Seven-time world champion, the legendary Stephen Hendry has announced that he will not participate in the qualifiers for the Crucible World Championship. However, there are important names on the list who will have to earn their right to be on the main commission of the competition.

Stephen Hendry out, Neil Robertson and Stuart Bingham to feature in WC Snooker 2024 qualifier

Stephen Hendry stayed away from snooker for 9 years and his retirement from the sport was final. However, he wanted to feel the festive atmosphere in the Crucible, and he associated the return only with participation in the World Cup.

The 55-year-old Scot competed in the Crucible 2023 qualifiers, but his performance fell short of expectations and Hendry failed to make the main draw.

This year everything will be easier: involved in all kinds of projects, Stephen has made it clear that he has no time for training and he will not participate in the World Snooker Championship qualifiers.

“I will not participate in the World Cup qualification this year. They start the day after the Tour Championship ends, and I’ll have a lot of TV work all week.

Thus, there will be practically no time for study. Besides, I haven’t had much time to train lately, I’ve been busy with several projects.

I have a lot of work to do between the Tour Championship and the World Championship, so I won’t be competing this year” – Stephen Hendry for Eurosport.

This year’s Crucible Qualifiers will feature the biggest names in world snooker.

2010 World Champion Neil Robertson will have to play through qualifying (the final round) to get into the Crucible main draw.

At the age of 42, the Australian first climbed to the top of the world in September 2010. He also managed to make a career-high 5 breaks (147 points).

Another world champion who will have to play in the qualification is Stuart Bingham. The 47-year-old Englishman became the world champion at the 2015 competition. He has 9 maximum breaks in his career, and the highest in the world ranking was 2 (in May 2015).

Other notable names to play in the 2024 World Cup Qualifiers: Anthony McGill, Jack Lisowski, Tepchaiya Un-Nu, Hossein Wafai, Ryan Day, Zhou Yuelong, Dominic Dale, Ricky Walden, Stephen Maguire, Liu Haotian, David Gilbert, Joe Perry or Graham Dott.

The World Snooker Championship will take place from April 20 to May 6 in Sheffield at the Crucible Theatre.

The champion in the title is the Belgian Luca Bresel, who won the title at the 2023 competition.

How will it be played at the World Cup

• The first round matches will be played on a “best of 19 frames” basis. The second round will be best of 25 frames, the same as the quarters.

• In the semi-finals, the winner will be determined by the “best of 33 shots” system. Finally, in the grand final, the winner will be determined after the “best of 35 frames”.

How it will be in the final

• There will be 8 frames in the first session of the final. The second session will consist of 9 frames, the third of 8 frames. Finally, the final session will have a maximum of 10 frames (may or may not all be played, depending on the score on the table).