The Crucible Theatre: Home of Snooker Quiz

Answer: John Spencer

Before the Crucible Theatre became the annual host of the snooker world championship the event was held at different locations. In 1977 John Spencer beat Cliff Thorburn in the final (25-21) to become the first 'Crucible' world champion. Spencer had already won the world championship twice before (1969 and 1971).

Ray Reardon won the world championship the next year, his sixth and final title. He had won the title before in 1970 and from 1973 till 1976 when it was held at other venues.

John Pulman was knocked out by Spencer in the semi-finals. He was world champion from 1957 till 1968. In those years the champion was crowned in a vastly different way than today. Pulman won a knock-out tournament with only four contestants in 1957 and could hold on to his title for so long because the world championship wasn't held between 1958 and 1963. From 1964 till 1968 the world champion had to defend his title in a series matches where he was challenged by various opponents. Pulman won all seven of those challenge matches until the knock-out system was reintroduced in 1969.

Answer: Terry Griffiths

After beating two opponents in qualifying matches Terry Griffiths went on to the final where he beat Dennis Taylor 24-16. He became the first qualifier to win the world championship and the first to win in his debut year at the Crucible Theatre. It was his first and only world championship title. He reached the final again in 1988 but lost out to Steve Davis 18-11.

Doug Mountjoy and Cliff Wilson are both Welsh former professional snooker players.

Answer: Alex Higgins

Alex Higgins ("Hurricane Higgins") had already won the title ten years earlier, before the Crucible Theatre was the permanent host for the world championship. In the 1970s he was one of the best players, if not the best, but his urge to please the crowd and his high risk (fast) style of playing meant he often lost out to more tactical players.

In the 1982 world championship semi-final he beat Jimmy White in a game of the highest standards. In the final he beat Ray Reardon 18-15 to take his second, and last, title.

From then on it went steadily downhill for Higgins. His addiction to alcohol and gambling and his explosive personality got the better of him. More often than for his snooker he was in the news for his wild personal life and for getting in trouble with snooker officials. In 1990 he threatened to have Dennis Taylor shot and again assaulted an official, for which he was suspended for the next season. After the incident he appeared drunk at the press-conference where he announced his retirement from the sport. After he had sat out his suspension he continued to play though; the misbehaving continued as well.

By 1999 he was destitute and diagnosed with throat cancer. He went back to his hometown Belfast where he lived from exhibition tournaments, playing for small amounts of money. He managed to beat the cancer but in his weakened state he contracted pneumonia of which he died in 2010. Alex Higgins was nicknamed 'Hurricane Higgins' and sometimes 'the whirlwind' and will always be remembered as one of the great natural talents of the sport.

Answer: Cliff Thorburn

Thorburn made his maximum break in the second round match against Terry Griffiths. Thorburn won that match (13-12) and went on to reach the final, which he lost to Steve Davis (18-6).

Jimmy White made the second maximum break at the Crucible Theatre in 1992, in his first round match against Tony Drago.

Answer: Dennis Taylor defeated Steve Davis

It looked like it would be an easy win for Davis in the 1985 world championship as he won the first eight frames to take an 8-0 lead. Taylor took the next frame and then started an amazing comeback to trail 9-7. However, Davis kept the lead until he came within one frame of victory (17-15). Taylor took the next two to level 17-17.

In an unnerving final frame both players felt the tension and missed balls they wouldn't miss otherwise. Again Davis was in the lead all the time but couldn't make a winning break. Eventually the black ball was to decide the outcome of the final. Taylor took an amazing gamble trying to play a 'double' (potting the ball via the opposite cushion) but missed. After a couple of safety exchanges it looked like the title would go to Davis with a relatively easy cut in left bottom pocket but, surprisingly, Davis missed. Taylor came back to the table and finally potted the black to become the 1985 snooker world champion.

It was Taylor's one and only world championship. In 1986 Davis reached the final again, and lost again, this time to Joe Johnson. Davis won the next three years though. In total Steve Davis won the snooker world championship six times (1981, 1983-84 and 1987-89).

Answer: Hendry won ten frames in a row

With two more frames to play in the third session of the 1992 final White was leading Hendry 14-8. White lost the two remaining frames of that session but still had a comfortable 14-10 lead going into the fourth and final session. However, Hendry unleashed hell and played perfect snooker to win the next eight frames and pull of an astounding 14-18 victory.

White and Hendry had met before in the final, in 1990, when Hendry won 18-12 to win his first championship and become the youngest ever snooker world champion. They were to meet again in 1993 and 1994. White reached the final six times and lost them all. Apart from the four epic finals against Hendry he lost out to Steve Davis in 1984 (18-16) and to John Parrott in 1991 (18-11).

Answer: Black

White was leading the deciding frame 24-37 and only needed that black and 24 more points to win frame, match and championship. However White succumbed under pressure and missed the apparent easy black from its spot. Hendry came to the table to clean up and win his fourth title, dealing White with another heartbreaking defeat.

It was White's last appearance in a world championship final. Jimmy White is generally considered the best snooker player never to win the world championship. This probably makes the missed black ball in the '94 deciding frame the most significant miss in the history of snooker. Hendry went on to win seven world championships (1990, 1992-96 and 1999) and retired from the sport at the end of the 2012 season.

Answer: Ronnie O'Sullivan

Ronnie O'Sullivan made his lightning quick maximum break in the first round against Mick Price, whom he defeated 10-6. O'Sullivan couldn't hold on to this great form and lost in the second round against Darren Morgan (13-12). The 1997 world championship was won by Ken Doherty, who surprisingly defeated Stephen Hendry in the final (18-12).

Answer: Shaun Murphy

Shaun Murphy was the first qualifier to win the world championship since Terry Griffiths' victory in 1979. However, unlike Griffiths he didn't win it at his first attempt as he had already qualified twice before (2002 and '03, two first round knock-outs). On his way to the final he defeated four seeded players: Chris Small, John Higgins, Steve Davis and Peter Ebdon.

He played Matthew Stevens in the final, who was the clear favourite. But not even Stevens could stop Murphy from winning 16-18.

Answer: John Higgins

John Higgins had already won the world championship three times (1998, 2007 and 2009) when he was accused of accepting a bribe to drop four frames in four separate tournaments. These allegations were made by an undercover 'News of the World' journalist who posed as a promoter in Kiev, Ukraine. The story was published on the day of the 2010 world championship final. Higgins was suspended immediately but claimed he was innocent and had just played along out of fear he was approached by the Russian maffia.

Eventually he was exonerated from accepting a bribe but found guilty of giving the impression he was breaching the rules and failing to report the incident. For this he was given a six month ban and a fine of £75,000. After he had sat out his suspension Higgins came back in style and won the world championship for the fourth time, beating Judd Trump 18-15 in the final.

Alan McManus and Graeme Dott are two other Scottish professional snooker players. Dott won the world championship in 2006. Mark Williams is a Welsh snooker player and the world champion of 2000 and 2003.