of the first 15 tournaments before retiring undefeated in 1946. In 1952, a dispute between the BACC and the PBPA led to the formation of the World Professional Match-play Championship, whose winners are generally acknowledged as world champions. No championship was held between 1957 and 1964, when it was revived on a challenge basis until 1968. The 'modern' era is considered to have started in 1969, when the championship reverted to a knock-out tournament format from a challenge format. Since then, the best record is seven wins, by Stephen Hendry (1990–1999) and Ronnie O'Sullivan (2001–2022). Ray Reardon won six times in the 1970s, while Steve Davis won six times in the 1980s. Active players are shown in bold. Only players who reached the final are included. Appearances relates to appearances in the final stages, excluding qualifying match. In the event of identical records, players are sorted in alphabetical order by family name. Sponsorship Except for two championships played in Australia, all championships from 1969 to 2005 were sponsored by tobacco companies. In 1969 and 1970 the championship was sponsored by John Player under the brand Player's No.6. The Gallaher Group sponsored under the brand Park Drive from 1972 to 1974, while from 1976 to 2005 Imperial Tobacco sponsored under the brand Embassy. Legislation in 2003 placed restrictions on tobacco advertising, including sponsorship of sporting events. Embassy received special dispensation to continue snooker sponsorship until 2005. From 2006 to 2022, all championships were sponsored by betting companies. In 2006, 888.com took over sponsorship of the event under a five-year deal, but it pulled out after just three years. Betfred.com was the sponsor from 2009 to 2012, followed by Betfair in 2013, Dafabet in 2014, and Betfred again from 2015 to 2022. Online car retailer Cazoo have signed a multi-year deal to sponsor the tournament from 2023. Television coverage Before the world championship moved to the Crucible in 1977, TV coverage was very limited. In the 1950s, the BBC occasionally showed snooker on black and white television, including 30-minute programmes of the 1953 and 1955 finals, with commentary by Sidney Smith. Despite the launch of Pot Black in colour in 1969, there was little coverage of the World Championship. There was some coverage of the 1973, 1974 and 1976 world championships in Manchester on two Saturday afternoon Grandstand programmes during those three years. Commentary was by Ted Lowe. BBC TV coverage for