Crucible curse

The "Crucible curse" (also known as "The curse of the Crucible") refers to the fact that no first-time snooker world champion has retained his title the following year since the tournament moved to the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield in 1977.

The last player to successfully defend his first world title was John Pulman in 1964, when the championship was still decided by challenge matches,and the tournament had not yet moved to the Crucible Theatre. Since 1977, 15 world champions have experienced the curse, the most recent being Ali Carter at the 2012 World Snooker Championship.