World Snooker Championships 2024 Qualifiers: Format, watch, will Stephen Hendry play, has a qualifier won?

The quest to join the world’s best snooker players at the Crucible starts now.

Jimmy White is one of the big names hoping to make it through qualifying to the Snooker World Championships 2024.

It may be nearly two weeks until the 2023 Cazoo World Snooker Championship gets underway at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre – players will take to the baize from April 20 to May 6 – but some players will start the journey they dream will end in glory a little sooner.

The top 16 players in the world rankings automatically qualify for the lucrative tournament, but are joined by another 16 potters who win through the qualifying process.

And this year sees some big names looking to qualify the hard way.

Here’s everything you need to know.

When are the World Snooker Championships qualifiers held?

The qualifiers take place from Monday, April 8, and end on Wednesday, April 17, just three days before the tournament proper kicks off.

Where do the qualifiers take place?

The 2023 qualification tournament takes place at the English Institute of Sport, Sheffield.

Can I watch the qualifiers on television?

The World Championship qualifiers will be streamed on the Eurosport website and on Discovery Plus.

Has a qualifier ever won the Snooker World Championship?

Just three qualifiers have ever won the tournament, namely Alex Higgins (1972), Terry Griffiths (1979), and Shaun Murphy (2005).

What famous players are taking part in the qualification process?

Several of the biggest players the sport has ever seen are playing in the qualification rounds this year, led by six-time runner-up Jimmy White. 2007 champion Ken Doherty, Marco Fu, Neil Robertson, Jack Lisowski, Stuart Bingham, Stephen Maguire, Si Jiahui, Anthony McGill, Ryan Day and Hossein Vafaei are also trying to make their way through qualifying.

Is Stephen Hendry playing?

Scotland’s Stephen Hendry’s attempted to make his way through the qualification competition last year, but this year has decided to stick to punditry.

What is the format?

All matches in the qualification tournament are best of 19 frames (first to nine).

The first round sees the players ranked 81-112 play against the 113-144 seeds.

In the second round the first round winners take on the players ranked 49-80.

The third round the 32 second round winners take on the players ranked 17-47.

The final round sees the third round winners drawn against each other for a place at the Crucible.