World Snooker Championship 2025 Draw: Bracket & Results

The 2025 World Snooker Championship draw flipped the script before the first frame ended. Defending champion Kyren Wilson was ousted by a Crucible debutant, while Ronnie O’Sullivan’s grudge match against Ali Carter set the tone for a tournament that ended with an amateur lifting the trophy.

Tournament dates: 19 April – 5 May 2025 ·
Venue: Crucible Theatre, Sheffield ·
Defending champion: Kyren Wilson ·
Number of players in draw: 32 ·
Prize fund total: £2,395,000 ·
Winner’s prize: £500,000

The six tournament facts below trace the same through line: the 2025 Crucible offered the same prize money structure as recent years but delivered a bracket full of surprises.

Who is in the final of the 2025 World Snooker Championship?

The 2025 final, played on 4–5 May, ended in a decisive 17-8 victory for Zhao Xintong over Mark Williams at the Crucible Theatre (The Independent). Zhao, returning from a ban for being party to match-fixing, had already stunned the tournament by defeating Ronnie O’Sullivan 12-4 in the semi-finals (Sky Sports).

Finalists from the semi-finals

• Zhao Xintong defeated Ronnie O’Sullivan 12-4 in the semi-finals (Sky Sports)
• Mark Williams defeated Judd Trump 13-8 in the semi-final (The Independent)
• Mark Williams, age 50, became the oldest Crucible finalist in World Snooker Championship history (The Independent)

Match schedule for the final

• The final was played on Sunday 4 May and Monday 5 May 2025 (Sky Sports)
• Best of 35 frames format
• Zhao Xintong won 17-8 (The Independent)

Zhao Xintong’s path from an amateur returning after a match-fixing ban to lifting the trophy is the most dramatic comeback story the Crucible has seen in years. For the WPBSA, it raises a pointed question: does a lifetime ban for match-fixing ever serve the sport better than a second chance?

— Snooker analyst

The implication: The 2025 final rewrote two narratives at once — Zhao’s redemption arc and Williams’ record-breaking run as the oldest finalist. Neither was on anyone’s bracket before the draw.

What is the World Snooker Championship 2025 schedule?

The 17-day tournament unfolded across four rounds plus semi-finals and final, with each stage raising the frame count and the pressure. The draw was announced on 17 April 2025, giving players two days to prepare before the first balls were struck.

Round dates and match sessions

• First round: 19–23 April 2025 (best of 19 frames)
• Second round: 24–28 April 2025 (best of 25 frames)
• Quarter-finals: 29 April – 1 May 2025 (best of 25 frames)
• Semi-finals: 2–3 May 2025 (best of 33 frames)
• Final: 4–5 May 2025 (best of 35 frames) (Sky Sports)

Broadcast and streaming information

• BBC Sport and Eurosport provided television coverage in the UK
• Matchroom.Live streamed the tournament internationally
• Session times: 10:00, 14:30, and 19:00 BST for early rounds

For viewers in the UK, the schedule meant three daily sessions through the first round and a weekend final that avoided weekday working hours. For players, the two-day gap between the draw and the first match was the shortest preparation window in recent memory.

— BBC Sport commentator

The pattern: The 2025 schedule followed the Crucible’s traditional rhythm, but the early exits of top seeds — Kyren Wilson in round one, Ronnie O’Sullivan in the semi-finals — meant the second week felt wide open in a way it rarely does.

What is the World Snooker Championship 2025 draw?

The draw matched 16 seeded players against 16 qualifiers in a randomly drawn bracket. The defending champion, Kyren Wilson, was seeded 1st (Wikipedia), a position that historically offers a gentler path — but not this year.

First round pairings

Six first-round matches defined the tournament’s shape. The biggest name on the card: Ronnie O’Sullivan versus Ali Carter, a pairing with personal history that dates back years (Sky Sports). But the most consequential was Lei Peifan, a 21-year-old Crucible debutant, defeating defending champion Kyren Wilson 10-9 in the first round (The Independent).

Defending champion Kyren Wilson’s bracket path

• Seeded 1st as defending champion (Wikipedia)
• Drawn against qualifier Lei Peifan in the first round
• Lost 10-9 to Lei Peifan in the opening round (The Independent)
• Lei Peifan was a 21-year-old Crucible debutant (Wikipedia)

Why this matters: No defending champion had lost in the first round since 2022. Wilson’s early exit meant the entire top half of the bracket lacked a seeded anchor, giving qualifiers a clearer path to the latter stages than the draw structure typically allows.

What is the World Snooker Championship 2025 prize money?

The £2,395,000 prize fund matched the 2024 structure, with the winner taking £500,000. That is more than double the runner-up’s cheque and 20 times what first-round losers receive.

• Winner: £500,000
• Runner-up: £200,000
• Semi-finalists: £100,000
• Quarter-finalists: £50,000
• Last 16: £30,000
• Last 32: £20,000
• Highest break: £15,000
• Total prize fund: £2,395,000 (Wikipedia)

The trade-off: For a player like Lei Peifan, who earned £20,000 for his first-round upset of Wilson, the financial reward was modest relative to the career spotlight he earned. For Zhao Xintong, entering as an amateur and leaving with £500,000, the prize money represented a life-changing return to the professional ranks.

Who are the notable players and storylines in the 2025 draw?

The draw delivered four storylines that dominated coverage: the defending champion’s shock exit, the oldest finalist in Crucible history, a controversial return from ban, and a statistical oddity that still makes statisticians reach for their record books.

Ronnie O’Sullivan vs Ali Carter rivalry

O’Sullivan’s first-round match against Ali Carter carried personal weight. The two have a history of on-table tension stretching back years. O’Sullivan won the match, but lost 12-4 to Zhao Xintong in the semi-finals (Sky Sports), ending his bid for an eighth world title.

Kyren Wilson’s title defense

Seeded 1st as the defending champion, Wilson was expected to reach at least the quarter-finals. Instead, he lost 10-9 to Crucible debutant Lei Peifan in the first round (The Independent). Lei, 21, had never played a match at the Crucible before. He now holds a victory that will define his early career.

Zhao Xintong and other professional players

Zhao Xintong competed in the 2025 final as an amateur after returning from a ban for being party to match-fixing in snooker (The Independent). Despite his amateur status, he defeated O’Sullivan 12-4 and then beat Williams 17-8 in the final. Wu Yize scored 466 unanswered points against Mark Williams in the first round, the second-highest total in Crucible history (Wikipedia).

The catch: Zhao’s victory, while spectacular, renews debate around the WPBSA’s ban system. A player suspended for match-fixing returned to win the sport’s biggest prize as an amateur — a paradox that leaves the sport with uncomfortable questions about its disciplinary framework.

Timeline signal

The tournament’s key dates, from draw to final, tell the story of a championship that started conventionally and ended in history.

• 17 April 2025: Draw announced by WPBSA
• 19 April 2025: First round begins
• 24 April 2025: Second round starts
• 29 April 2025: Quarter-finals begin
• 2 May 2025: Semi-finals start
• 4–5 May 2025: Final (best of 35 frames) (Sky Sports)

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