The 2026 World Snooker Championship has reshaped itself dramatically over the past 96 hours, with John Higgins and Shaun Murphy stepping into the Crucible spotlight on Thursday for a semi-final neither would have been pencilled in for at the start of the tournament.
The lineup is the product of one of the most chaotic last-16 and quarter-final stretches in recent Sheffield memory. Ronnie O'Sullivan was knocked out in a 13-12 thriller by Higgins, Hossein Vafaei stunned Judd Trump 13-12 with a 91 break in the deciding frame, and Murphy ended defending champion Zhao Xintong's title defence in their quarter-final to extend the Crucible curse for another year.
By Thursday morning, the £500,000 winner's cheque sits within touching distance of every player still alive in the draw. The total prize fund of £2,395,000 was always going to find new homes after such a brutal opening fortnight, but few would have predicted the names left fighting for it.
Higgins, a four-time world champion, arrives in the semi-finals on the back of an extraordinary recovery against O'Sullivan in the round of 16. The Scot trailed 9-4 before reeling off six consecutive frames and firing three centuries in a single day, ultimately winning a final-frame decider in a contest both players described as one of the great Crucible matches.
Murphy, the 2005 world champion, has played some of his most controlled snooker of the year en route to the last four. He has spoken extensively in recent weeks about discipline and standards in the sport, and his deep run gives those comments added platform. He defeated Zhao in three sessions of attritional snooker that exposed the defending champion's lack of one-visit rhythm.
On the other side of the draw, Wu Yize, who beat Mark Selby 13-11 in the round of 16 and Vafaei in the quarter-finals, remains in contention to become the second consecutive Chinese world champion. The 22-year-old has played with the kind of carefree freedom that often marks the breakthrough Crucible runs of newcomers.
Mark Allen, Barry Hawkins and Neil Robertson are also among those still alive heading into the closing days. Allen, the 2024 finalist, has been described by some pundits as the most reliable scorer left in the field, while Hawkins offers the kind of safety-game expertise that often becomes decisive in best-of-33 and best-of-35 marathons.
The 2026 tournament has been remarkable for the absences as much as the presences. With O'Sullivan, Trump and Zhao all gone, three of the four most-quoted pre-tournament favourites have departed before the semi-finals. The fourth, Mark Allen, may now find himself the highest-profile remaining survivor depending on how the lower bracket settles.
The semi-finals are best of 33, played over three sessions, and historically reward the player who can keep their concentration through the long sessions when frames slip away in heartbeats. Higgins has won four world titles in such conditions; Murphy has been a finalist three times. Both men know what is required to handle the Crucible's particular grind.
The final, a best of 35 played over four sessions, runs on May 3 and 4. Whoever lifts the trophy will inscribe a name that, six days ago, would have been considered an outside bet. That is the way the 2026 World Snooker Championship has gone, and there is no reason to expect it to slow down now.
