2018 World Snooker Championship The win came 15 years after Williams' second world title in 2003 and he became, at the age of 43, the second oldest winner at the Crucible. Three-time world champion Mark Selby had won the title for the previous two years but lost in the first round 4–10 to Joe Perry. The 2018 World Snooker Championship was held on 21 April to 7 May 2018 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. This was the 42nd consecutive year that the tournament was held at the Crucible, and the 50th consecutive year the championship was contested through the modern knockout format.
2016 World Snooker Championship frames were shared until Selby won the final two frames to win the match 17–15. The 32nd frame also lasted more than an hour. Ding Junhui was the first qualifier to contest the final since Judd Trump was beaten by John Higgins in 2011. The Chinese player also became the first Asian finalist at the Crucible, and the match drew a peak television audience of over 42 million in China on CCTV-5. In the first session of the final, Mark Selby took a 6–0 lead, before Ding won the last two frames of the session to leave Selby 6–2 ahead.