2025 World Snooker Championship: Prediction, tips, draw, prize money and where to watch Crucible showdown

Kyren Wilson arrives in South Yorkshire as the defending champion having defeated Jak Jones 18-14 in last year’s final.

The Englishman is one of 32 players looking to claim the £500,000 prize as well as the 46.5 troy ounce silver trophy – the most prestigious piece of metal in the sport. 

Here, we take a closer look at everything you need to know about the upcoming world championships, including the draw, prize money, where to watch as well as the all-important tips and predictions.

If you fancy a bet on the World Snooker Championships our friends at Betway can help you out with all the latest odds.

(All odds are correct at the time of article publication)

Who will win the 2025 World Snooker Championship?

The time has come to determine who is the best in the world at potting coloured balls into pockets… for this year, at least.

Ronnie O’Sullivan is the most decorated player involved in the tournament this year having lifted the world title seven times. He’s so good, in fact, that we backed him to win the last two tournaments, only for the Rocket to bow out early.

Considering the 49-year-old has played a limited schedule this season, we’re not going to put our chips on his name. That’s despite the bookmakers making him the fourth-favourite at 7/1.

Speaking of the bookies, they are swaying towards Judd Trump. The 2019 world champion arrives at the Crucible ranked second in the world and priced at 7/2 to go all the way. The 35-year-old reached the Players Championship final last month, losing 10-9 to Kyren Wilson over in Telford.

His last big win came at the UK Championship when he defeated Barry Hawkins 10-8 to reign supreme at the York Barbican in December.

Mark Selby is also among the big favourites for the title. The four-time world champion enjoyed a strong start to 2025, winning the Championship League and the Welsh Open back in February.

Selby also reached the Tour Championship final at the start of April before losing to John Higgins in a close final.

Speaking of Higgins, the four-time world champion could attract a lot of attention in the betting, with the Scot currently priced at 12/1.

Higgins is not only coming to the Crucible on the back of his Tour Championship win, but he also claimed the World Open in Yushan, China back in March.

Another man who deserves respect is the defending champion, Wilson. The 33-year-old has had a solid 2025, winning the German Masters and the recent Players Championship. Wilson also reached the Masters and the Championship League finals at the start of the new year.

While on the subject of the Masters, Alexandra Palace conqueror Shaun Murphy is currently priced at 16/1 to back up January’s win with a world title. 

Since winning the world crown in 2005, Murphy has been to three finals – all of which ended in defeats.

Looking at the betting, our nap for the tournament is the defending champion Wilson, who offers plenty of value at 7/1. If, however, you’re looking for a bigger price, Higgins is the man to back at similarly enticing odds of 12/1.

2025 World Snooker Championship: Tips

Nap – Kyren Wilson (7/1)

Dark horse – John Higgins (12/1)

2025 World Snooker Championship: Outright winner odds (top eight)

Judd Trump – 7/2

Mark Selby – 5/1

Kyren Wilson – 7/1

Ronnie O’Sullivan – 7/1

John Higgins – 12/1

Neil Robertson – 12/1

Zhao Xintong – 14/1

Shaun Murphy – 16/1

*Odds provided by Betway and correct at the time of writing

2025 World Snooker Championship: Draw

Kyren Wilson (ENG, 1) vs Lei Peifan (CHN, 39)

Jak Jones (WAL, 16) vs Zhao Xintong (CHN, am)

Neil Robertson (AUS, 9) vs Chris Wakelin (ENG, 20)

Mark Allen (NIR, 8) vs Fan Zhengyi (CHN, 46)

Ronnie O’Sullivan (ENG, 5) vs Ali Carter (ENG, 18)

Zhang Anda (CHN, 12) vs Pang Junxu (CHN, 27)

Si Jiahui (CHN, 13) vs David Gilbert (ENG 23)

Mark Selby (ENG, 4) vs Ben Woollaston (ENG, 44)

John Higgins (SCO, 3) vs Joe O’Connor (ENG, 30)

Xiao Guodong (CHN, 14) vs Matthew Selt (ENG, 34)

Barry Hawkins (ENG, 11) vs Hossein Vafei (IRN, 24)

Mark Williams (WAL, 6) vs Wu Yize (CHN, 22)

Luca Brecel (BEL, 7) vs Ryan Day (WAL, 36)

Ding Junhui (CHN, 10) vs Zak Surety (ENG, 73)

Shaun Murphy (ENG, 15) vs Daniel Wells (WAL, 49)

Judd Trump (ENG, 2) vs Zhou Yuelong (CHN, 32)

2025 World Snooker Championship: Prize money

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: £2,395,000

2025 World Snooker Championship: Where to watch

All the action from the Crucible will be shown live in the UK across BBC Sport, TNT Sports and Discovery +.

Over in Ireland live coverage will be provided solely by TNT Sports, while snooker fans in Germany, Italy and Austria will be able to follow the action on Discovery +.

HBO Max has the broadcasting rights in the Netherlands, Now TV over in Hong Kong and Star Hub over in Singapore.

Mainland China, meanwhile, will spread it’s coverage between Migu, Huya, the CBSA-WPBSA Academy WeChat channel, and the CBSA-WPBSA Academy Douyin.

READ MORE: What is a bet builder? A simple guide to how bet builders work

READ MORE: What is an accumulator or acca bet?

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