Is This The Longest World Championship In Sport?

It’s an interesting question I found myself asking after one Championship expressed its’ claim this week…In Sheffield, England, the snooker World Championship finished.It had lasted, as it does every year, for 17 days. The 5 world snooker championship schedule commentators always make reference to the length of duration of the tournament, so it certainly got me thinking if it was the longest.

I guess the Olympics don’t count, as they are a collection of various sports, no it has to be a particular event.Maybe the Football World Cup?

Well that covers a few weeks, but there are several days between games for all the teams, so it’s not quite the same.The same applies to the cricket World Cup, which in 2007 stretched over 47 days- that’s enough to test anyone’s patience!

Well that’s a relatively short tournament of around 10 days, although a team can take up to 20 hours plus to get through their playing time.

In individual sports, the snooker is up at the top of the list.The matches get longer as the final gets closer, and one of the appeals of snooker is that there are multiple outcomes for every frame.
You may get a frame finished in 11 minutes, or it can just as easily take 50 minutes, there is no time limit in the game.

When you consider the final is best of 35 frames, you can see how the hours slip by!Could Formula 1 be considered?Hmm, not sure.
Although the drivers are individuals, it’s also a team championship, and is competed over a long season rather than just a one-off event.In fact, I’m sticking with snooker.

Even the commentators said that cycling’s Tour de France was the winner of the debate, but I’m not sure I agree – after all the Tour de France, as prestigious as it is, it still not a World Championship, is it!