World Snooker Championship Qualifiers: Draw, start date, format, TV details, how to watch, schedule & odds

Everything you need to know about the 2025 World Snooker Championship Qualifiers after 128 players competed to join the world's top 16 at the iconic Crucible Theatre.

World Snooker Championship Qualifiers - Dates

When do the World Snooker Championship qualifiers take place?

Qualifying for the World Snooker Championship will take place over ten days in April, with the opening matches taking place on Monday 7th April and drawing to a close on Wednesday 16th April, 2025.

World Snooker Championship Qualifiers - Draw

When does World Snooker Championship qualifying draw take place?

The draw, which is based on world ranking seeding positions, was formulated at the end of March.

A total of 106 professional players outside of the top 16 were be included in the draw, along with 22 amateur players to top up the tally to 128.

Amateur inclusions to complete the field featured WPBSA international invitees and the highest-ranked players from the Q School Order of Merit.

World Snooker Championship Qualifying draw

What big names will have to come through World Snooker Championship qualifying?

A number of big names fell in the qualifiers, including Jack Lisowski, Stuart Bingham, Stephen Maguire and Antony McGill.

The likes of Hossein Vafaei and Ali Carter made it through, while Daniel Wells, Zak Surety and Lei Peifan will make their Crucible debuts.

Who has qualified for the World Snooker Championship?

The following 16 names all progressed through qualifying:

• Chris Wakelin
• Zak Surety
• Zhao Xintong
• Zhou Yuelong
• Ryan Day
• Ben Woollaston
• David Gilbert
• Daniel Wells
• Fan Zhengyi
• Hossein Vafaei
• Ali Carter
• Pang Junxu
• Lei Peifan
• Joe O’Connor
• Matt Selt
• Wu Yize

World Snooker Championship Automatic Qualifiers

Who are the 16 automatic qualifiers for the World Snooker Championship?

The top 16 players on the WST Order of Merit have guaranteed their spot at the Crucible for this year's event.

1. Judd Trump
2. Kyren Wilson
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

World Snooker Championship Qualifiers - Venue

Where do the World Snooker Championship Qualifiers take place?

Qualifying matches are held at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield, the same venue that has held the qualifiers for the past seven years.

Ponds Forge Leisure Centre, also in Sheffield, used to play host to the qualifying campaign, before the WST switched venues in 2018.

World Snooker Championship Qualifiers - How to watch & TV details

How do I watch the World Snooker Championship Qualifiers?

Selected qualifying matches for the World Snooker Championship will be streamed live at bet365, whilst eurosport.com and discovery+ will also be providing coverage across all ten days.

The final two days of qualification (Judgement Day) will also shown live on the WST's official YouTube channel.

World Snooker Championship Qualifiers - Format

How do snooker players qualify for the World Snooker Championship?

Of the 32 players to feature at the World Snooker Championship, the top 16 on the two-year rankings at the March cut-off point automatically secured their place at the Crucible, with the other 16 players being made up by qualifiers.

Players ranked between 17 and 144 will take part in the best-of-19 frame qualifying event, all hoping to join the top 16 in the live televised end of season showpiece.

World Snooker Championship Qualifying Rounds:

There will be four rounds of matches to take place over the 10 days, as follows:

Round One: 32 matches - Players ranked 81 to 112 will take on those seeded 113 to 144.

Round Two: 32 matches - 32 Round One winners will take on those seeded 49 to 80.

Round Three: 32 matches - 32 Round Two winners will take on those seeded 17 to 48.

Round Four: All 32 Round Three winners will play each other, with the 16 victors going on to qualify for the Crucible.

All matches are best-of-19 frames.

World Snooker Championship Qualifiers - Schedule

What is the schedule for the World Snooker Championship qualifying matches?

First round matches will take place across Monday 7th, Tuesday 8th and Wednesday 9th April, 2025.

Second round matches will also begin during the Wednesday 9th April afternoon session (14:30), and continue across Thursday 10th April, Friday 11th April before concluding on Saturday 12th April.

Third round matches, in which players ranked 17 through to 32 will enter in, will begin on the morning of Saturday 12th April and run across Sunday 13th April and Monday 14th April.

The 16 fourth round matches will take place across two days (Judgement Day) on Tuesday 15th April and Wednesday 16th April.

Matches in Rounds One, Two and Three will be played across 10:00, 14:30 and 19:00 sessions, with just two sessions taking place on Judgement Day (11:00 and 17:30).

World Snooker Championship Qualifiers - Prize Money

How much do players get for qualifying for the World Snooker Championship?

• Crucible Qualifiers - £20,000
• Round 4 Losers - £15,000
• Round 3 Losers - £10,000
• Round 2 Losers - £5,000
• Round 1 Losers - N/A

The prize money for reaching the televised stages of the 2024 World Snooker Championship will remain unchanged from the 2024 competition, with the 16 qualifiers set to land £20,000.

The 16 players beaten in the final qualifying round will earn £15,000, whilst the 32 round three losers will each take home £10,000.

Players who are beaten in the second round of qualifying will take home £5,000 and the 32 players who are beaten in the first round will depart the competition empty-handed.