This year’s Betfred World Championship was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic but snooker fans can still tune in to see a virtual version of the sport’s biggest tournament.
The virtual event will be run on the original tournament dates using snooker commercial rights owner World Snooker’s official video game Snooker 19.
Taking place at a simulated Crucible Theatre, 16 of Snooker 19’s top players, each representing one of snooker’s actual elite top 16, will compete for the title between April 18 and May 4.
All matches will be streamed on the WST (World Snooker Tour) YouTube and Facebook channels, and tournament participants will be seeded according to the current world rankings, with the draw as follows:
Judd Trump (1) v Yan Bingtao (16)
Kyren Wilson (8) v Shaun Murphy (9)
Mark Allen (5) v Jack Lisowski (12)
John Higgins (4) v Stuart Bingham (13)
Mark Williams (3) v Stephen Maguire (14)
Ronnie O’Sullivan (6) v David Gilbert (11)
Mark Selby (7) v Ding Junhui (10)
Neil Robertson (2) v Barry Hawkins (15)
The line-up of Snooker 19 players to represent each of the top stars will be announced shortly, along with the schedule of matches.
The winner of the event will be invited to the Crucible during the real-world tournament to be presented with the Virtual Betfred World Championship trophy.