Neal Foulds profiles the top 16 seeds for this year's Championship, where the likes of Zhao Xintong and Ronnie O'Sullivan will do battle for the biggest prize in snooker.
Zhao Xintong (1)
- Recent World Championship record: A/LQ/R2/A/W
- Crucible best: 2025 winner
- Season's best: Riyadh Season Championship, World Grand Prix, Players Championship, Tour Championship winner
In a season where nobody has seemingly wanted to take up the mantle, Zhao has stepped up to the plate and firmly established himself in the last few months as the leading player in the game.
Put simply, he’s playing snooker at a level above everyone else, winning in all three events of the Players Series in dominant fashion and beating all-comers with something to spare.
He has the famed Crucible Curse to contend with now, and the fact that he’s produced best snooker in the last months is something that has gone against those to have tried before him.
All the trends are against Zhao, then, but few would argue against the fact that he is the man to beat, both this year and for a long time to come.
Judd Trump (2)
- Recent World Championship record: QF/F/R1/QF/SF
- Crucible best: 2019 winner
- Season's best: German Masters winner
Some would say that Trump hasn’t had a good season, but I would disagree entirely.
Perhaps just picking up the one title – the German Masters – might feel like a lean season by his own incredibly high standards, but he’s reached four more finals, and big ones, too, at the UK Championship and then most recently the Tour Championship.
He’s played good snooker all year, proving to be ultra-consistent once again, yet the feeling remains that he has another gear in him when everything clicks.
Perhaps that will be in the next few weeks, and it’s worth noting that Trump has been battling the elements, initially by trying to find a cue he is happy with, and more recently the conflict in the Middle East which has affected his travel arrangements having relocated from the UK some time ago.
Still world number one, the 2019 champion is one for any shortlist.
Kyren Wilson (3)
- Recent World Championship record: SF/R2/R2/W/R1
- Crucible best: 2024 winner
- Season's best: Shanghai Masters, The Masters winner
Wilson is a fascinating contender this year.
The profile of more recent Crucible champions is that they been quiet in the run-up to the World Championship, just as Wilson was when he won this event for the first time two years ago.
We must remember that he didn’t quality for the Players Series that year, either, going completely under the radar in Sheffield before peaking just at the right time.
He’s in exactly the same position this time around, but having won two massive invitational events already this term, including the Masters in January, we know his game is there and that he’ll be desperate to make his mark.
Neil Robertson (4)
- Recent World Championship record: QF/R2/R2/DNQ/R1
- Crucible best: 2010 winner
- Season's best: Saudi Arabia Masters winner
Robertson is a difficult one to weigh up. He’s the number one player this year, having picked up a huge prize in Saudi Arabia at the beginning of the season.
His form has been solid since, without being spectacular, and I do wonder if the pressure will be off him a little bit this time, with few people tipping him for glory relative to the last few years.
He does have some scars from this tournament to overcome, having only reached the one-table set-up once since his victory here in 2010, but we all know Robertson has the game to go deep if able to turn it on.
John Higgins (5)
- Recent World Championship record: R2/SF/QF/QF/QF
- Crucible best: x4 winner
- Season's best: x3 finals
Higgins has been a revelation this season, he really has, and another good run would surprise absolutely nobody.
He’s made three major finals, including the Masters, without quite being strong enough to win any of them.
And what might have been last year, had he managed to pot that final blue at the end of a thrilling deciding frame with his old sparring partner Mark Williams in the quarter-finals.
I’d be pleasantly surprised were he able to win a fifth world title approaching his 51st birthday, but a possible second-round clash with O’Sullivan shapes up as a potential blockbuster not to be missed.
Mark Williams (6)
- Recent World Championship record: QF/SF/R2/R1/F
- Crucible best: x3 winner
- Season's best: Xi'an Grand Prix winner
Williams is another interesting one. Every year he tells us why he can’t win, and yet 12 months ago he came so close to becoming world champion for a fourth time.
He had a tough draw as well, just holding off Wu Yize in a cracking first-round tie, before going on to produce some outstanding snooker on his way to the final, including beating Trump in the semi-finals.
The final, or at least the first day of it, was a bridge too far and he looked jaded in the early part as Zhao built up a big lead. Williams came back strongly in the final session, but had left himself with too much to do.
That does make you wonder about the Class of 92 and whether they can still to stay the pace over 17 days, but I suspect Williams will again play down his chances and still perform well.
Mark Selby (7)
- Recent World Championship record: W/R2/F/R1/R1
- Crucible best: x4 winner
- Season's best: Champions of Champions, UK Championship winner
UK Championship winners always demand the utmost respect at the World Championship, and until the turn of the year Selby looked right back to his best and on course to mount another serious Crucible challenge.
He’s been quiet since, but that could work in his favour. His game is still there, and he’ll be fresh and hungry for the big one.
More concerning would be that he has lost in the first round in each of the last two years here, both times to fellow Leicester lads when not playing particularly well.
The Selby we’ve seen this season is in much better shape, but he will need to start better and work his way into the tournament.
If he can, we know he gets the distance and is an incredibly tough man to beat in the one-table set-up over four sessions.
Shaun Murphy (8)
- Recent World Championship record: F/R1/R1/R2/R2
- Crucible best: 2005 winner
- Season's best: British Open winner
I really think Murphy has a live chance this year at around 18/1.
It’s 21 year since he was world champion, beating Matthew Stevens with a spellbinding comeback, but he remains a deadly operator.
His attacking game is still extremely good, but his safety is so much better nowadays, and he’s reached three more Crucible finals since 2005.
His form has been excellent this season – he won the British Open early on – and there will be no excuses this time.
He such an attractive player to watch, and the fact that style of his doesn’t take a lot out of him is always in his favour if able to work his way into the second week.
Xiao Guodong (9)
- Recent World Championship record: DNQ/DNQ/DNQ/DNQ/R2
- Crucible best: x2 round two
- Season's best: Wuhan Open winner
Another tournament winner this season, Xiao going back-to-back at the Wuhan Open, and this is such an improved operator.
He's a really tough match-player now with all the tools to enjoy playing in long matches at a venue like the Crucible, and he didn't do a lot wrong when losing out in a titanic tussle with Higgins here last year.
It's hard to see him winning the title, with the suspicion he might not have the extra gear of some, but he'll be a tough match for anyone regardless.
Wu Yize (10)
- Recent World Championship record: DNQ/DNQ/R1/DNQ/R1
- Crucible best: x2 round one
- Season's best: International Championship winner
Wu is undoubtably one of the most talented players of the next generation, and we really shouldn't forget that he is still only 22 years of age.
He has so much potential, but there is a marked difference between his best and his worst – and that worries me in a tournament like this.
When he’s good, Wu is sensational. Almost unstoppable. But when he’s bad, he can be very bad.
He has a long backswing and when all the moving parts of his technique aren’t in sync, we’ve seen him struggle.
Consistency is his issue, and one really bad session at the Crucible can end your hopes.
Barry Hawkins (11)
- Recent World Championship record: R2/R1/DNQ/R1/R1
- Crucible best: 2013 runner-up
- Season's best: Welsh Open winner
Hawkins does what he always does and he's enjoyed another solid campaign.
I was delighted to see him win at the Welsh Open, and he's held his form well throughout.
In terms of becoming world champion, I fear his chance might have gone having lost to O'Sullivan in the final back in 2013, and his more recent record at the Crucible is nowhere near as strong as it used to be.
Interestingly, Hawkins was one of the few players to come out and question whether the planned Crucible expansion and confirmation the venue will keep the World Championship long term is actually good news.
Maybe his love affair with the old place isn't as strong as it once was.
Ronnie O’Sullivan (12)
- Recent World Championship record: R2/W/QF/QF/SF
- Crucible best: x7 winner
- Season's best: x2 finals
O’Sullivan is the 12th seed this year, but of the Class of 92, he’d still be my pick in Sheffield.
He’s not played a great deal of snooker this season, but when he have seen him he’s demonstrated that he can still do it.
He started the season by knocking in two 147 maximum breaks on the way to reaching a big final in Saudi Arabia, and warmed up for Sheffield with his record-breaking 153 and another final at the World Open.
But for meeting an inspired Thepchaiya Un-Nooh on that occasion, he would have picked up another ranking title, and I wouldn’t have many form concerns on what we saw there.
Even a below-par O’Sullivan was able to reach the semi-finals here last year, and he’s got to be in the mix when drawing up a shortlist of potential winners.
Interestingly, he needs one more world title to make it a perfect 8-8-8 in the Triple Crown events, and this could conceivably be his last realistic chance.
Chris Wakelin (13)
- Recent World Championship record: R1/R1/DNQ/DNQ//QF
- Crucible best: x3 round one
- Season's best: Scottish Open winner
Wakelin played very well here last year, knocking out Neil Robertson and Mark Allen and playing some terrific snooker in doing so.
He ran out of puff against Zhao in what was a moderate match, and I do wonder if that might be the case again with this intense character who puts so much into his performances.
I could see him being an dangerous opponent for anyone again, but would just question whether his game will prove as strong in the second week, should he get that far.
Mark Allen (14)
- Recent World Championship record: R2/R2/SF/R2/R2
- Crucible best: x2 semi-finals
- Season's best: English Open winner
Yet again, Allen arrives in Sheffield having won a tournament this season – this time the English Open.
He came through a host of deciding frames in that tournament, all from behind, and that sums up what a tough nut he has become over the years.
The concern would be that his snooker has become something of a struggle, and he's said as much himself, perhaps down to the fact he's tried to rebuild his cue action.
For my money, Allen is an instinct player with his own natural way of playing and cueing.
I think his confidence has suffered from all the work he's tried to put into his technique, and that can sometimes mean he takes the cautious approach rather than relying on his break-building which was always such a strength.
I'd love to see him get back to that.
Si Jiahui (15)
- Recent World Championship record: DNQ/DNQ/SF/R2/QF
- Crucible best: 2023 semi-final
- Season's best: x2 quarter-finals
Si looks vulnerable to me.
He was a breath of fresh air in 2023 when enjoying a dream run to the semi-finals, but he held a huge lead over Luca Brecel in that match and couldn't capitalise on a golden opportunity.
He looked such a dangerous player, and a brilliant prospect, but I don't see improvement in his game.
He's still only very young, of course, but he's much like the aforementioned Wu in that his best is very good and his worst sees him struggle badly.
I'd be surprised were he to bounce back this year, and his place in the top 16 does look in big danger.
Ding Junhui (16)
- Recent World Championship record: R1/R1/R1/R1/R2
- Crucible best: 2016 runner-up
- Season's best: x3 quarter-finals
Ding has been fortunate to sneak in as the final automatic qualifier, and it certainly looked at one stage like he might be overtaken by a number of players snapping at his heels.
That didn't happen, and I do wonder if the pressure might be off this year.
For so long, Ding was the one carrying the hopes of China and expected to deliver the nation its first world champion.
With Zhao having beat him to it, and a number of other Chinese players overtaking him in the rankings, there's hope that he might view this year as a free shot and try to enjoy it more.
I'm not convinced that has always been the case with Ding, and while I doubt this will be the year for him, he does generally raise his game for the biggest events.