Crucible pressure '50 times worse than driving test'

"The psychology aspect of snooker is enormous," said Chris Henry, a subconscious brain and performance coach, who has worked with some of the sport's biggest names including Murphy, Stephen Hendry, Mark Selby, Luca Brecel, Jimmy White, Ali Carter and 2026 debutant Liam Pullen.

"You have to be very mentally strong in snooker, you have to be tough and know how to deal with the situation. It's not what happens that counts, it's how you choose to deal with what happens.

"Snooker is a dead-ball sport so you have a long time to think about things, which is not always good. Being sat in the chair, feeling completely helpless is a terrible place to be, especially if you're not playing well and feel embarrassed.

"It's better to get out of that environment. Negative things are happening in the subconscious and you have to change to get into a better state."

He advises "doing some breathing exercises, just to calm down and get into the performance state" in order to change from a negative to a positive state quickly.

Carter provided one of the best examples of quickly going from negative to positive when he found himself 4-0 down to John Higgins at the mid-session interval, gaining just 37 points in four brutal frames.

"I would've been quite happy to get in my car and drive home, I was absolutely seething," said Carter afterwards.

However, after composing himself, Carter won all five of the remaining frames in the session against the four-time champion, although the Scot would eventually prevail 10-7.

Sitting next to your opponent and not acknowledging them

Players rarely pay any attention to their opponent, who in the first three rounds at the Crucible is sitting right next to them in between frames [Getty Images]

The layout of the Crucible provides another mental challenge as for the first three rounds, you are sat right next to your tormentor, often with no communication, not even a glance, between the two of you.

"The first match I played here, I drew Hendry when he was would number one," said Australian Neil Robertson, a world title winner in 2010.

"I was sitting next to him and saw how cold-faced he was with no interaction with me whatsoever - I was inches away from him. The Crucible is strange as you're right next to the player so that can add to the intensity."

For some players, interacting with the fans is one way to stay calm. Mark Williams famously took sweets from someone in the front row during the 2018 final and, fuelled by Minstrels and Wine Gums, went on to defeat Higgins to win his third world title.

Mark Allen went down a similar route during the opening session of his last-16 tie with Kyren Wilson.

"It started out because they were annoying me because they were making that much noise with their sweet wrappers," said Allen. "They must have thought I wanted one because I looked at them that much.

"They offered me one, so I was like, well I'll have to be polite now and take one and then he joked with me and says, 'If you win another frame, you can have another one'.

"I made a 140 [break]. Maybe that sweet worked so I had another one!"

"Someone like Ray Reardon would interact with the crowd with jokes and little quips and that can help players to relax," added Henry.

"When you're sat down, players have different approaches. It's difficult to stay concentrated for all that time so to be thinking about other things is not bad. It's a fine balance."

Golf? Food? Madonna? What do players think about while looking on?

Chris Wakelin says you have to be 'incredibly focused' on the match when not at the table [Getty Images]

So, what goes through a player's mind in the Crucible chair?

Allen said: "I've got better at this over the years, especially working with a sports psychologist. But I've been out there at times thinking, 'What am I having for dinner, who is going to win the football?'"

"My mind goes to so many places," said Williams. "The last thing I'm thinking about is the table. I could be thinking about the putt I missed on the golf course or a driver I sliced out of bounds.

"When they are potting the balls, you don't really want to watch. You're praying he misses every ball he goes for."

World number 13 Chris Wakelin said: "There have been some good thoughts but when I lacked belief I would be there thinking, 'Where's the car parked?'

"Now when I'm 9-0 up or 9-0 down, I'm waiting for my next opportunity and making sure I'm prepared for it as you have to be incredibly focused."

Former champion Wilson said when he is hungry he may be planning a food order, thinking "do I have medium spice, is it going to be too spicy, is it a 10am start, am I going to regret it?"

Meanwhile, Robertson felt one of the toughest moments was not watching an opponent dominate but when a catchy song gets in your head.

"The worst one is when you get a song in your head and you're trying to play," he said. "When you're trying to play and you're in your chair sometimes you get a random song from Madonna in your head, not necessarily something you listen to.

"It can be anything. My walk-on song was Down Under by Men at Work and then that's in your head and then you think, 'Hang on a minute, I have to pot frame ball'."