THE biggest event in the snooker season and one of the biggest in the sporting year is just around the corner.

The 2025 Snooker World Championship kicks off at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield next Saturday, but for many players, the tournament has already started.

A total of 128 players will make their way to the English Institute of Sport — a leisure centre on the way out of Sheffield towards Meadowhall and Rotherham — to take part in the World Championship qualifying rounds, which began on Monday.

Nations from across the world, from India to Brazil, from China to the United States, were represented, as players ranked outside the top 16 competed for the 16 remaining places at the Crucible’s 32-player tournament.

As well as professionals ranked outside the top 16, the qualifiers feature the best players from the amateur circuit and players from the women’s tour, including reigning women’s world champion Bai Yulu of China and runner-up Mink Nutcharut of Thailand.

The magic of the qualifiers was on display early on when, on the second day, the legendary Jimmy White was taking another shot at qualifying for the Crucible.

Sitting just across from the 62-year-old on the adjacent table was 14-year-old Michal Szubarczyk, who was bidding to become the youngest ever player to qualify.

The Polish teenager already has a few youth championships to his name and reached the final of the European amateur championship in March. The progress in that open age tournament, which included former professionals, earned him a two-year card for the professional tour should he and his family decide to take it.

He put in a good showing in his round one qualifier against Dean Young but lost 10-8, meaning Ronnie O’Sullivan remains the youngest player to qualify for the World Championship, having done so at the age of 16 in 1992.

Szubarczyk could still break the record next year, but between now and then has some decisions to make as to whether to join the professional tour and plenty of time to hone his matchplay.

White’s last appearance at the Crucible came in 2006, and he has attempted to qualify ever since. Many of the older players would have called it a day by now, but White’s longevity and resilience is admirable. Qualifying for the Crucible again is not beyond him.

He made a break of 126 in his first round qualifying match against 20-year-old Ukrainian Anton Kazakov, which was his highest at the tournament since 2013.

The match started with a first session on Tuesday morning, while the second session began at seven and ran into the early hours of Wednesday morning. By the time White got over the line with a win of 10 frames to nine, it was 1.21 am.

Just over eight hours later, a 55-year-old Ken Doherty was in action in his first-round match against Haydon Pinhey. The Irishman, who won the World Championship in 1997, won nine frames in a row before finishing the job in the second session to win 10-3.

White’s campaign continued today when he faced Ashley Carty in the second round of qualifying. At the time of going to print, the six-time world finalist was 6-3 down, and it would have taken a big effort for him to have come back into the match in the evening session.

Another standout storyline from the qualifiers is the return of Zhao Xintong, who was one of ten Chinese players banned or suspended from the sport following a match-fixing scandal.

The results of the investigation into match-fixing and betting between 2014 and 2022 emerged in 2023 and brought lifetime bans for ringleaders Liang Wenbo and Li Hang.

Liang Wenbo was deemed to have intimidated younger Chinese players and used the financial difficulties they faced as a way to get them involved.

As a result of varying involvement, other players were given shorter but, in some cases, considerable suspensions.

Zhao Xintong’s was the shortest of these, as the investigation found he felt he had no choice but to place bets (though he placed them nevertheless), had discouraged his friend Yan Bingtao from getting involved, and did not fix any matches himself. Yan’s ban, meanwhile, runs until December 2027.

Zhao returned to play in September last year. In doing so, he recorded the first 147 maximum breaks on the Q Tour, where players compete to qualify for the professional World Snooker Tour, on which he secured a place for the 2025/26 season.

The 28-year-old now returns to the World Championship qualifiers, where his considerable talent means he is expected to qualify for the Crucible, and many expect him to do well once there. He’ll face compatriot Lyu Haotian in the third round on Sunday.

Some familiar names begin to enter qualifying at the third round stage, including the likes of Jack Lisowski, Stephen Maguire, 2015 champion Stuart Bingham, and two-time finalist Ali Carter.

The fourth round is dubbed Decision Day and will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday next week, after which the 16 players joining the top 16 at the famous Crucible Theatre will be known.