Nevertheless, the Head of the Steam comes an honourable second to World Snooker Tour for rip-off of the World Championship.
When Zhao Xintong beat Ronnie O’Sullivan with a session to spare on Friday, it meant Saturday afternoon’s semi-final session was lost, and almost a thousand paying customers left disappointed.
Dennis Taylor and Steve Davis were drafted in as replacements, attempting to reenact their famous black-ball final of 1985, but it was a poor second prize.
No refunds were offered by World Snooker Tour, not even half the ticket price, which left a sour taste. It often feels like paying customers, the ones who ultimately feed the game, don’t matter to those making the decisions.
This applies across sports, but were this a Test match in cricket, the public would’ve been refunded, that refund reduced depending on the amount of play that was possible through the course of the day.
Those unlucky fans on Saturday got nothing of what they paid for.
Mark Williams enjoyed a remarkable tournament and a tough one, too, coming through a number of close finishes.
His semi-final win over world number one Judd Trump would’ve been very satisfying, but his deciding-frame victory over John Higgins in the previous round tops the bill.
The match was pure Crucible. It started slowly, with neither player able to gain the upper hand, until the contest burst into life in the final session.
Williams made the first move, winning the first four frames of Wednesday morning to lead 12-8, only to watch Higgins mount a brilliant comeback.
It was no-miss snooker from Higgins who did something similar to Judd Trump in the quarter-finals of this event back in 2018, and he always appeared to be in control of the decider.
The fact this titanic tussle was being played out between two members of the Class of 92 made the moment even more special, and standing ovations from the Crucible crowd came at the beginning of every session and before the final frame.
The atmosphere in that famous old theatre was everything we’ve come to expect, and the chance to watch two of snooker’s great players doing battle in the swan song of their careers was something all us watching were grateful to have been given.
And what a grandstand finish they produced. Both men had their chances, but Higgins seemingly had the match won when potting the final brown to leave himself the blue along the top cushion for victory. Just roll it in.
But he didn’t, playing it at pace and rattling the jaws, and instead it was Williams who nervelessly potted the final three colours to seal a most dramatic win at the end of the most dramatic of contests.
Snooker – what a sport.
Everyone will have their favourites here, but mine is Mark Williams’ match-winning blue against John Higgins in the quarter-final I’ve already nominated as my match of the championship.
It comes back to context again, and having all but resigned himself to defeat, how Williams was able to stand up and roll in that blue with everything on the line defies belief.
It wasn’t just the pot, an incredibly thin cut across the nap of the table, it was the fact that he could do very little about a potential in-off in the middle pocket when the white rolled back off the opposite side cushion.
One of the main strengths of Williams has always been his bottle, and the fact he is able to go all-in when he needs to. I think all great players have that.
Williams knew he needed to back himself to pot the blue, something Higgins didn’t fully do when faced with match ball, trusting his talent and technique under the most intense pressure.
And that’s what he did. The blue went straight into the heart of the pocket and when the white avoided the middle pocket and landed perfectly on the pink, the match was done.
What a shot.
As the World Championship navigated the first week, we had thankfully heard very little about the Crucible not being fit for purpose, or why snooker must move its crown jewel to Saudi Arabia.
There was a real feel-good factor about the tournament, and Sheffield City Council must take plenty of credit for creating an almost party-like atmosphere around the venue.
A giant screen was erected directly opposite the Crucible, which was met by a huge astro-turf strip which ran all the way to the venue, initially acting as a type of green carpet on the press day so all the fans could watch the 16 seeds being interviewed by Rob Walker before they made their walk to the main building.
It was a terrific idea, and very-well supported by a huge number of fans who were able to have selfies with the players and autographs signed. I’ve been to a fair few of these press days now, and this was the best yet.
And then, that same area was turned into a big garden, with drinking benches and even deck chairs laid out in front of the big screen which showed all the snooker live for those without tickets for the Crucible itself.
When I made it back to Sheffield a few days later, the area was again packed out with people enjoying drinks and watching the sport in the sun. Snooker, as it should, had consumed Sheffield.
But, like a bad smell, Barry Hearn could not resist returning to the limelight before long, and he was back, parroting the same old line about Sheffield City Council forcing him to move the event and how the venue wasn’t good enough.
We get it, Barry. You want to take the World Championship away from all these people who love snooker dearly and visit Sheffield to watch some of the most brilliant sport imaginable so you can make more money.
You can slice it however you want, be it increased prized money, a bigger venue, more global reach, but when the dust settles, it all comes back to money and lining those deep pockets.
We get it. We really do. We’ve heard this record on repeat for a while now, and it’s boring. Most of us have come to accept that by 2028, the World Championship will be moved from the Crucible, likely to some vast, soulless venue thousands of miles from snooker's home, one which nobody really wants to play in for any other reason than to earn big money.
Yes, we understand. But for now, we want to enjoy what we’ve got, while we can. This wonderful, quirky venue, its unique atmosphere, and the iconic memories it creates. We want to enjoy this new garden, from where we can watch the snooker with a pint in the sun.
Do us a favour, Barry, for the next two years, just let us enjoy all that in peace. We’ve heard your story already, we know what’s coming. But until you eventually take it away from us for good, it's ours, and we intend on cherishing every moment of what’s left.
‘Two pints, please. Fourteen quid, you say? What a bargain.’