The Crucible is a unique venue in the sporting world, where snooker’s stars not only sparkle on the baize, but spend time wrestling with emotions as they hang around in a corridor.
The Sheffield theatre has a set-up all of its own, very easy to get lost in the backstage warren where players, officials, media and staff linger.
The viewing public get a glimpse of these areas behind the scenes as players wait to go out and play, during a tense, nervy few moments before a session starts.
It is a brilliantly unglamorous setting as the world’s best snooker players stand in a pretty narrow corridor outside the tournament office where admin continues to be sorted out.
Some chat to each other, some stare at the ground, others busy themselves by reading anything on the walls around them, but how does it feel in those unusual few moments?
They are probably about to play the biggest match of their year, sometimes their life, and in some ways they are alone in that corridor, in others they are hemmed in by cameramen, fellow players and the situation.
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Those who have experienced it let us know exactly what it is like.
‘When you’re stood behind that door and looking at all the names on the wall, it’s a special place,’ Dave Gilbert, a two-time semi-finalist, told Metro.
‘I weren’t any good then and Hendry was like God to me,’ he said of his 2007 debut against Stephen Hendry. ‘So that was pretty weird. You either sink or swim, there’s no in between.
‘The wait is the worst bit, especially for newcomers. I like to get out there and have a bit of a stretch off. If someone spoke to me I would [speak back], but I just like to do my thing where I’m stretching it out.
‘People get a bit weirded out, zoned in and all that. You’ve got the cameras in your face and people are trying to look all cool, it is quite funny. I can’t sit still so I have to keep moving about, whereas everyone else is trying to look as cool as they can. If they do speak, it’s all false, crap banter isn’t it?’
Talking of Hendry, the seven-time world champion knows as much about the Crucible as anyone and even the steely Scot felt the nerves.
‘I basically just looked at my feet and tried to keep in my own space, trying not to look at anything,’ he said. ‘If Steve [Davis] was there, he’d be pacing up and down.
‘Everyone would have their own thing. It’s funny, you watch Ronnie [O’Sullivan] and he does the same thing every time. He disappears down the corridor and then comes back up.
‘I’m amazed to see a lot of players chatting and laughing and joking before, which I just can’t believe. I tended to just look down, look at my feet and not move until my name is called.
‘The Worlds is different. You get those nerves, you almost feel nauseous in the dressing room, but it’s excited nerves.
‘There’s different kinds of nerves. Near the end of the career, there’s nerves like, “oh, I’m going to get beat.” But when you’re competitive, there’s nerves, expectation and excitement.
‘My debut against Willie Thorne, first time at the Crucible, just don’t get beat 10-1, 10-0. Don’t embarrass yourself. Yeah, there’s definitely different kinds of nerves.’
On the other end of the experience scale, Zak Surety has played just one match at the Crucible, falling short against Ding Junhui on debut last year, but he found out what that corridor feels like.
‘It feels like you’re there for about four days!’ Surety said. ‘Every time a camera’s in my face, I’m still uncomfortable.
‘My second session was Ronnie’s comeback session. I’m the biggest Crucible nerd you’ll ever meet and Ronnie sort of hovers down the corridor near the press room and all of a sudden, I’m standing there watching it live in me suit, ready to go out, and I’m like, “oh, what am I doing here?”
‘It was like I’m playing PlayStation, playing World Championship 07 or whatever.’
Shaun Murphy made his first Crucible outing in 2002, lifting the trophy in ’05, and says the corridor causes players to question their natural instincts.
‘That stood round waiting to go out, you don’t really know what to say to each other,’ said the Magician. ‘Some like to chat, some don’t. Some players, despite being asked to stand there, simply won’t and go for a walk down the corridor.
‘They are your last few precious moments and you feel very on show, it’s a very vulnerable few minutes. If you’re feeling pensive or anxious, that’s coming down the barrel of a camera to millions of people around the world.
‘There’s no glamour about it. It’s next to the tournament office, the dressing room, the stage door. You’ll be stood there and two women will come past with a tray of used mugs, saying, “Y’alright Shaun?” You’re just trying to get ready for your game!
‘It has a charm and a magic that other places don’t, it’s not a clinical white walled building that’s been thrown up. Its got it’s foibles and its character.
‘You are aware that all the pundits and commentators are watching you. It would be natural for me and a Mark Selby or Barry Hawkins or Matt Selt to chat. We’ve been friends for years. But you know if you do it and certain pundits catch you then they’ll slaughter you.
‘You can think, “I wouldn’t mind chatting to him,” but I best not because Stephen Hendry will slag me. It’s like dealing with bad news in front of people. You’re in an anxious few moments in full view of everybody.
‘The nerves start as soon as the World Championship is your next tournament and they crescendo until that moment before you play. As soon as you’ve gone through the curtain and Rob Walker introduces, you shake everyone’s hand, the nerves are gone, you’re fine. But those last few minutes between the dressing room and walking out in the corridor are simultaneously the best and worst moments of a snooker player’s life.
‘If you asked some players to spell their own name at that time, they couldn’t do it.’
Michael Holt has been to the Crucible eight times and feels no matter who you are, the nerves jangle for everyone in that corridor.
‘I played Paul Hunter the first time I was there,’ said the Hitman. ‘I remember the first time going through the curtain which is a big moment.
‘You’re standing there for what seems like an age. You see people walking around, a bit busy, doing stuff, but you’re standing there thinking, “does me hair look alright?” Camera in your face.
‘The first time, it’s something you’ve always dreamt of, you’ve seen it happen, your mind is racing a bit, you’re trying to focus. You can hear the hum of people in the auditorium, which is really good, because obviously it’s a theatre so it creates that noise. You hear the MC.
‘All the while you’re trying to focus on having to pot some balls and when you’re knees are going to stop shaking. It was more excitement than nerves, I was excited to be there. If you’re not excited then what’s the point? Nerves are good though, it shows it means something.
‘It’s a special place to play, it really is, it never gets old. In the dressing room there used to be a speaker and it played the humming of the crowd. It’s really good, it’s brilliant.
‘The World Championship at the Crucible, even your past winners, I think it’s a bit of a leveller because no matter who you are – John Higgins, Ronnie O’Sullivan – they’re all twitching before they go out there. In that respect it’s a bit of a leveller.
‘If I play Mark Selby in the quarter-final of another ranking event, he’s done it a million times, he’s relaxed, that’s an advantage for him. At the Crucible, everybody’s all over the place before they walk out, so it can bring the players together, it brings everybody down.’