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2017 World Snooker Championship

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Betfred
World Snooker Championship
Tournament information
Dates15 April – 1 May 2017
VenueCrucible Theatre
CitySheffield
CountryEngland
OrganisationWPBSA
FormatRanking event
Total prize fund£1,750,000
Winner's share£375,000
Highest breakEngland Ronnie O'Sullivan (146)
Final
ChampionEngland Mark Selby
Runner-upScotland John Higgins
Score18–15
← 2016
2018 →

The 2017 World Snooker Championship (also referred to as the 2017 Betfred World Snooker Championship for the purposes of sponsorship) was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 15 April to 1 May 2017 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England.[1] It was the 19th and final ranking event of the 2016/2017 season.

The tournament was the 40th anniversary of the World Championships at the Crucible and was broadcast in Europe by the BBC and Eurosport. Defending champion Mark Selby retained his title, beating John Higgins 18–15 in the final, despite falling to 4–10 behind at one point.[2]

Tournament summary

Seeding and qualifying rounds

The top 16 seeds automatically qualified for the last 32. Defending champion Mark Selby was seeded 1, while other seedings were allocated based on the latest world rankings. All the other players (from 17th place in ranking) started in the first round of qualifying and were required to win three best-of-19-frame matches to reach the Crucible. Qualifying rounds were held at the Ponds Forge International Sports Centre in Sheffield from 5 to 12 April 2017.[3]

After losing to Mark Selby in the China Open final, two-time former world champion Mark Williams failed to regain his place in the Top 16 (to the benefit of Ryan Day) and was required to play in the qualifying rounds. He lost 7–10 to Stuart Carrington in his final qualifying match and failed to reach the Crucible for the second time since 1996.[4]

Gary Wilson made the 131st official maximum break in the fourth frame of his first round qualifying match against Josh Boileau on 6 April 2017. This was the second maximum break of Wilson's career.[5]

At 123 minutes and 41 seconds, the deciding frame of the third round qualifying match between Fergal O'Brien and David Gilbert on 12 April was the longest frame on record in the modern era of the game, beating the previous record of 100 minutes and 24 seconds set by Alan McManus and Barry Pinches in 2015. The frame and match was won by O'Brien.[6]

Five debutants (David Grace, Noppon Saengkham, Gary Wilson, Yan Bingtao and Zhou Yuelong) qualified for the main stage at the Crucible.[4]

First round

The draw for the first round took place on 13 April 2017 at 10:00 BST.[7] After losing four consecutive first-round matches at the Crucible following his semifinal appearance in 2012, Stephen Maguire defeated fellow Scot Anthony McGill 10–2 in the first round.[8] Ronnie O'Sullivan made his 25th consecutive appearance at the World Championship and withstood a fight back from qualifier Gary Wilson from 5–9 to 7–9 to go through to the second round 10–7. O'Sullivan has made the last 16 in all but two editions of the event in the last 20 years since 1997, including 14 consecutive last 16 appearances, which equals the record set by Terry Griffiths.[9]

Elsewhere, two-time semifinalist Marco Fu trailed Luca Brecel 0–5, 1–7, 4–8 and 8–9 before winning 10–9, in his first round match.[10] Peter Ebdon, 2002 champion, appeared at the Crucible for the 24th time since first qualifying in 1992 but lost 5–10 to 2015 champion Stuart Bingham.[11] Peter Ebdon rescued the final frame of the first session via a respotted black from a seemingly impossible position when 15 additional points were needed to equal the score in the 9th frame.[12]

Perhaps the biggest shock of the first round was qualifier Rory McLeod's 10–8 victory over world No. 2, and bookmakers' favourite, Judd Trump, who had led 4–0.[13] Prior to the tournament, Trump had proclaimed "I honestly believe I can play to a standard which is very rare nowadays," and that he was "the best" in the world.[14] Trump's poor performance in the match, which ran into a third session, was exacerbated by a shoulder injury, which caused him visible pain when down on shots.[15] This lead 46 year-old McLeod to become the oldest player to reach the last 16 since Steve Davis' quarterfinal run in 2010 at the age of 52. He was also the lowest ranked player, at 54, to make it to the last 16.

In an all-Chinese match in the first round, 2016 runner-up Ding Junhui defeated debutant Zhou Yuelong 10–5.[16] 2006 World Champion Graeme Dott beat twice former runner-up Ali Carter 10–7 in a tense encounter to reach the last 16.[17] 2010 champion Neil Robertson made his 500th career century during his 10–4 first round win over Noppon Saengkham of Thailand.[18] Stuart Carrington became only the fifth player, after John Higgins, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Mark Selby and Neil Robertson to make century breaks in 3 consecutive frames in a World Championship match during his encounter with Liang Wenbo; however, Liang won the match 10–7.[19]

In total, 7 former world champions qualified for the last 16: Selby, Bingham, O'Sullivan, Higgins, Robertson, Dott and Murphy. Ebdon was the only former champion in the main draw not to reach the second round.[20] However, none of the five debutants David Grace, Noppon Saengkham, Gary Wilson, Yan Bingtao or Zhou Yuelong, made it to the second round. Xiao Guodong was the only first-round winner who had previously not won a match at the Crucible.[21]

Second round

Kyren Wilson advanced to his second quarterfinal by beating 2015 champion Stuart Bingham 13–10. It would be Wilson's second consecutive quarterfinal appearance, having also done so in 2016.[22] 5-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan made his 18th crucible quarterfinal appearance by beating Shaun Murphy 13–7.[23] 2016 runner-up Ding Junhui would once again play in an all-Chinese match, beating fellow countryman Liang Wenbo 13–12, having led 6–2 in the process.

Having trailed 3–5, 4-time world champion John Higgins beat Mark Allen 13–9.[24] Stephen Maguire also beat Rory McLeod 13–3 with a session to spare to reach his first crucible quarterfinal since 2012.[25]

Quarterfinals

John Higgins advanced to his first semifinal since his 2011 World Championship win by defeating Kyren Wilson 13–6. With the score at 3–3 Wilson miscued and split his tip, leading to a 15-minute tip replacement break.[26]

The defending champion Mark Selby beat the previous year's semifinalist Marco Fu 13–3 with a session to spare.[27] Selby's victory included a memorable 143 clearance which BBC commentator Stephen Hendry described as "one of the best [breaks] I've ever seen." [28]

2016 runner-up Ding defeated O'Sullivan 13–10 in a high quality quarterfinal. Ding went into a 3–0 lead but O'Sullivan fought back to level the first session at 4–4. Ding dominated the second session and opened up a 10–6 overnight lead. O'Sullivan would take the first two frames to move to 8–10. The pair would split the next four frames and 10–12 in the third session before Ding clinched the match in frame 23.[29] In frame 20, O'Sullivan attempted a 147 maximum break. He ran out of position after potting the 13th red and had to take the pink instead of the black and made a clearance of 146, which still ended up as the highest break of the championship.[30]

Barry Hawkins reached his fourth Crucible semifinal in five years, beating Stephen Maguire, the only qualifier to reach the quarterfinals, 13–9.[31]

Semifinals

The semifinals saw a repeat of the 2016 final, with Mark Selby playing Ding Junhui.[32] Selby would defeat Ding 17–15. Selby would be ahead for most of the match, pulling away from Ding after the pair were level at 12 frames apiece, moving to 16–13 ahead.[32] Needing just one frame to win, Selby would lose two frames to a resiliant Ding, before picking up a break of 72 to win the match.[32]

In the championships' other semifinal John Higgins qualified for his sixth World Championship final over a span of 19 years and his first in six years. He did so with a 17–8 victory over Barry Hawkins, which World Snooker referred to as a "demolition".[33]

Final

The final, contested by Mark Selby and John Higgins, was a repeat fixture of the 2007 final which Higgins won 18–13.[34] Higgins was the second oldest Crucible World finalist at 41 years and 11 months. Only Ray Reardon was older – 49 in the 1982 final and 45 when he won his last title in 1978. Only 4 men in their 40s have played in a world final at the Crucible: Ray Reardon, John Higgins, John Spencer and Terry Griffiths.[35]

The final marked the first time in Crucible history that multiple champions have met in the final of the World Championship. All-time it is the third different combination of players to have participated in such a final. The other combinations were Fred Davis vs. Walter Donaldson (1951, 1952, 1953, 1954) and John Pulman vs. Fred Davis (1965, 1966).[36]

In the final, Selby trailed 6–2 after the first session, and 10–4 during the second before finishing the first day 10–7 behind.[37][38] He fought back to win 6 out of the next 7 frames to lead 13–11 after the third session.[38] The players then shared the next six frames before a contentious decision by the referee in the 31st frame where he judged Mark Selby to have not hit the black as he attempted to roll up behind it and awarded a seven-point penalty – Higgins won the frame to pull back to 16–15.[37] Selby fought back with a clearance of 131 and then a break of 75 to take the title 18–15.[38][39]

No player had come back to win from six frames or more behind in a World Championship final since Dennis Taylor trailed Steve Davis by 8–0 and later 9–1 in the 1985 final. Selby became the fourth player (after Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry, and Ronnie O'Sullivan) to successfully defend the world title in the Crucible era. He also became the third man (after Hendry and Ding Junhui) to win five full ranking titles in a single season, the first man to win the China Open and the world title back-to-back, and the first man to win over £1m across the two-year rolling money list. Higgins went back to world number two as a result of his run to the final.[37]

Prize fund

The total prize money of the event was raised to £1,750,000 from the previous year's £1,500,100. The breakdown of prize money for this year's World Championship is shown below.[40]

The "rolling 147 prize" for a maximum break: £5,000, which was won by Gary Wilson in qualifying.[41]

Main draw

The numbers in parentheses beside some of the players are their seeding ranks. Template:32TeamBracket-WSC2

Qualifying

128 players competed in the qualifying competition. There were three qualifying rounds, with the sixteen winners of the third round matches progressing to the main stages of the tournament at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. Qualifying took place from 5 to 12 April 2017 at the Ponds Forge International Sports Centre, also in Sheffield. All matches were best of 19 frames.

The 128 players included tour players ranked outside the top 16 as well as 16 amateur players, who achieved success through the WPBSA qualifying criteria. The following amateur players were invited to compete:[42][43]

2016 IBSF World Snooker Championship winner Soheil Vahedi of Iran was also invited, but could not obtain a visa in time to compete.[42]

Also, two amateurs, English player Andy Hicks and Polish player Adam Stefanów were invited to replace the absent professionals Jamie Burnett and Rouzi Maimaiti.[44] They were chosen as top-ranked players in the 2016 Q School Order of Merit, who had not already qualified for the tournament.[45]

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Winners advanced to the main draw.

Century breaks

Main stage centuries

74 century breaks were made by 23 players in the main stage of the World Championship.[46]

Qualifying stage centuries

84 century breaks – including a maximum break – were made by 51 players in the qualifying stage of the World Championship.[41]

References

  1. ^ "Calendar 2016/2017". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 29 December 2016. Retrieved 10 January 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ "World Snooker Championship 2017: Frame scores, complete results & highest break". BBC Sport. 1 May 2017. Archived from the original on 2 May 2017. Retrieved 8 May 2017. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ "Betfred World Championship Qualifiers". snooker.org. Archived from the original on 22 April 2017. Retrieved 2 May 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ a b "Judgement Day: Who made the World Championships and who missed out?". Vavel. 12 April 2017. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  5. ^ "Gary Wilson makes 147". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 7 April 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ "O'Brien wins record two-hour frame". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 12 April 2017. Retrieved 13 April 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ "World Snooker Championship: Fergal O'Brien wins longest frame in snooker history to qualify". BBC Sport. 13 April 2017. Archived from the original on 5 August 2018. Retrieved 20 April 2018. The championship starts on 15 April with the draw on Thursday at 10:00 BST. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ "Brilliant Selby Eases Through". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 17 April 2017. Retrieved 16 April 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ "Ronnie O'Sullivan and Kyren Wilson anything but comfortable as they progress to the second round". Vavel. 16 April 2017. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  10. ^ "World Championship 2017: Marco Fu completes comeback against Luca Brecel". BBC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2017. Retrieved 18 April 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ "World Snooker Championship 2017: Latest scores, schedule, results & highest break". BBC Sport. 20 April 2017. Archived from the original on 20 April 2017. Retrieved 20 April 2017. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ "World Snooker Championship 2017: Peter Ebdon's remarkable comeback". 16 April 2017. Archived from the original on 17 April 2017 – via www.bbc.com. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ "World Championship 2017: Judd Trump suffers shock defeat by Rory McLeod". BBC Sport. 19 April 2017. Archived from the original on 20 April 2017. Retrieved 20 April 2017. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
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  16. ^ "World Championship 2017: John Higgins sees off a Martin Gould fightback to reach round two". BBC Sport. 18 April 2017. Archived from the original on 19 April 2017. Retrieved 20 April 2017. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  17. ^ "World Championship 2017: Ali Carter blames 'nightmare' start for Graeme Dott loss". BBC Sport. 19 April 2017. Archived from the original on 19 April 2017. Retrieved 20 April 2017. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  18. ^ "World Championships: Neil Robertson racks up 500th century break". BBC Sport. 19 April 2017. Archived from the original on 20 April 2017. Retrieved 20 April 2017. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  19. ^ "World Championship 2017: Stuart Carrington 'amazed' to join three-ton group". BBC Sport. 19 April 2017. Archived from the original on 2 May 2017. Retrieved 20 April 2017. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  20. ^ "Betfred World Championship – Matches". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 17 April 2017. Retrieved 20 April 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
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  22. ^ "World Championship 2017: Kyren Wilson beats Stuart Bingham 13–10". BBC. 21 April 2017. Archived from the original on 24 April 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  23. ^ "Ronnie O'Sullivan could keep the hits coming after reaching Crucible last eight". Guardian. 22 April 2017. Archived from the original on 26 April 2017. Retrieved 27 April 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  24. ^ "Mark Allen beaten 13–9 by John Higgins". BBC Sport. 22 April 2017. Archived from the original on 28 April 2017. Retrieved 27 April 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  25. ^ "Stephen Maguire beats Rory McLeod 13–3 to reach quarters". BBC Sport. 23 April 2017. Archived from the original on 28 April 2017. Retrieved 27 April 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  26. ^ "John Higgins believes he can win fifth title". BBC Sport. 26 April 2017. Archived from the original on 27 April 2017. Retrieved 27 April 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  27. ^ "Mark Selby, John Higgins reach semis". BBC Sport. 26 April 2017. Archived from the original on 27 April 2017. Retrieved 27 April 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  28. ^ "BBC Sport". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 1 May 2017. Retrieved 28 April 2017. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  29. ^ "Ronnie O'Sullivan loses to Ding at world championship despite 146 break". Guardian. 26 April 2017. Archived from the original on 27 April 2017. Retrieved 27 April 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  30. ^ "World Championship 2017: Ronnie O'Sullivan makes 'absolutely incredible' 146 break". BBC Sport. 26 April 2017. Archived from the original on 28 April 2017. Retrieved 28 April 2017. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  31. ^ "Barry Hawkins sets up John Higgins clash, Mark Selby demolishes Marco Fu". Eurosport. 26 April 2017. Archived from the original on 27 April 2017. Retrieved 27 April 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
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  35. ^ "Selby sees of Ding to seal place in final". The Dominion Post. 29 April 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
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  38. ^ a b c "2017 World Championship final frame scores". BBC News. 1 May 2017. Archived from the original on 1 May 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2017. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  39. ^ "Mark Selby beats John Higgins to win world snooker championship – as it happened". Guardian. 1 May 2017. Archived from the original on 2 May 2017. Retrieved 3 May 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
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  41. ^ a b "Betfred World Championship Qualifiers – Centuries". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 6 April 2017. Retrieved 12 April 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  42. ^ a b "Criteria set for World Championship invitations". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 18 March 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
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