The Crucible Keeps World Championship

Following talks between World Snooker, Sheffield City Council and the Yorkshire Tourist Board, the World Snooker Championship will continue to be held at The Crucible in Sheffield until 2014.

World Snooker’s deal with the Sheffield  was  due to expire after the 2010 event, which is occurring at present.

Staged at the theatre since 1977, the tournament looked as though it might move to China after officials had been pushing for a location switch.

Although it has been agreed that the tournament will stay in Sheffield for the next five years, the contract extension does not put a move of out of the question in the future.

World Snooker chairman Sir Rodney Walker said that the championship could be held in China or Dubai in the years to come, claiming that officials from the east were ‘very serious’ in their interest to take the championship off of Sheffield’s hands.