 08:40 BST or follow it on BBC Radio 5 Live.

Who are the top 16 seeds? As the defending champion, Kyren Wilson has the honour of being the top seed. World number one Judd Trump is the second seed, with four-time champions John Higgins and Mark Selby third and fourth respectively. Higgins beat Selby in the Tour Championship final earlier in April to move above him in the listings.

Ronnie O'Sullivan, bidding for an eighth title to surpass the record he shares with Stephen Hendry, is seeded fifth. The 49-year-old is seeded to play 12th seed Zhang Anda in the second round, Selby in the quarter-finals and Wilson in the semi-finals. Full seedings: 1) Kyren Wilson, 2) Judd Trump, 3) John Higgins, 4) Mark Selby 5) Ronnie O'Sullivan, 6) Mark Williams, 7) Luca Brecel, 8) Mark Allen 9) Neil Robertson, 10) Ding Junhui, 11) Barry Hawkins, 12) Zhang Anda 13) Si Jiahui 14) Xiao Guodong, 15) Shaun Murphy, 16) Jak Jones What's the 'Crucible curse'? No first-time champion has managed to retain the title since the championship moved to the Crucible Theatre in 1977.

Kyren Wilson will start his bid to break the 'Crucible curse' on Saturday morning. How much is the Crucible prize money? The winner will receive £500,000 and there is total prize fund of £2,395,000. 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 break (qualifying stage included): £15,000 What's the format? First-round matches are the best of 19 frames.

Second round and quarter-final matches are played over a maximum of 25. Semi-final matches are best of 33 frames. The final is the best of 35 frames.

How can I follow on the BBC? Watch live coverage on BBC One, BBC Two and BBC Four, or take your pick of the matches on iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app. For further coverage, audiences can tune into Snooker Extra every night on BBC Two and iPlayer to catch up on the action from the day's early games. Radio 5 Live will have regular updates and features in programmes throughout the tournament.

Meanwhile, the BBC Sport website and app will have text updates on the early rounds and quarter-finals before full live text commentary on the semi-finals and final. Who are the BBC TV pundits? The BBC's presenting team will be Hazel Irvine, Seema Jaswal and Rishi Persad, with reporting from Shabnam Younus-Jewell and Abigail Davis. Audiences can expect expert commentary and insights from snooker legends Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry, John Parrott, Ken Doherty, Dennis Taylor and John Virgo, alongside some of the game's current players including Masters winner Shaun Murphy.

Live coverage times All times are BST and subject to late changes. Saturday 19 April First round Live coverage 10:00-12:00 - BBC Two 10:00-14:00 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app 13:15-16:00 - BBC One 14:30-18:00 - iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app 16:30-18:00 - Red Button 19:00-22:00 - BBC Four 19:00-22:30 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app Highlights 00:05-02:05 - World Championship Extra - BBC Two Sunday 20 April First round Live coverage 10:00-12:15 - BBC Two 10:00-14:00 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app 13:00-17:40 - BBC Two 14:30-18:00 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app 19:00-22:00 - BBC Four 19:00-22:30 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app Highlights 00:05-02:05 - World Championship Extra - BBC Two Monday 21 April First round Live coverage 10:00-12:00 - BBC Two 10:00-14:00 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app 13:00-18:00 - BBC Two 14:30-18:00 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app 19:00-22:00 - BBC Four 19:00-22:30 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app Highlights 00:05-02:05 - World Championship Extra - BBC Two Tuesday 22 April First round Live coverage 10:00-12:15 - BBC Two 10:00-14:00 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app 13:00-18:00 - BBC Two 14:30-18:00 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app 19:00-22:00 - BBC Four 19:00-22:30 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app Highlights 00:05-02:05 - World Championship Extra - BBC Two Wednesday 23 April First round Live coverage 10:00-11:15 - BBC Two 10:00-14:00 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app 13:00-18:00 - BBC Two 14:30-18:00 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app 19:00-22:00 - BBC Four 19:00-22:30 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app Highlights 00:05-02:05 - World Championship Extra - BBC Two Thursday 24 April First and second round Live coverage 13:00-17:00 - BBC Two 14:30-18:00 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app 19:00-22:00 - BBC Four 19:00-22:30 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app Highlights 00:05-02:05 - World Championship Extra - BBC Two Friday 25 April Second round Live coverage 10:00-12:00 - BBC Two 10:00-14:00 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app 13:00-18:00 - BBC Two 14:30-18:00 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app 19:00-22:00 - BBC Four 19:00-22:30 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app Highlights 00:05-02:05 - World Championship Extra - BBC Two Saturday 26 April Second round/quarter-finals Live coverage 10:00-12:00 - BBC Two & Red Button 10:00-14:00 - iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app 13:45-16:30 - BBC Two 14:30-18:00 - iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app 16:25-18:00 - Red Button 19:00-20:00 - BBC Two 19:00-22:30 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app 20:00-22:00 - BBC Four Highlights 00:05-02:05 - World Championship Extra - BBC Two Sunday 27 April Second round Live coverage 10:00-12:25 - BBC Two 10:00-14:00 - iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app (Red Button 10:00-12:15) 13:00-18:00 - BBC Two 14:30-18:00 - iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app (Red Button 14:40-18:00) 15:00-18:00 - BBC Two 19:00-20:00 - BBC Two 19:00-22:30 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app 20:00-22:00 - BBC Four Highlights 00:05-02:05 - World Championship Extra - BBC Two Monday 28 April Second round Live coverage 13:00-17:00 - BBC Two 13:00-18:00 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app 19:00-20:00 - BBC Two 19:00-22:30 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app 20:00-22:00 - BBC Four Highlights 00:05-02:05 - World Championship Extra - BBC Two Tuesday 29 April Quarter-finals Live coverage 10:00-12:15 - BBC Two 10:00-14:00 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app 13:00-18:00 - BBC Two 14:30-18:00 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app 19:00-20:00 - BBC Two 19:00-22:30 - iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app 20:00-22:00 - BBC Four Highlights 00:05-02:05 - World Championship Extra - BBC Two Wednesday 30 April Quarter-finals Live coverage 10:00-11:15 - BBC Two 10:00-14:00 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app 13:00-18:00 - BBC Two 14:30-18:00 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app 19:00-20:00 - BBC Two 19:00-22:30 - iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app 20:00-22:00 - BBC Four Highlights 00:05-02:05 - World Championship Extra - BBC Two Thursday 1 May Semi-finals Live coverage 13:00-16:00 - BBC Two 13:00-18:00 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app 19:00-20:00 - BBC Two 19:00-22:30 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app 20:00-22:00 - BBC Four Highlights 00:05-02:05 - World Championship Extra - BBC Two Friday 2 May Semi-finals Live coverage 10:00-12:00 - BBC Two 10:00-14:00 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app 14:00-18:00 - BBC Two 14:30-18:00 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app 19:00-20:00 - BBC Two 19:00-22:30 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app 20:00-23:00 - BBC Four Saturday 3 May Semi-finals Live coverage 10:00-12:00 - BBC Two 10:00-14:00 - iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app 13:15-16:30 - BBC One 14:30-18:00 - iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app 16:30-17:30 - BBC Two 19:00-22:00 - BBC Two 19:00-22:30 - iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and app 20:00-23:00 - BBC Four Sunday 4 May Final Live coverage 13:00-18:00 - BBC Two 19:00-22:00 - BBC Two Monday 5 May Final Live coverage 13:00-16:00 - BBC Two 19:00-22:00 - BBC Two.