Latest news with #2025WorldSnookerChampionship
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
World Snooker Championship Post Event Analysis 2025: BBC Secures Snooker Broadcasting Rights Until 2032 in Landmark Deal Extension
Explore the record-breaking 2025 World Snooker Championship, featuring insights into its sponsorships, broadcasting milestones, and attendance. With 29M streams across BBC platforms and a renewed BBC rights deal until 2032, the championship highlights its growing popularity in the UK snooker scene. Dublin, June 10, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Post Event Analysis - World Snooker Championship 2025" report has been added to analysis of the recent 2025 World Snooker Championship, including a look at its sponsorship portfolio, broadcasters, attendance and the UK, the 2025 World Snooker Championship achieved a record-breaking 29 million streams across the BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website, and BBC Sport app. The tournament achieved a cumulative television reach of 12.6 million viewers across BBC One, BBC Two, and BBC Four in the UK. At the beginning of 2025, the World Snooker Tour renewed its long-running rights deal with the BBC, the UK public-service broadcaster, until 2032. The five-year deal extension ensures that the World Snooker Tour's flagship 'Triple Crown' events (the World Championship, the UK Championship, and the Masters) remain free-to-air across the UK. UK-based television sports production and media company Sunset+Vine announced in 2024 that it will be the new official production partner for the BBC's snooker coverage. This deal runs through 2027; no production partner has signed for BBC's five-year deal through to 2032 to 2025 World Snooker Championship had an estimated sponsorship revenue of $1.71 million. The 2025 World Snooker Championship's largest agreed partnership in terms of annual value is the tournament's deal with Halo, the workflow automation software company, which served as the competition's title sponsor. The deal is worth an estimated $1 million annually. Nongfu Spring, the mineral water supplier, have been a partner of the World Snooker Tour since 2023-2024 and the partnership has been agreed to continue through the 2024-25 season. The deal covers the Triple Crown Series and the Welsh Open only. Star Xing Pai, the snooker table manufacturer, have served as an official supplier of the World Snooker Tour since 2009 and the partnership has been confirmed to continue through the 2024-2025 2025 World Snooker Championship saw a total prize money of £2,395,000 ($3,195,624). The winner, Zhao Xintong, took home a prize of £500,000 ($667,249), with the runner-up, Mark Williams, claiming £200,000 ($266,899).? Mark Allen won the prize for the tournament's highest break at the Crucible received a bonus of £15,000 ($20,015). He achieved the only 147 of the year's championship and the 15th maximum break ever witnessed at the venue. In comparison to other snooker tournaments, the winner of the Saudi Arabia Masters also receives £500,000 ($667,249), whilst the winner of the Masters received £350,000 ($467,608). Company Coverage: Halo Midnite Nongfu Spring WSP Textiles Star Xing Pai Key Topics Covered: 1. Event Introduction Executive Summary Introduction 2. Media Landscape World Snooker Championship 2025 Viewership and Domestic Media Rights World Snooker Championship 2025 Broadcasters Breakdown 3. Sponsorship Landscape World Snooker Championship 2025 Sponsorship Portfolio World Snooker Championship 2025 Sponsorship Breakdown 4. Prize Money World Snooker Championship 2025 Prize Money Breakdown 5. Attendance and Ticketing World Snooker Championship 2025 Ticketing Breakdown World Snooker Championship 2025 Attendance Breakdown For more information about this report visit About is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends. CONTACT: CONTACT: Laura Wood,Senior Press Manager press@ For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./ CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900Sign in to access your portfolio
Wales Online
04-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Wales Online
Hazel Irvine's shock secret wedding to mystery husband and baby at 43
Hazel Irvine's shock secret wedding to mystery husband and baby at 43 The presenter is fronting the BBC's coverage of the World Snooker Championship final between Mark Williams and Zhao Xintong Irvine is one of the most respected presenters in the business The 2025 World Snooker Championship is nearing its conclusion, with Mark Williams and Zhao Xintong battling it out in the final at the Crucible Theatre. Sunday's opening session saw Zhao race into a commanding lead, blowing three-time world champion Williams away and ending the session 7-1 up. The 28-year-old is playing as an amateur after being banned from snooker for 20 months following a match-fixing scandal, but could now become the first ever Chinese world champion if he can continue his fine form at the table. The final, which will conclude on Monday, is being shown live on the BBC - with presenter Hazel Irvine fronting the coverage as she has done right throughout the tournament. The 59-year-old is one of the most recognisable and respected sports presenters in the business, with her broadcasting career stretching back nearly 40 years. Having excelled at sport - namely golf, netball and athletics - at university, Irvine began her career on the radio, before moving to Scottish Television and later becoming a sports reporter for the network. She went on to co-host ITV's coverage of the 1988 Olympics and reported from the Scotland football team's training camp during the 1990 World Cup in Italy, before moving to the BBC in the same year and taking up the role of presenter for BBC Scotland's Sportscene programme. Article continues below Since the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, she has been a constant fixture for the broadcaster, covering nine Summer Games, five Winter Olympics, six Commonwealth Games and four FIFA World Cups. She has led the BBC's coverage of the Triple Crown snooker tournaments - the World Championship, the Masters and the UK Championship - since 2002 and also covered golf for the broadcaster for 25 years, as well as some non-sporting presenting roles. However, despite her remarkable and well-documented career, little is known about Irvine's personal life, with the St Andrews-born presenter managing to keep it out of the spotlight. In fact, when she got married in 2008, it came as a complete shock to fans - with the identity of her husband still unknown. It was first reported months after the event that Irvine had tied the knot with her mystery partner in a private ceremony in Scotland , with only close family and friends in attednance. The presenter had sparked marriage rumours when she presented coverage of The Open at Loch Lomond wearing a ring, with her agent later releasing a statement confirming the news. "I can confirm that she married her long-term partner a few months ago," the statement read. "It was a small and very private affair, and she and her husband are very happy. She wants to keep all the details private." The following year, the couple welcomed a daughter together but, again, her name has never been disclosed publicly. Irvine - who was 43 when she gave birth - had announced the news while at a charity sports quiz in London, telling the audience she had her "own credit crunch looming". Article continues below She added: "My clothes are already feeling the squeeze. My husband and I have a new arrival coming in the spring - which is going to be a drain on my own profits." In an interview with MailOnline five years later, she said the birth of her daughter was the thing that "altered the course of her life and character", as she explained: "I'm 48 now so having her quite late was truly fantastic. The greatest gift has been rediscovering the world through her eyes."
Wales Online
04-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Wales Online
Stephen Hendry's huge net worth, actress girlfriend and brutal split from 'devastated' ex-wife
Stephen Hendry's huge net worth, actress girlfriend and brutal split from 'devastated' ex-wife The snooker legend is part of the BBC commentary team for the 2025 World Championship final Hendry and his partner Lauren Thundow It's the final of the 2025 World Snooker Championship, with Mark Williams and Zhao Xintong going head-to-head for the title. Welshman Williams is in the hunt for his fourth world title, having become the oldest player in the tournament's history to reach the final after beating world number one Judd Trump in the semi-finals. Meanwhile, Zhao could become the first amateur to win the title in the Crucible era, as well as the first ever Chinese world champion, having returned to the sport last year following a lengthy ban. The final, which started on Sunday afternoon and will conclude on Monday, is being shown on the BBC with a panel of expert pundits and commentators casting their eye over the action. Among them is Scottish snooker legend Stephen Hendry, who knows a thing or two about winning World Championships having won seven of them over the course of his illustrious career, sharing the record with Ronnie O'Sullivan. One of the most successful players in the sport's history, he won a total of 36 ranking titles - including five consecutive Masters titles between 1989 and 1993 - and spent nine seasons as world number one. However, while Hendry will go down in history as one of the all-time snooker greats for his performances at the table, the 56-year-old has seen his personal life make headlines in recent years. From his "devastating" split from his ex-wife to moving on with an actress nearly 20 years younger than him, here's what you need to know. Article continues below Huge net worth Hendry turned professional aged just 16 and spent the next 27 years at the top of the sport, before coming out of retirement in 2020 and spending another four years competing. His illustrious, trophy-laden career saw him bank £5.6 million in prize money, winning £530,000 in the 1994/95 season - the equivalent of around £1.35 million today. Unsurprisingly then, the 56-year-old has an estimated net worth of around £13.5 million. Girlfriend ban After bursting onto the scene as a teenager, Hendry saw his first manager, Ian Doyle, take him under his wing. While Doyle helped to shape a future champion, however, he often gave the Scottish star "the hairdryer treatment", handing out some harsh telling-offs and even banning him from seeing his girlfriend at the time. Hendry had started dating Amanda Tart after they met at Pontins when he was 16, and they went on to get married in 1995. However, in the early days of their relationship, Doyle disapproved and feared that she would distract him from his snooker career. 'I often got the hairdryer treatment in the dressing rooms,' Hendry told The Times. 'He'd come in and say, 'You're f***ing useless, you've not practised this week, you're lazy'. 'In the early days, when I was dating my ex-wife, she lived down south and he said things like, 'You think you're going to see her next month? No you're not'. "It was pretty full on," he added. We followed the same mould as Steve [Davis] and Barry Hearn. I didn't socialise with other players. I was there to win.' However, Hendry and Amanda's relationship continued and they married shortly after he won his fifth world title, before having two sons - Blaine and Carter - together. But the snooker star later admitted in an interview on The Tommy Tiernan Show that he hasn't been the father he would have liked to have been to his children, due to the nature of his job. 'No, I probably haven't been the best, because in sport I think you make sacrifices to get to the top," he said. 'Family and relationships can be difficult and can be sacrificed because I was all about being the best in snooker and snooker was all that mattered. 'So that makes you a very selfish person and I think it takes that sort of special person to get to the top in an individual sport. When you look at most top sportsmen who have dominated sports, most of them pretty much all are divorced or have been divorced.' Brutal split from 'devastated' ex-wife In fact, Hendry went on to get divorced from Amanda in 2014, following 19 years of marriage. The snooker ace revealed in his autobiography, Me and The Table, how he told his wife their marriage was over after confessing to having feelings for someone else, admitting she was left "devastated" by the bombshell decision. "Driving back from a shopping trip, my wife Mandy asks me what's wrong," he wrote. "She assumes it's money-related. I tell her it isn't. Then she tells me to stop the car, saying that we're not going an inch further until I tell her what's going on. "So I do. I tell her that I have feelings for someone else. She is shocked and devastated." Hendry then moved on with children's entertainer and actress Lauren Thundow, who was just 26 when they met, with the Scottish star aged 45 at the time. Article continues below "I first met Lauren when she was selling merchandise after a Legends snooker exhibition," he explained in his autobiography. "She's attractive and we smile at each other but I think nothing of it. Gradually, we start to say, 'Hi', and share a bit of small talk. "I would never be one to go striding over to any woman who caught my eye – after all. I'm the person who got to know my wife's parents before I plucked up the courage to talk to her. As time goes on, we chat more often. It's becoming clear we have a connection."
Daily Mirror
04-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mirror
People are only just realising why snooker tables are green
The 2025 World Snooker Championship final awaits following two weeks of intense play on the tables at the Crucible, with a host of big names having failed to get to the latter stages The sporting world's gaze will be firmly fixed on the Crucible come Monday night - as the 2025 World Snooker Championship heads towards its electrifying finale. Every spring, Sheffield becomes the snooker capital, hosting the sport's brightest stars as they vie for the world champion title. In what is the biggest tournament in the sport, the two-week event signifies a surge in the sport's popularity, with snooker halls seeing their busiest period of the year. This could lead to newcomers trying their hand at the game, with novices learning the basics. And with an influx of new players, some fundamental aspects of the sport will be explained - including the most basic question of all 'why is a snooker table green? It's not lost on anyone that the baize resembles a sports field, despite snooker being an indoor sport. However, this wasn't always the case. Billiards was initially played outdoors, primarily by the affluent aristocracy, in a game that would bear a striking resemblance to croquet. King Louis XI of France is often hailed for bringing the game of billiards inside, and it's claimed he was the first proud owner of a pool table. This transition from the great outdoors to indoor comfort was a hit, with the green 'lawn' themed tables becoming a staple as the outdoor version faded into obscurity. Yet there's another intriguing slice of snooker lore which attributes the uniform green of today's tables to a rather colourful episode in the 1870s. Back then, so the story goes, tables came in various hues – with an especially jarring shade of orange that proved quite a sight after a lengthy spell at the baize. The vivid orange not only caused eye strain but also made it tough for players to follow the balls, and on occasion, sparked contention. Such was the case during an 1871 face-off between Arthur Terry and Riland Metcalfe, when a disagreement over ball tracking turned nasty, resulting in Terry being arrested for "occasioning violent harm" against Metcalfe. Though Terry faced judgment for the clash, he allegedly avoided punishment when the presiding judge conceded the table's colour was partly to blame. The magistrate is said to have suggested "henceforth the cause of harmonious play would be advanced if the snooker tables were manufactured in standard green, giving strong contrast to the red of the ball." This rationale definitely holds water, seeing as the green felt offers adequate distinction from the red balls. Assuredly a point to consider for any aspiring Ronnie O'Sullivan wondering why they missed that seemingly straightforward pot.
Daily Mirror
03-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mirror
People are only just realising why snooker players tap their middle finger on the table
The 2025 World Snooker Championship is about to reach its climax – but have you ever wondered why the game's top stars tap their middle finger on the table when they're lining up a shot? Snooker fans are finally realising why the game's top players decide to tap their middle finger on the green baize before taking a shot. It's a habit that fans of the sport have long become accustomed to over the years, though plenty don't actually realise the reason behind it. In the midst of the 2025 World Snooker Championship, it has become a topic of conversation on social media. What is accepted as the main reason behind the routine mostly surrounds the player's bridge hand, otherwise known as the non-cue holding hand, when they line up a shot. Tapping the finger on the table is said to provide stabilisation for the bridge hand, allowing the player to have a more stable cue when pulling the trigger on a shot. There have been other reasons put forward, including the tapping of the middle finger being a movement that a player does without any conscious awareness or control. Some have also said that it allows for the player's hand possessing the cue to loosen up. One player who has been known to make cue adjustments when planning a shot is 2019 world champion Judd Trump. The 35-year-old - who is currently the world number one - has been spotted aiming his cue in a different direction before straightening it when making initial contact with the ball. The theories don't stop there, with another portion of people believing the tapping helps prevent 'snatching' - a mistake that players make by striking the cue ball too quickly. The taps on the table help players introduce a brief pause before hitting the ball with one expert explaining the approach in the YouTube video 'Snooker Technique Secret Tips 2023'. "If I get used to tapping the table a few times at the end of my backswing, that guarantees that I can't strike the ball before I finish doing this, so there's going to be a pause," they said. Snooker icon Terry Griffiths was said to have described the tapping as a bad habit, as one commentator on The Snooker Forum explained. They wrote: "Terry Griffiths has said it's a bad habit and no one should try to do it deliberately just to look good as it's a fault in your game (albeit a small one) that shouldn't be there." Ultimately there are many possible reasons why players choose to tap their finger on the baize as they line up a shot. And two more will most likely be adopting the slightly puzzling technique as the World Championship final takes place across the weekend.
