World Snooker Championship

This article is about the main professional championship. For the amateur event, see IBSF World Snooker Championship. For the women's championship, see Women's World Snooker Championship. For the video game series, see World Snooker Championship (series).

World Snooker Championship

World Snooker Championship trophy on display during the 2007 event
Tournament information
Venue	Crucible Theatre
Location	Sheffield
Country	England
Established	1927
Organisation(s)	World Snooker Tour
Format	Ranking event
Total prize fund	£2,395,000
Recent edition	2026
Current champion	Wu Yize (CHN)

The World Snooker Championship is the most prestigious tournament in professional snooker. The latest edition of the event had a total prize pool of £2,395,000, including £500,000 for the winner. It is now one of the three tournaments (together with the UK Championship and the invitational Masters) that make up snooker's Triple Crown Series. The reigning world champion is Wu Yize.

The event was first held in 1927 as a professional competition organised by the Billiards Association and Control Council, and Joe Davis won the title. In 1952, a rival tournament called the World Professional Match-play Championship was introduced by the Professional Billiards Players' Association to compete with the 1952 World Snooker Championship, which had only two entrants. The World Professional Match-play Championship was held as the world championship for snooker until 1957. From 1964 to 1968, the event was played using a challenge format, where the current champion would be challenged by another player. John Pulman won all seven challenge matches.