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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Aaron Bower

World Snooker Championship: wide-open tournament may herald new era

Back row (left to right): Jak Jones, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Mark Selby, Shaun Murphy, Neil Robertson, Si Jiahui, Mark Williams, Mark Allen. Front row (left to right): Barry Hawkins, Luca Brecel, Xiao Guodong, Kyren Wilson, Ding Junhui and Zhang Anda
Back row (left to right): Jak Jones, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Mark Selby, Shaun Murphy, Neil Robertson, Si Jiahui, Mark Williams, Mark Allen. Front row (left to right): Barry Hawkins, Luca Brecel, Xiao Guodong, Kyren Wilson, Ding Junhui and Zhang Anda. Photograph: George Wood/Getty Images

It has been fairly common in recent years to discuss the winds of change blowing through the World Snooker Championship. But this year, with talk of the Crucible’s future being quieter than usual, it is on the baize where a significant shift might be poised to take place.

The usual suspects – for the most part – are still assembling in Sheffield for snooker’s most prestigious event. Some of them in quite imperious form, too. But whereas a case can often be made for no more than three or four players to take home the £500,000 top prize and world champion crown, this year there is a much more open field.

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