A capacity crowd greeted the players for the final day of play at the World Snooker Championships in Sheffield.
Mark Selby and Shaun Murphy are currently locked in an enthralling battle for this year's title and both men were met by enthusiastic cheers from the crowd at the Crucible Theatre.
ππͺπ¨π©π΅ π’π΅ π΅π©π¦ ππ―π₯ π°π§ π΅π©π¦ ππΆπ―π―π¦π#ilovesnooker @Betfred pic.twitter.com/X42lJ3rRAp
β World Snooker Tour (@WeAreWST) May 3, 2021
The sight of a full Crucible is sure to warm the hearts of sports fans and bring hope that spectators will soon return to other sporting events.
The tournament is participating in the UK government's Events Research Programme, including the FA CupΒ semi-final and the final and the EFL Cup final, which will oversee a range of pilot events in Spring and Summer.
The aim of the programme is to build evidence on the risks associated with Covid-19 transmission routes, the characteristics of events and surrounding activities, and the extent to which mitigation measures can effectively address these risks.
Today's capacity final sessions are the culmination of a gradual ramping up of the numbers of spectators throughout the event.
The round 1 matches at the 980-capacity venue, had 33 per cent spectator capacity and were managed under social distancing guidelines.
Round 2 of the tournament saw the venue step up to operate at 50 per cent capacity with fans grouped in parties of one or two and the available seatsΒ spread around the venue to avoid different parties sitting next to one another.
For the quarter-final and semi-finals the venue operated at 75 per cent capacity.
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
