By Raz Mirza, Sports Journalist
Last updated: 24 March 2026
Four-time world champion Mark Selby says he would prefer the World Snooker Championship to stay in the UK when the Crucible Theatre undergoes refurbishment in 2029 — and possibly in 2030 — despite the World Snooker Tour exploring alternative plans. Selby, who has been recovering after time away from the game for health reasons, acknowledged Matchroom Sport president Barry Hearn has “a variety of ideas” and has talked about moving the event around.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer helped secure the tournament’s long-term future in Sheffield with an agreement keeping the World Championship at the Crucible until 2045, with an option to extend to 2050. The Crucible, the event’s home since 1977, has hosted some of snooker’s most memorable moments — including the 1985 black-ball final between Dennis Taylor and Steve Davis and Ronnie O’Sullivan’s 147. Critics argue the theatre is cramped and in need of modernisation; O’Sullivan has previously advocated moving the tournament away from the venue.
A planned £45m refurbishment will increase capacity by up to 500 seats on top of the current 980 and improve spectator facilities. At the same time, the sport’s international profile has grown substantially, particularly in China where an estimated 60 million people play and where current world champion Zhao Xintong comes from. Saudi Arabia has also expanded its presence in the sport, staging last year’s Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters in Jeddah with a £2.3m prize pot, one of the biggest in snooker.
World Snooker Tour officials hope any relocation will be temporary — ideally only for a year — but no alternative host has been confirmed. Possible UK venues mooted include Alexandra Palace in London, which stages the World Darts Championship, and Manchester Central, home to the Tour Championship.
“For me, I’d like to keep it in the UK,” Selby said. “I know Barry Hearn, sometimes he’s got a variety of ideas. He’d like to move it around but we play a lot of tournaments in China now. We have a lot of big tournaments in China. We have a big ranking event out in Saudi, which is the same prize money as the world championships as it stands. So, I mean, it’s not like they’ve not got a big tournament. They’ve still got a big tournament. When it does move, then I’d rather it still be in the UK, wherever that will be.”
Selby, who won the Crucible title in 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2021, endured a surprise first-round defeat to Ben Woollaston last year but bounced back to win his third UK Championship — and a 10th Triple Crown title — at the York Barbican in December. He expects this year’s World Championship to be fiercely contested.
“I think there’s probably 16 to 20 players that you could probably pick who’s probably capable of winning it,” Selby said. “You’ve got Robertson, who is top of the money list. There’s also Kyren Wilson, not had the best of seasons, but he’s been there and won it before. Murphy has been playing well this season and Mark Allen’s playing well. It’ll be hard to predict this year. What I will guarantee, I’m sure it’ll be a great standard of snooker at Sheffield over the two weeks when it starts. I think that just goes to show how strong the game is in depth now.”
Selby also praised Ronnie O’Sullivan after the seven-time champion compiled the highest break in professional play — a 153 in the first frame of his 5-0 win over Ryan Day at the World Open in China — and reached a ranking final for the first time since his World Grand Prix victory more than two years ago, where he lost to Thepchaiya Un-Nooh.
“Ronnie’s 153 was an amazing feat to do,” Selby said. “It had to be him, didn’t it? If somebody was going to do it, it had to be him. It was probably the only record he’s not got. Ronnie is the greatest player of all time, and anything he does, it doesn’t really surprise you. He’s just an absolute genius and a credit to our game.”
This year’s World Snooker Championship begins on April 18 and runs until May 4.