The Crucible Curse

The Crucible Curse is a supposed curse at the World Snooker Championship. In 1977, the tournament became held at a fixed location - The Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. Since then, no first time winner of the World Snooker Championship (at The Crucible) has ever defended their title there the following year.

1. 1978 John Spencer – a two-time champion before winning at The Crucible successfully in 1977. In 1978, he lost his first round match 13-8 to Perrie Mans.
2. 1979 Ray Reardon – a five-time Champion before his 1978 triumph, he lost 13-8 to Dennis Taylor in the 1979 Quarter Final.
3. 1980 Terry Griffiths – the 1979 champion received a bye through Round 1 but lost to a young Steve Davis in his opening match 13-2. Things got better for Griffiths, he wouldn't lose First Round match in the World Championship for the next 16 years.
4. 1981 Cliff Thorburn – The first overseas winner of the World Championship was not exempt from the curse. Things looked good after a 13-2 thrashing of Graham Miles. After progressing to the Semi Final, he lost 16-10 to Steve Davis, who would go on to become champion.
5. 1982 Steve Davis – By 1982 Davis was dominating snooker. By now, even defending champions had to play in Round 1, and he wasn’t spared the curse as he was thrashed 10-1 by Tony Knowles.
6. 1983 Alex Higgins – Higgins was the 1972 World Champion too, but after his first Crucible success he was knocked out in the Semi Final the following year. He lost 16-5 to Steve Davis, who would go on to win the Championship for a second time.
7. 1986 Dennis Taylor – After Davis’ winning streak finally came to an end, Taylor was the next to fall into the curse. It was to everyone’s surprise when he fell at the first hurdle with a 10-6 loss to Mike Hallett.
8. 1987 Joe Johnson – By hook or by crook, the unlikely 1986 Champion reached the Final of the 1987 event, a rematch against Davis. Johnson lost 18-14, and failed to break the curse of the first time champion.
9. 1991 Stephen Hendry – Hendry had taken Davis’ mantle by 1991, and everyone thought he would break the curse. But he fell at the Quarter Finals, 13-11 to Steve James.
10. 1992 John Parrott – In 1992 Parrott was walking through the tournament until he came unstuck against a solid professional in Alan McManus in the Quarter Finals, and lost 13-12.
11. 1998 Ken Doherty – The first man to beat Hendry in the World Championship for 6 years fell into the curse too. He made the Final in defence of his title, but lost to the in-form John Higgins 18-12.
12. 1999 John Higgins – Higgins was dumped out of the competition in the Semi Finals, 17-10 by Welshman Mark Williams.
13. 2001 Mark Williams – The next man to try to break the curse lost in the Second Round 13-12 to Joe Swail.
14. 2002 Ronnie O'Sullivan – The Rocket saw his attempt to break the curse end with a 17-13 loss to Stephen Hendry in a memorable Semi Final.
15. 2003 Peter Ebdon – A surprise winner against Hendry in 2002, Ebdon struggled losing to the late Paul Hunter 13-12 in the Quarter Finals.
16. 2006 Shaun Murphy – Murphy took the snooker world by storm in 2005, and vowed that he was good enough to break the curse. A 13-7 loss to Ebdon in the Quarter Final ended his chances.
17. 2007 Graeme Dott – Dott had won the previous ranking event to the World Championship, but he lost in the First Round, 10-7 to Ian McCulloch.

This can be extended back to the start of the modern snooker era too.

• 1970 John Spencer
• 1971 Ray Reardon
• 1973 Alex Higgins