Top snooker stars have asked for radical changes that would change the World Championship drastically.
Neil Robertson and Shaun Murphy are among the snooker players who want change
Snooker professionals Shaun Murphy, Neil Robertson, Mark Selby and Barry Hawkins have asked for huge changes to the World Championship. Zhao Xintong became the sport's newest champion, defeating Mark Williams 18-12 in the final, cementing his place in history as China’s first-ever victor.
Zhao excelled in his first long-format tournament since returning from a 20-month suspension. He put aside any doubts over competing in such a high-pressure environment, sweeping aside Ronnie O’Sullivan also in the semi-final.
He came through four rounds of qualifying just to secure a place in the first round, playing 111 frames in total, but Murphy believes that the initial stage of the tournament should be scrapped completely.
He told Sporting Life: “I don’t think it’s ideal as it is. I think in any setup where everyone doesn’t start in the same round is totally wrong. I think it’s totally weird.
“A tournament where I start in the fourth or fifth round against players who have four or five rounds behind me, I think it’s weird. I think it makes a bit of a mockery of the tour to be totally honest. We need events where players all start in the same round.
“There is no other way to shoehorn those matches into a two-table venue like the Crucible so I don’t see it changing, but I think it’s a really weird system now.”
Zhao Xintong finished on top of a lengthy tournament and final.
Robertson, meanwhile, called for matches to feature fewer frames and blasted the idea that semi-finals are largely played across three days in total.
He said: The best out of 25 frames is a great match to play actually, I do like that, but I think first two rounds out of 19 and best out of 25 for the rest of the event. It’s straightforward, it shortens things, you are going to see a better standard of play.
“You see a much better standard in the other events, like the Masters, in the World Championship it does drag on a bit.
“I would love to see it shortened. Playing a semi-final over three days is crazy, I am not engaged in that.”
Selby, an expert in the longer matches, enjoys the current system but admitted that from a spectator’s perspective it may make sense to reduce the numbers of frames at the Crucible.
“In a way, I hope that they don’t change,” he added. “But from a viewing point I get it as well. You could easily have first round, first to 10, last 16, first to 10, and then go quarters, 13, semis, 13, and have the final first to 15. You could easily do that.
“Because some of the rounds where it’s the last 16 or even the semis, you are playing over three days, I mean that is a long slog.”
When a player reaches the semi-finals, they have only played half of the frames necessary to win the title, despite beating three opponents already to get to the final four and single-table setup.
As snooker fans, we love the World Championship format but will it attract future generations to watch? Could it be shortened or, as always, shall we just keep things as they are?
— Chris Hammer (@ChrisHammer180) May 5, 2025
Shaun Murphy, Neil Robertson, Mark Selby & Barry Hawkins have some interesting views... pic.twitter.com/lo2XVbbFgr
Hawkins echoed the sentiment that earlier rounds could be completed sooner, but hailed the World Championship as a special competition that separates the good from the great across multiple sessions.
He said: “It’s such a long, drawn out tournament. I suppose some of the matches don’t need to be as long as they are, but at the same time that is what makes it so different. There is nothing elsse like it.
“Maybe the first couple of rounds, best of 19, maybe the second round doesn’t need to be best of 25.”
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