How many frames are in the World Snooker Championship final?

First held in 1927, the World Snooker Championship remains the most prestigious prize in professional snooker.

2024 saw Kyren Wilson crowned the 28th champion of the tournament after defeating Jak Jones 18-14 to claim his maiden title at the Crucible.

Ahead of this year's final, find out all you need to know about the WST's showpiece event.

How many frames are in the World Snooker Championship final?

The final will be contested over a maximum of 35 frames, with the first to 18 frames being crowned world champion.

Finals are typically staged over two days, with two sessions each day. Not since the 1993 final between Stephen Hendry and Jimmy White has the final finished before the fourth session, with Hendry prevailing in a comprehensive 18-5 win.

The last final to go to a deciding frame was in 2002 as Peter Ebdon won his only world title by defeating seven-time champion Hendry 18-17.

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World Snooker Championship format

As with the rest of the tournament, the World Snooker Championship final will be determined by the number of frames won.

A frame is a single game of snooker where the winner is decided by which player has scored the most points by the time all the balls have been potted, or if there are not enough points available for the player that is trailing to be able to mount a comeback.

The first round is played over a best-of-19 format, which increases to a best-of-25 format for the second round and quarter-final matches.

The semi-finals make the jump to a best-of-33 format before the final which is contested over a best-of-35.

All of the World Snooker Championship finals have been best-of-35 since 1980. The highest-scoring finals date back to the 1940s, where a total of 145 frames were played between 1946 to 1949 and again in 1952.

World Snooker Championship final history

Joe Davis was the perennial champion of the World Snooker Championship when it was first launched in 1927 as he emerged triumphant in every tournament before World War II halted play in 1941.

The Derbyshire potter won his 15th and final title in 1946 before his brother, Fred Davis, ushered in a period of his own dominance by prevailing eight times between 1948 and 1956.

John Pulman won seven titles in a row before the tournament saw the reintroduction of a knockout tournament format in 1969.

John Spencer, Ray Reardon, Alex Higgins and Steve Davis were all multiple winners of the World Snooker Championship before Stephen Hendry was crowned champion in 1990, with the Scotsman achieving a modern record seven titles in the 1990s.

It's a feat he now shares with Ronnie O'Sullivan, who won his first World Snooker Championship in 2001 before claiming his seventh in 2022.

John Higgins, Mark Selby and Mark Williams have all became multiple champions in that stretch.