Trump takes on the Crucible curse

Year	Defending champion		Defence
1980	Terry Griffiths	R2	lost 10-13 to Steve Davis
1981	Cliff Thorburn	SF	lost 10-16 to Steve Davis
1982	Steve Davis	R1	lost 1-10 to Tony Knowles
1986	Dennis Taylor	R1	lost 6-10 to Mike Hallett
1987	Joe Johnson	F	lost 14-18 to Steve Davis
1991	Stephen Hendry	QF	lost 11-13 to Steve James
1992	John Parrott	QF	lost 12-13 to Alan McManus
1998	Ken Doherty	F	lost 12-18 to John Higgins
1999	John Higgins	SF	lost 10-17 to Mark Williams
2001	Mark Williams	R2	lost 12-13 to Joe Swail
2002	Ronnie O'Sullivan	SF	lost 13-17 to Stephen Hendry
2003	Peter Ebdon	QF	lost 12-13 to Paul Hunter
2006	Shaun Murphy	QF	lost 7-13 to Peter Ebdon
2007	Graeme Dott	R1	lost 7-10 to Ian McCulloch
2011	Neil Robertson	R1	lost 8-10 to Judd Trump
2015	Mark Selby	R2	lost 9-13 to Anthony McGill
2016	Stuart Bingham	R1	lost 9-10 to Ali Carter
2020	Judd Trump	QF	lost 9-13 to Kyren Wilson

JUDD TRUMP will take on Tom Ford - and the weight of history - as he belatedly begins the defence of his World Snooker title at the Crucible Theatre today. 

The 30-year-old Bristolian won his maiden world crown in Sheffield last May in a high-quality, century-laden Final against John Higgins.

But the tournament this year was scheduled for weeks in which the country was gripped most tightly in the clutches of the coronavirus - and so it was postponed on 20 March. 

Arguably, governing body World Snooker was actually a little slow to react to the extent of the crisis and the Gibraltar Open went ahead as scheduled in mid-March despite the withdrawal of several big-name players and some officials. 

Indeed, the shortage of match referees led to near-farcical scenes in which some matches were played without referees, with players respotting balls for their opponents.

Nevertheless, this strangest of events had a familiar conclusion as Trump beat rival Kyren Wilson 4-3 in the Final to win a record sixth ranking title of the season. 

For sure, Trump has only gone from strength to strength since taking the world title last year with his other ranking wins this season coming in the International Championship, the World Open, the Northern Ireland Open, the German Masters, and the Players Championship. 

It is no surprise then that, in the bookmakers' view, Trump starts as a strong favourite at 11/4 to retain his crown ahead of Ronnie O'Sullivan (4/1) and Neil Robertson (13/2).

But, with not a huge amount of snooker played since lockdown, this edition of the World Snooker Championships promises to be even more unpredictable than usual. 

Trump faces another threat - that of the Crucible Curse which, for the past 42 years, has dictated that no first-time winner at the venue has gone on to retain the title. 

Joe Johnson in 1987 and Ken Doherty in 1998 have come closest to beating the Curse, reaching the Final before losing to Steve Davis and John Higgins respectively.

However, the fact that only Davis, Stephen Hendry, O'Sullivan, and Mark Selby have won back-to-back titles at the Sheffield venue shows just how difficult it is in general.

They all still fell victim to the Crucible Curse, of course - with Davis one of six first-time champions to be eliminated in their first match of the following year.

As such, Ford - despite his tough draw and failure to win on any of his previous three Crucible appearances - should not discount himself just yet, especially as he has already been able to hold his nerve in qualifying. 

Other highlights of the first round draw include what should be a fast-paced encounter between five-time champion O'Sullivan and Thailand's Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, both of whom average less than 17 seconds a shot.

Four-time champion Higgins - who has been runner-up in each of the last three years to Selby, Mark Williams and Trump - faces the Welsh Dragon, Matthew Stevens. 

Stevens knows exactly what Higgins has felt over the last few years, having lost both his appearances in Crucible finals in 2000 and 2005 - although he has not been a regular qualifier in recent times.

Two more players approaching veteran age - Williams and Alan McManus - have been paired together, while reigning UK champion Ding Junhui takes on Mark King and Masters champion Stuart Bingham faces Ashley Carty. 

Bingham is one of eight former champions in the draw along with Trump, Higgins, Williams, O'Sullivan, Selby, Robertson and Shaun Murphy. 

By contrast, world number 82 Carty, of Rotherham, is one of five Crucible debutants with his lowly ranking requiring him to come through three preliminary rounds. 

The other debutants are Elliot Slessor, Alexander Ursenbacher, Jordan Brown, and Jamie Clarke - who take on Yan Bingtao, former finalist Barry Hawkins, Selby, and Mark Allen respectively.

Gateshead-born Slessor flies the flag for Tyneside in the absence of Wallsend's Gary Wilson who was beaten by Ursenbacher as the Swiss number one ensures his nation becomes the 19th country to be represented in Crucible history. 

Meanwhile, Clarke - at 89, the lowest-ranked player in the draw - completed this year's line-up as he fended off a comeback from Sunny Akani to become the 16th, and final, qualifier.

The line-up is complete then - but there has already been a result with Kyren Wilson awarded a walkover victory over Anthony Hamilton who has withdrawn. 

Hamilton, who has severe asthma, had criticised the decision by World Snooker to allow 300 spectators to attend. 

"I am absolutely gutted not to be playing," said the Sheriff of Pottingham. "It is the best tournament and the Crucible is the home of snooker.

"It has been a really difficult decision for me. However, due to my health condition, after careful consideration I have decided not to play in the final stages."

If anything, O'Sullivan has been even more critical of the playing conditions, and likened him and his fellow professionals to" "lab-rats". 

O'Sullivan said: "I defy anybody if they have been keeping their distance from people for four months to say, oh right, now you've got to go into a room full of people - unless you have got a death wish, and some people have in many ways and they just don't care.

"So I totally respect where Anthony is coming from, and where other people are coming from - they want crowds in there, they want things back to normal. We have a choice - we don't have to go and play. We all run a bit of a risk.

"I have the option not to play but I've decided to play. Maybe with 5,000 fans I could see it's a bit of an income you're going to lose, but 200 fans, is it really?

"Maybe they have to start doing a test on crowds at some point and I've heard people say they're treating the snooker event a little bit like lab rats - you've got to start somewhere, start with snooker players.

"Less insurance to pay out for Anthony Hamilton than there is for Lewis Hamilton." 

For their part, World Snooker responded in a statement: “For the Betfred World Championship to be designated as the first indoor sporting event to be held with a crowd within the UK is a fantastic triumph for not only the World Snooker Tour but all of our partners. 

"Independent and government advisers will be on site supporting WST and Sheffield Theatres, observing and assisting in ensuring that the measures which we have put in place are effective.”

But, with the coronavirus continuing to wreak havoc across England and beyond, this will be a World Snooker Championship like no other.

As such, a wise old head like Higgins - who has seen it all before, good and bad - would seem like a solid enough bet to go one better than in the previous three years.