Crucible touching distance away for Irish hopefuls but the bar gets higher

The World Snooker Championship qualifiers begin in Sheffield on Monday. Fergal O’Brien and  Aaron Hill are at different ends of their careers, but getting to the Crucible still means everything. 

Aaron Hill of Ireland during the 2023 Cazoo World Championship 2023 Qualifiers at English Institute of Sport. Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images

Ten minutes in a car, down streets flanked most of the way by the River Don on one side and the Sheffield & Tinsley Canal on the other, is all it takes to get from the World Snooker Academy at the English Institute of Sport in the city’s traditional east end to the iconic Crucible Theatre.

This is the distance 128 players, including 16 invited amateurs, look to cover when the World Championship qualifiers get underway at the ‘EIS’ on Monday. The ‘Home of Snooker’ is a lot closer for these hopefuls than in the days when the qualifiers were held in Prestatyn in north Wales but it can still feel like light years away.