Crucible curse
The "Crucible curse" (also known as the "The curse of the Crucible") refers to the fact that no first-time snooker world champion has retained his title the following year since the event moved to the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield in 1977.[1][2][3][4] The last player to successfully defend his first world title was John Pulman in 1964, when the championship was still decided by challenge matches.[5]
Contents |
[edit] The curse
The following first-time champions did not retain their title the following year. Of the fifteen players to have won their first championship at the Crucible Theatre, five lost in their first match as defending champion (Terry Griffiths in 1980, Steve Davis in 1982, Dennis Taylor in 1986 Graeme Dott in 2007, and Neil Robertson in 2011) and only two went on to reach the final: Joe Johnson in 1987 and Ken Doherty in 1998.
| Year[5] | Defending Champion[5] | Progress | Result | Opponent | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Terry Griffiths | Second round[N 1] | 10–13 | Steve Davis | [6] |
| 1981 | Cliff Thorburn | Semi-finals | 10–16 | Steve Davis | [7] |
| 1982 | Steve Davis | First round | 1–10 | Tony Knowles | [8] |
| 1986 | Dennis Taylor | First round | 6–10 | Mike Hallett | [9] |
| 1987 | Joe Johnson | Final | 14–18 | Steve Davis | [10] |
| 1991 | Stephen Hendry | Quarter-finals | 11–13 | Steve James | [11] |
| 1992 | John Parrott | Quarter-finals | 12–13 | Alan McManus | [12] |
| 1998 | Ken Doherty | Final | 12–18 | John Higgins | [13] |
| 1999 | John Higgins | Semi-finals | 10–17 | Mark Williams | [14] |
| 2001 | Mark Williams | Second round | 12–13 | Joe Swail | [15] |
| 2002 | Ronnie O'Sullivan | Semi-finals | 13–17 | Stephen Hendry | [16] |
| 2003 | Peter Ebdon | Quarter-finals | 12–13 | Paul Hunter | [17] |
| 2006 | Shaun Murphy | Quarter-finals | 7–13 | Peter Ebdon | [18] |
| 2007 | Graeme Dott | First round | 7–10 | Ian McCulloch | [19] |
| 2011 | Neil Robertson | First round | 8–10 | Judd Trump | [20] |
[edit] Pre-Crucible
Even before the World Championship was staged at the Crucible, no player in the modern game successfully defended his first world title. Of all first-time world champions, only Joe Davis, his brother Fred and John Pulman retained their title at the next World Championship, Joe in 1928, Fred in 1949 and Pulman during his challenge match in 1964. Additionally, Ray Reardon, Alex Higgins and John Spencer won the World Championship before it was moved to the Crucible, but they all failed to retain the title after winning it at the Crucible for the first time.
| Year[5] | Defending Champion[5] | Progress | Result | Opponent | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | John Spencer | Semi-finals | 33–37 | Ray Reardon | [21] |
| 1971 | Ray Reardon | Semi-finals | 15–34 | John Spencer | [22] |
| 1973 | Alex Higgins | Semi-finals | 9–23 | Eddie Charlton | [23] |
[edit] Notes
- ^ Griffiths, along with the other top 8 seeds, received a bye in the first round, thus the second round was his first match.
[edit] References
- ^ John Dee (2006-04-14). "Murphy aiming to exorcise the Crucible curse". London: The Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2006/04/15/sosnoo15.xml&sSheet=/sport/2006/04/15/ixsport.html. Retrieved 2007-04-21.
- ^ "Cruise for Ebdon as Crucible curse strikes champ". nationalmultimedia.com. http://nationmultimedia.com/2006/04/28/sport/sport_30002733.php. Retrieved 2007-04-21.
- ^ "Crucible Curse Strikes Ebdon". Sporting Life. http://www.sportinglife.com/snooker/worldchampionships2003/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=snooker/03/04/30/SNOOKER_World_2nd_Nightlead.html. Retrieved 2007-04-21.
- ^ Jackson, Jamie (15 April 2011). "Australia's Neil Robertson aiming to break the curse of the Crucible". London: guardian.co.uk. http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/apr/15/neil-robertson-crucible-trump-judd. Retrieved 23 April 2011.
- ^ a b c d e Turner, Chris. "World Professional Championship". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. http://www.cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/world.html. Retrieved 21 April 2011.
- ^ "1980 World Championships Results". Snooker Database. http://snookerdatabase.co.uk/EventResults.aspx?EventKey=32. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
- ^ "1981 World Championships Results". Snooker Database. http://snookerdatabase.co.uk/EventResults.aspx?EventKey=31. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
- ^ "1982 World Championships Results". Snooker Database. http://snookerdatabase.co.uk/EventResults.aspx?EventKey=30. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
- ^ "1986 World Championships Results". Snooker Database. http://snookerdatabase.co.uk/EventResults.aspx?EventKey=26. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
- ^ "1987 World Championships Results". Snooker Database. http://snookerdatabase.co.uk/EventResults.aspx?EventKey=25. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
- ^ "1991 World Championships Results". Snooker Database. http://snookerdatabase.co.uk/EventResults.aspx?EventKey=21. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
- ^ "1992 World Championships Results". Snooker Database. http://snookerdatabase.co.uk/EventResults.aspx?EventKey=20. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
- ^ "1998 World Championships Results". Snooker Database. http://snookerdatabase.co.uk/EventResults.aspx?EventKey=14. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
- ^ "1999 World Championships Results". Snooker Database. http://snookerdatabase.co.uk/EventResults.aspx?EventKey=13. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
- ^ "2001 World Championships Results". Snooker Database. http://snookerdatabase.co.uk/EventResults.aspx?EventKey=11. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
- ^ "2002 World Championships Results". Snooker Database. http://snookerdatabase.co.uk/EventResults.aspx?EventKey=10. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
- ^ "2003 World Championships Results". Snooker Database. http://snookerdatabase.co.uk/EventResults.aspx?EventKey=9. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
- ^ "2006 World Championships Results". Snooker Database. http://snookerdatabase.co.uk/EventResults.aspx?EventKey=4. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
- ^ "2007 World Championships Results". Snooker Database. http://snookerdatabase.co.uk/EventResults.aspx?EventKey=3. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
- ^ "2011 Betfred.com World Championship". WWW Snooker. http://www.snooker.org/res/index.asp?event=28. Retrieved 23 February 2011.
- ^ "1970 World Championships Results". Snooker Database. http://snookerdatabase.co.uk/EventResults.aspx?EventKey=42. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
- ^ "1971 World Championships Results". Snooker Database. http://snookerdatabase.co.uk/EventResults.aspx?EventKey=41. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
- ^ "1973 World Championships Results". Snooker Database. http://snookerdatabase.co.uk/EventResults.aspx?EventKey=39. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||
