There is less than a week left until the start of the 2025 World Snooker Championship, so let’s look at the seeds in the main draw this year.
Each of the seeds will have aspirations of going all the way to glory in what is the 49th edition at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.
Yesterday, we began this mini four-part series with those who are ranked from 13th to 16th, but let’s focus our attention today on the seeds from 9th to 12th in the field.
12th Seed: Zhang Anda
Zhang Anda hasn’t had a disastrous season, but he hasn’t been able to replicate the same level that he produced during the last term.
One of a record four Chinese seeds in the 2025 World Snooker Championship draw, Zhang only has two quarter-final appearances in ranking events to show for his efforts this term.
Because of this, last season’s International Championship winner was unable to qualify for both the Players and Tour Championships through the one-year list.
It means he’ll be coming to Sheffield with not much recent snooker until his belt, which could be good news for the qualifier he faces in the last 32.
In four previous appearances at the Crucible Theatre, Zhang has never made it beyond the opening hurdle.
If he can break that duck and reach the last 16 for the first time in his career, the 33 year-old could potentially meet Ronnie O’Sullivan.
Whether the Rocket actually turns up to play is another matter entirely, of course.
World Championship best: Round of 32 (four times)
Best result in 2024/25: Quarter-finals (Wuhan Open, UK Championship)
Form guide: 1.5/5
11th Seed: Barry Hawkins
Barry Hawkins has had a strong campaign without the silverware to show for his exploits – arguably a running theme right throughout his career.
Indeed, Hawkins has plenty of pedigree in the World Championship itself with a final appearance in 2013 and several other semi-final runs to extract inspiration from.
During this campaign, the Hawk was denied trophies in close finals at the UK Championship and the German Masters.
More recently, he played some terrific snooker at the Tour Championship only to fall to eventual champion John Higgins in the last four.
Hawkins is a dark horse in Sheffield again this year, but the 46 year-old is running out of time if he’s to finally land a Triple Crown title that his career probably merits.
A clash with the struggling Mark Williams could materialise in the second round should both players make it that far.
World Championship best: Runner-up (2013)
Best result in 2024/25: Runner-up (UK Championship, German Masters)
Form guide: 3.5/5
10th Seed: Ding Junhui
Ding Junhui will make his latest attempt to add the standout title that has eluded him during his career.
It has been a typically strange season in many ways for China’s number one, with a brilliant ranking success mixed in with several early exits in competitions.
Ding returned to the winner’s enclosure at a ranking event for the first time in five years with his victory at the International Championship.
Yet there have been a lot of disappointing displays since, and it’s become more and more common with Ding over the years to expect the unexpected.
The 38 year-old is still young enough to challenge for snooker’s biggest prize, but he and is fans must be sensing that time is running out.
Ding’s best World Championship run transpired in 2016 when he reached the final and was narrowly edged out to glory by Mark Selby.
Oddly, the other contenders might want to avoid Ding in the draw, because beating him has provided a sure sign recently that an ensuing defeat is imminent.
In fact, every time Ding has been beaten in a tournament this season, his opponent has gone on to experience defeat in the very next round.
World Championship best: Runner-up (2016)
Best result in 2024/25: Champion (International Championship)
Form guide: 3/5
9th Seed: Neil Robertson
Neil Robertson represents one of the most in-form players at the 2025 World Snooker Championship.
The Australian boasts two ranking titles from this season, including the glitzy World Grand Prix that was staged in Hong Kong last month.
Robertson, though, has long struggled to produce his best standard at the Crucible Theatre.
A world champion in 2010, the Thunder from Down Under has a poor return of just two other semi-final appearances, and he hasn’t been beyond the last eight in over a decade.
If the 43 year-old is to become a multiple world champion, he will have to do it sooner rather than later.
Robertson could meet Mark Allen as early as the second round, another player who has generally failed to reproduce his A-game in Sheffield.
World Championship best: Champion (2010)
Best result in 2024/25: Champion (English Open, World Grand Prix)
Form guide: 4.5/5
The series will continue on Monday with a look at the World Snooker Championship seeds from numbers 5 to 8 in the draw.
Featured photo credit: WST
