World Snooker Championship 40th Anniversary show - the Crucible, Sheffield

To mark the 40th anniversary of the World Snooker Championships being held at the Crucible in Sheffield there was a gathering of players past and present for a BBC 'special' on the eve of the 2017 event.

Shaun Murphy, Ronnie O'Sullivan, John Higgins, John Parrott, Mark Selby, Joe Johnson

 Dennis Taylor enjoying a retake of his 1985 black ball win

 Cliff Thorburn has a couple of practices on the yellow ball that he faced when compiling the first ever televised 147 break at the Championships in 1983.

 He lines up for his 'real' (third) go...

 In it goes...

 ...to the delight of the crowd...

 ...and to Cliff himself.

 Councillor Julie Dore, leader of Sheffield City Council, and Barry Hearn, head of World Snooker, sign the agreement which will keep the World Championships in Sheffield until 2027.

 Ray Reardon embraces pupil Ronnie O'Sullivan

A gathering of past champions and players from this year's tournament

The 'green carpet' at the 2017 Betfred Snooker World Championships

To mark the 40th anniversary of the World Snooker Championships being held at the Crucible in Sheffield, the green carpet was rolled out to welcome players past and present to a special 40th Anniversary show at the theatre that has been 'home' to snooker since 1977.

 Ray Reardon and Terry Griffiths

 Dennis Taylor and Cliff Thorburn

 Ken Doherty and Steve Davis

 Stephen Hendry

 Ryan Day and Xiao Guodong

 Ryan Day

 Anthony McGill and Stephen Maguire

 Ronnie O'Sullivan and (in the background) Gary Wilson

 Jimmy Robertson and Mark Allen

 Ali Carter and Graeme Dott

Noppon Saengkham and Neil Robertson

 Luca Brecel (doing a good job of keeping Marco Fu hidden behind him)

 Barry Hawkins and Tom Ford

 John Higgins and Martin Gould

 Yan Bingtao and Shaun Murphy

 Zhou Yuelong and Ding Junhui

 A selfie with Ding Junhui

 Stuart Bingham and Peter Ebdon

 Judd Trump and Rory McLeod

 Mark Selby and Fergal O'Brien

The Top 16 Snooker players gather at the Crucible

In a scene reminisent of last year, the day before the 2017 Betfred Snooker World Championship gets underway, the Top 16 players gathered for a photo call before the press conference that started the tournament.

Gathered together were: Mark Selby, Ryan Day, Neil Robertson, Marco Fu, Shaun Murphy, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Liang Wenbo, Ding Junhui, Stuart Bingham, Kyren Wilson, Mark Allen, John Higgins, Barry Hawkins, Ali Carter, Anthony McGill, Judd Trump

World's top 16 Snooker players at the Crucible

Friday 15th April 2016 - for the first time ever, the world's top 16 snooker players gathered together at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield for a press conference in advance of the World Snooker Championships.

Mark Selby, Stuart Bingham, Shaun Murphy, Neil Robertson, Judd Trump, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Mark Allen, John Higgins, Ricky Walden, Joe Perry, Barry Hawkins, Martin Gould, Mark Williams, Marco Fu, Michael White, Stephen Maguire - all in place on the stairs at the Crucible.