The 2021 World Championship qualifiers at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield is set to begin. Here is an exciting preview of the competition.

The 2021 World Championship qualifiers this year a round of qualifying matches that will determine who will participate in the upcoming 2021 World Championship. The snooker tournament will take place from the 17th of April to the 3rd of May 2021 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. This will be the 45th successive year that the World Snooker Championship will be held at the Crucible Theatre. The main event will also be the final ranking event of the 2020/21 snooker season.

It has not been up to a year after Ronnie O’Sullivan won the World Championship and claimed a sixth world title. Now, the qualification will commence on Monday for the World Championship. The qualification will witness two of the biggest names in the history of the snooker back in the spotlight.

52-year-old Scottish snooker legend, and seven-time title winner, Stephen Hendry will make his second appearance since coming out of retirement in September 2020.

Hendry, who won his first world title in 1990 at the age of 21, is the youngest-ever World Champion. He will face an old enemy Jimmy White at the English Institute of Sport for the first time in a ranking event. The last time they met was when he beat the Whirlwind 9-8 at the last-32 stage of the 2010 UK Championship.

There will be 128 players participating in the qualifying rounds of the tournament. The participants will comprise of professional and invited amateur players, and only will reach the main stage of the tournament where they will play the top 16 players in the snooker world rankings.

Ronnie O’Sullivan is currently the defending champion. In 2020, he won his sixth world title when he defeated Kyren Wilson 18–8 in the final.

The total prize fund of the event is £2,395,000, from which the winner receives £500,000.

Written by: Collins Nwokolo