Neil Robertson has suggested sweeping changes to the World Snooker Championship format and claims new rules should be adopted to modernise the sport.
The Australian believes the traditional best-of-35 frames format used in the final is excessive, and that a shorter structure would better suit today’s game.
“I mean, the best out of 35 is a very long match,” Robertson told Midnite. “In today’s day and age, I think a best out of 25 is enough.”
“First to 13 – I think it’s a great match. It’s over three sessions.
“[For] me personally, I would probably change it to once you get to the second round, then it’s just best out of 25 for the whole way through.”
Currently, the World Championship begins with best-of-19 encounters in round one before the format increases to 25 frames for round two and the quarter-finals.
The stage that many people might consider changing is the semi-finals, which are played over the best-of-33 frames but take a longer period of time than the final itself to produce winners.
The second and last day of the quarter-finals – arguably the most entertaining sequence of the entire tournament – is followed by an opening day to the semi-finals that often sucks energy and momentum out of the 17-day marathon.
Robertson’s idea would standardise the format and significantly reduce the overall playing time required to win the title.
The 2010 world champion also raised concerns about drawn-out frames where players are chasing unlikely snookers, suggesting that rule changes could prevent matches from dragging out unnecessarily.
“I think when players need snookers, sometimes we carry on hoping for that one-in-a-hundred chance that we’ll get a free ball and the opponent will fail,” he said.
“I think you have a restriction on either the time limit that they have to get the snookers, or a points threshold where if you need two snookers, then the frame is over.”
Some might find the world number three’s opinion somewhat ironic given Robertson’s occasional tendency to get drawn into longer tactical exchanges in recent seasons – sometimes to the detriment of his own chances of success.
The 44 year-old had no issues in the first round of the 2026 World Snooker Championship, however, as he completed the second round lineup on Thursday evening.
He compiled breaks of 100, 81, 80, and 77 to see off the challenge of qualifier Pang Junxu with a 10-6 scoreline.
“It was nervy in the first session yesterday,” he told the World Snooker Tour. “Today I was able to dictate how the match went, and from 5-5 I played really well.”
“Pang has got one of the best safety games, but tonight my long potting was good and I played some aggressive safety to open the balls up.”
Ending the 2025/26 season as the world number one remains a slim possibility, with Robertson needing to win the title while hoping that Judd Trump also loses in the last 16.
Chris Wakelin will be Robertson’s opponent in the second round.
Featured photo credit: WST
I agree (mostly). If possible, all matches should be up to the same number as in pool. 13 is good, more than enough (I remember Ray beating Eddie 31-30 in the 1975 final!). Change the silly ‘miss rule’. Get rid of it. And replacing the balls is also time-consuming and unnecessary. One rule I would introduce is ‘place the cue ball anywhere after a foul’ – makes so much sense & does away with so many issues. A no-brainer. A shot clock? No, the ref needs to take control over time limits…..