Down the Rail

I think anyone can be forgiven for having needed a few days after the thrilling 17 days of snooker we had at the Crucible this year. Especially in my case, with the long trip back home: two-hour train back to London and then 12-hour flight back to São Paulo. But here I am now - not yet fully recovered from jet lag - to reflect on one of the most iconic championships we've had in years. The last three World Championships were a bit of "one-offs" with new champions and unexpected runs to the finals and semifinals.  It felt different this year though, when a record-equalling 15 out of 16 seeds made it through round one. However, a phenomenal round two was a hint to something we didn't yet know at the time, that this was going to be a drama-filled championship like no other. In the bottom half, all former champions fell (Kyren Wilson, Mark Williams, Mark Selby and Judd Trump), while in the top half every winner was a former champion (Zhao Xintong, Shaun Murphy, John Higgi...