THE 2022 World Snooker Championship has reached the semi-final stage. We’re now down to one table in the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield.

The partition that normally separates two tables in the early rounds has been lifted, like a curtain welcoming the main performers to the stage.

And it’s apt that this tournament is played in such a venue, as it is pure theatre at times.

The players are adding to the entertainment and it’s more than just a couple of guys knocking balls around the table for hours. 

These are entertainers, and it sometimes feels like the game is almost harking back to its ’80s and ’90s heyday, when most of the players were sports personalities who transcended the game.

Snooker is still not quite as popular as it was back then. It might never be given the range of choices sports fans now have on terrestrial television and beyond, but the combination of the staying power of the Class of ‘92 — Mark Williams, Ronnie O’Sullivan, and John Higgins — plus the introduction of new faces and characters each season makes it an absorbing spectacle.

Defending champion Mark Selby was knocked out by one of the more impressive newer characters, Yan Bingtao, in the second round. It was a game that wouldn’t have looked out of place in the one-table setup.

Selby is the Atletico Madrid of snooker. The world number one boasts a strong defence and is awkward for any opponent, but has the ability to finish a game off should he get the chance.

On this occasion, he came up against a strong opponent in Yan who looks like he could one day become the first Chinese player to win the World Championship.

The 22-year-old’s English has been improving and with it his confidence around the table.

He was involved in a misunderstanding in his game against Selby, though. Faced with a difficult shot to get past the blue to try and pot the object ball, in this case the brown, he jokingly asked referee Rob Spencer to clean the white ball. 

Spencer refused, as referees can in such situations where the margins are tight, and removing, cleaning, and then replacing the ball could slightly alter its position.

The joke was initially missed by many watching and commentating and seen as unsporting, perhaps not used to such antics from Yan, who later explained his actions.

“I chose to let the referee clean the white ball because I was too nervous,” he said. 

“I wanted to adjust the atmosphere and try to relax myself. I knew the referee would not agree to my request.

“I was just joking with him to ease the tension. I will try my best to win the next game.”

He potted the brown with the rest and went on to defeat Selby 13-10. His next game was against one of the ‘92, Williams, in the quarter-finals. It was another tight affair with Williams eventually winning 13-11.

The Welshman is playing an in-form Judd Trump in his semi-final, and Trump himself has been up to some tricks during this tournament.

Up 90 points to eight with a frame already won in his quarter-final against Stuart Bingham, the 32-year-old was on his way to a century break but found himself snookered by the pink as he looked to pot the brown.

He alerted referee Ben Williams to something in the crowd, and as the referee turned his head Trump moved the pink out of the way with his cue and took his shot at the brown.

The foul was duly called as the referee returned his attention to the table, as Trump knew it would be, but it was done purely to entertain those watching at the Crucible and on TV.

“I’ve ended up stuck in the middle of a World Seniors Championship,” Trump quipped as he joined the Class of ‘92 in the semis, with the other side of the draw producing another potential classic between O’Sullivan and Higgins.

Higgins came close to winning the Tour Championship earlier this month, but one of the best displays of snooker you’ll see turned into one of those moments when a player is simply unable to get over the line.

There is no hanging onto a lead in snooker as there might be in other sports. You have to cross the finish line.

His opponent in that final, Neil Robertson, was 9-4 down at one stage, but the Australian came back to win it 10-9.

On the back of that victory, Robertson himself was among the favourites to win the World Championship but was knocked out by Jack Lisowski in the second round. 

Despite that, he still achieved the considerable feat of making a 147 maximum break.

The last player to do so at the crucible was Higgins in 2020, but before that, you have to go all the way back to 2012 when Stephen Hendry made one in the first round against Bingham.

“To make the 147 was unbelievable and tops the season off because that is on everyone’s bucket list, to make a maximum at the Crucible,” Robertson told Eurosport.

“Once I split the reds I knew I had a chance. The tension was building, so to clear the colours without much stress then get the cheer from the crowd, it was absolutely fantastic.”

Robertson himself is an attacking player who brings flair to the snooker table and is part of an entertaining group of players, all with different strengths and characters, who currently make up the professional tour.

The semi-finals will continue into Saturday before the final starts on Sunday to be concluded on Monday, when the curtain falls on what has been a compelling season of snooker.