THE CRUCIBLE BLOG

My love for snooker started from the moment I first ever entered a snooker room, as a nine year old kid some 14 years ago. So to come to the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield for the first time this year was quite emotional.

More than a dream coming through, it was an unbelievable experience to have a media pass and take part in all the press conferences as well as be in the backstage. It's been 10 years since I've had the page, and it was fantastic to meet so many of the "snooker people" I've been in touch with for just as long on the internet. Thanks a lot to the World Snooker Tour and the WPBSA for this.

Here's the blog about all the snooker experience I had in my trip:

Sheffield

Any snooker fan will simply feel at home in Sheffield. I've always heard about the World Championship's structure, but it's still very impressive when you get there. 

The city breathes snooker during this time of the year, and the passionate fans have many places to go and enjoy their day. A special mention to the massive Ronnie O'Sullivan Shop in Meadowhall - worth a visit for anyone, Ronnie fan or not. The place has unbelievable memorabilia for display and for sale, great tables available to play on and very good merchandising, not necessarily related to Ronnie. And in the shop's social medias you'll be able to see the schedule of visits from players and former players that visit the shop to attend fans.

For the Ronnie fans it's just a more enhanced experience, being able to buy clothes, signed memorabilia and have a picture with his world championship trophy. There's also a chance to see the man himself, in one of his surprising visits to the shop.

In the city centre at the Tudor Square, you have not just the Crucible and everything it has to offer, but you've got a few bars that are all about the snooker ("The Crucible Corner" will have some great service and the best view of the Theatre), you can watch the matches in the big screen outside, play some shots in the Fanzone, and also visit the Winter Garden, where the BBC got their studio and in selected times you can play some snooker on their table as well.

The Crucible Theatre

The ultimate snooker arena, as simple as that. The Theatre is an amazing place, offering some great merchandising, bar service and great places to have a few pictures - a good one would be of the actual three Triple Crown trophies, that get exposed inside the Theatre for most of the time.

The playing arena is just a historic venue. The auditorium is smaller than you would expect for that many seats, but most are quite comfortable and the view is just unbelievable. A couple of my tickets were in back row seats, and I still had a fantastic view of the matches.

The playing area is bigger than I expected though, since we come there having heard so many times about how small it is in the two-tables set-up. I'd say it's enough room to play snooker and that should never be a reason for the championship to leave the venue.

Media Centre, Backstage and Press Conferences

I have to once again thank everyone that was so receptive and kind to me in the Media Centre. Although I had tickets for most of the sessions I spent there, I watched a few with the media and it was really good to see how enthusiastic they were for the snooker. It's a tiring job, but it's a thoroughly enjoyable environment.

Being around the backstage was unreal, felt like I had popped into my TV box. It was great talking to people I admire so much, and the opportunity to take part in the post-match press conferences was one that I relished a lot. I got to ask questions to most players, and although I had captured myself in that position many times before, to actually have spoken to players that were my heroes growing up hasn't really sunk in yet I think.

With all the talks about the World Championship potentially leaving the Crucible one day (current contract is valid up to 2027, and I for one think it should never leave), it was great to interview the World Number 1 Ronnie O'Sullivan and ask him about this. Although he told me he'd play the World Championship "anywhere I wanted him to", he said that "the Crucible is a great venue", and that he "likes it there". Since a few of the top players have said they think it might be time to move on from there, it was really good to get this quote off Ronnie.

The cuts of most of my bits in the press conferences (some only available in audio), can be found in Down The Rail's Instagram. In my personal Twitter and Instagram you can find many other pictures of my visit to Sheffield, including pictures with players, around the city, and within the Theatre.

The Matches

In 9 sessions I attended throughout the first round of the 2022 World Championship, I was able to watch from the crowd 26 out of the 32 players in the draw, having of course watched the other matches either in the big screen at the Tudor Square or inside the Crucible at the Media Centre.

Only three seeds fell in round one, with no casualties around the top contenders. Although it's been called the most open World Championship we've had in years, the usual names are marching through and, by the time I write this, we're yet to have a decider at the Crucible this year.

A few players really impressed me there - one of them was Mark Selby, who we had not seen play for a while and looked really good in round one. He's in a tight match against Yan Bingtao by the time I write this, but again he feels like a very tough player to beat over the distance at the Crucible. Another one is of course Ronnie O'Sullivan, who looks confident back at world number 1 and seems really focused to get title number 7 this year. He's always unpredictable in the early rounds in Sheffield, but at the moment I write this he's 12-4 up on Mark Allen in round two, and we know he's unstoppable when he gets going.

But like I've been said around the Media Centre, from what I've seen so far this tournament could very well be Mark Williams'. When I was in the crowd for his first round match he looked unbeatable during his 10-3 win over Michael White. He made up for that in the second round too, thrashing Jackson Page 13-3 with a session to spare scoring a record 6 centuries. I had a chance to interview Mark (available in video here) after his first round win and ask him whether he fancies the title this year in this kind of form - although he didn't want to look that much forward, he admitted that his game is "as good as it can get" at his age. I would say any players on their 20's and 30's would do well to play half as good as 47 years-old Mark Williams.

I had the time of my life in England, and hope that my friends there enjoy the rest of the tournament. From now on I'll be watching every ball from home like I do every year, this time enjoying the memories I made at the Crucible.