2007 World Snooker Championship

The 2007 World Snooker Championship (also referred to as the 2007 888.com World Snooker Championship for the purposes of sponsorship) was a professional ranking snooker tournament. The event began on 21 April and ran until 7 May 2007 (with the final continuing into the early hours of 8 May) at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England.

This article is about the snooker tournament. For the sport simulation video game, see World Snooker Championship 2007 (video game).

888.com World Snooker Championship
Tournament information
Dates21 April – 7 May 2007
VenueCrucible Theatre
CitySheffield
CountryEngland
Organisation(s)WPBSA
FormatRanking event
Total prize fund£941,000
Winner's share£220,000
Highest break Ali Carter (144)
Final
Champion John Higgins
Runner-up Mark Selby
Score18–13
← 2006
2008 →

Graeme Dott was the defending champion, but lost in the first round 7–10 to Ian McCulloch and became another World Champion who fell to the Crucible curse and could not defend his first World title.

John Higgins won his second World title by defeating qualifier Mark Selby 18–13 in the final. The tournament was sponsored by online casino 888.com.

Tournament summary
  • This year's tournament saw the debut of future world champion and future world number one Judd Trump. Trump lost 6–10 to Shaun Murphy in the first round, after having led 6–5. Another future world number one, Ding Junhui, also made his debut this year; he lost heavily to Ronnie O'Sullivan 2–10 in the first round. A further notable debutant this year was future Masters champion Mark Allen who reached round 2 after knocking out third seed and 1997 Champion Ken Doherty 10–7.
  • Before the tournament began Ronnie O'Sullivan alleged that the WPBSA draw had been fixed,[1] after having been drawn in the first round against Ding, considered by bookmakers to be among the favourites for the title,[1][2] and noting that he had drawn European Open and UK Champion, Stephen Maguire, in both 2004 and 2005.[1] O'Sullivan later withdrew the accusation,[3] and made no formal complaint to the WPBSA, who maintain that the draw was genuine.[1]
  • Shaun Murphy came back from 7–12 down to win his quarter-final match 13–12 against Matthew Stevens, a feat never before accomplished in a best of 25 frame match.[4]
  • Former World champion John Parrott made his final appearance at the Crucible beating Steve Davis 10–9 in the first round before losing 13–8 to Shaun Murphy in the last 16.[5]
  • During his semi-final match, John Higgins compiled the Crucible's 1,000th century break in frame 29.[6][7]
  • Future three-time world champion Mark Selby reached his first final this year. Selby's run was a surprising one as he was a qualifier, had only made his debut in 2005 and had never previously got beyond the Last 16.
  • The final had the latest finish in history, with the conclusion of the 31st and final frame coming at 00:54 am BST, just two minutes later than in 2006.[8]
  • John Higgins' second title came nine years after his first, the longest gap between wins since his namesake Alex Higgins. Until 2018 this was the longest gap between titles at the Crucible.

Prize fund

The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:[9][10]

Main draw

Shown below are the results for each round. The numbers in parentheses beside some of the players are their seeding ranks (each championship has 16 seeds and 16 qualifiers). The first round draw was done by presenters Bill Turnbull and Sian Williams of BBC Breakfast on 19 March and it was announced on Breakfast at 7.30 am BST the next day.[9][11][12][13][14]

First round Second round Quarter-finals Semi-finals
Best of 19 frames Best of 25 frames Best of 25 frames Best of 33 frames
                           
21 April            
  Graeme Dott (1)  7
26, 27 & 28 April
  Ian McCulloch  10  
  Ian McCulloch  8
21 & 22 April
    Anthony Hamilton (16)  13  
  Anthony Hamilton (16)  10
1 & 2 May
  Marco Fu  3  
  Anthony Hamilton (16)  7
23 & 24 April
    Stephen Maguire (9)  13  
  Stephen Maguire (9)  10
27 & 28 April
  Joe Perry  3  
  Stephen Maguire (9)  13
24 April
    Joe Swail  8  
  Mark Williams (8)  9
3, 4 & 5 May
  Joe Swail  10  
  Stephen Maguire (9)  15
25 & 26 April
    John Higgins (5)  17
  John Higgins (5)  10
28, 29 & 30 April
  Michael Holt  4  
  John Higgins (5)  13
22 & 23 April
    Fergal O'Brien  4  
  Barry Hawkins (12)  9
1 & 2 May
  Fergal O'Brien  10  
  John Higgins (5)  13
25 April
    Ronnie O'Sullivan (4)  9  
  Neil Robertson (13)  10
29 & 30 April
  Ryan Day  5  
  Neil Robertson (13)  10
22 & 23 April
    Ronnie O'Sullivan (4)  13  
  Ronnie O'Sullivan (4)  10
  Ding Junhui  2  
23 & 24 April            
  Ken Doherty (3)  7
27 & 28 April
  Mark Allen  10  
  Mark Allen  9
21 & 22 April
    Matthew Stevens (14)  13  
  Matthew Stevens (14)  10
1 & 2 May
  Joe Delaney  2  
  Matthew Stevens (14)  12
21 & 22 April
    Shaun Murphy (6)  13  
  Steve Davis (11)  9
26 & 27 April
  John Parrott  10  
  John Parrott  8
23 April
    Shaun Murphy (6)  13  
  Shaun Murphy (6)  10
3, 4 & 5 May
  Judd Trump  6  
  Shaun Murphy (6)  16
21 & 22 April
    Mark Selby  17
  Peter Ebdon (7)  10
29 & 30 April
  Nigel Bond  7  
  Peter Ebdon (7)  8
24 & 25 April
    Mark Selby  13  
  Stephen Lee (10)  7
1 & 2 May
  Mark Selby  10  
  Mark Selby  13
25 & 26 April
    Ali Carter (15)  12  
  Ali Carter (15)  10
28, 29 & 30 April
  Andy Hicks  4  
  Ali Carter (15)  13
24 & 25 April
    Stephen Hendry (2)  6  
  Stephen Hendry (2)  10
  Dave Gilbert  7  
Final (Best of 35 frames) Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, 6 & 7 May 2007. Referee: Eirian Williams[15]
John Higgins (5)
 Scotland		 18–13 Mark Selby
 England
73–25, 58–32, 19–95, 25–76, 10–132, 97–0, 98–24, 86–5, 75–0, 85–9, 101–24, 70–61, 59–75, 98–0, 78–55, 116–0, 36–73, 0–110, 36–65, 4–74, 0–66, 48–72, 81–40, 63–70, 75–2, 22–82, 54–77, 71–33, 57–43, 129–1, 78–1 Century breaks: 5
(Higgins 3, Selby 2)

Highest break by Higgins: 129
Highest break by Selby: 116

 73–25, 58–32, 19–95, 25–76, 10–132, 97–0, 98–24, 86–5, 75–0, 85–9, 101–24, 70–61, 59–75, 98–0, 78–55, 116–0, 36–73, 0–110, 36–65, 4–74, 0–66, 48–72, 81–40, 63–70, 75–2, 22–82, 54–77, 71–33, 57–43, 129–1, 78–1
John Higgins wins the 2007 888.com World Snooker Championship

Preliminary qualifying

The preliminary qualifying rounds for the tournament took place in Pontin's Prestatyn, Wales.[9][16]

Round 1

Bradley Jones5–0 Neil Selman
Del Smith5–4 Tony Knowles

Round 2

Bradley Jones5–0 Stephen Ormerod
Les Doddw/o-w/d David Singh
Ali Bassiri0–5 Phil Seaton
Del Smith5–0 Barry Stark

Qualifying

Qualifying for the 2007 World Snooker Championship, was held between 23 February to 2 March 2007 at Pontin's, Prestatyn, Wales. The final qualifying round took place at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield between the 12–15 March 2007.[9][16]

Round 1

Issara Kachaiwong8–10 Bradley Jones
Roy Stolk10–7 Phil Seaton
Ben Woollaston10–3 Del Smith
James Leadbetter10–8 Les Dodd

Rounds 2–5

  Round 2
Best of 19 frames		   Round 3
Best of 19 frames		   Round 4
Best of 19 frames		   Round 5
Best of 19 frames
Alfie Burden 10   Dave Gilbert 10   Gerard Greene 6   Mark King 6
Robert Stephen 9   Alfie Burden 9   Dave Gilbert 10   Dave Gilbert 10
Liu Song 10   Tony Drago 9   Adrian Gunnell 10   Michael Holt 10
Dene O'Kane 3   Liu Song 10   Liu Song 8   Adrian Gunnell 7
Judd Trump 10   Shokat Ali 7   Jamie Cope 7   James Wattana 5
Bradley Jones 8   Judd Trump 10   Judd Trump 10   Judd Trump 10
Tian Pengfei 10   Joe Jogia 10   Drew Henry 10   Joe Perry 10
Roy Stolk 2   Tian Pengfei 4   Joe Jogia 7   Drew Henry 5
Mark Joyce 10   Robin Hull w/d   Fergal O'Brien 10   Stuart Bingham 5
Mohammed Shehab 6   Mark Joyce w/o   Mark Joyce 4   Fergal O'Brien 10
Paul Wykes 3   Rory McLeod 10   Tom Ford 8   Andy Hicks 10
Alex Borg 10   Alex Borg 6   Rory McLeod 10   Rory McLeod 4
Lee Page 10   Paul Davies 10   Michael Judge 10   Marco Fu 10
Dermot McGlinchey 1   Lee Page 1   Paul Davies 5   Michael Judge 9
Matthew Couch 10   Jimmy Michie 10   Mark Davis 10   Ding Junhui 10
Jamie Jones 5   Matthew Couch 4   Jimmy Michie 2   Mark Davis 6
Ian Preece 10   Joe Delaney 10   Barry Pinches 9   Alan McManus 9
Ben Woollaston 8   Ian Preece 7   Joe Delaney 10   Joe Delaney 10
Liang Wenbo 10   Mike Dunn 10   Dave Harold 10   Joe Swail 10
Jeff Cundy 5   Liang Wenbo 3   Mike Dunn 3   Dave Harold 9
Paul Davison 10   Jamie Burnett 10   Jimmy White 4   Nigel Bond 10
Peter Lines 8   Paul Davison 5   Jamie Burnett 10   Jamie Burnett 6
Passakorn Suwannawat 10   David Roe 8   Marcus Campbell 10   Ryan Day 10
Patrick Einsle 4   Passakorn Suwannawat 10   Passakorn Suwannawat 9   Marcus Campbell 5
Chris Melling 6   Andrew Norman 10   Dominic Dale 10   Ian McCulloch 10
David Morris 10   David Morris 8   Andrew Norman 8   Dominic Dale 4
Lee Spick 10   Mark Allen 10   Rod Lawler 5   Robert Milkins 4
Sean Storey 4   Lee Spick 5   Mark Allen 10   Mark Allen 10
Chris Norbury 9   Stuart Pettman 3   John Parrott 10   David Gray 7
James Leadbetter 10   James Leadbetter 10   James Leadbetter 7   John Parrott 10
Andrew Higginson 10   Scott MacKenzie 6   Ricky Walden 10   Mark Selby 10
Mark Boyle 4   Andrew Higginson 10   Andrew Higginson 9   Ricky Walden 6

Century breaks

Televised stage centuries

There were 68 centuries scored in the televised stage of the 2007 championship, which was joint equal highest in the history of the tournament (with the tournament held in 2002) until 2009.[17][18]

Qualifying stage centuries

[9]

References
  1. "O'Sullivan Draw Fix Claim Denied". BBC Sport. BBC News. 17 April 2007. Archived from the original on 28 April 2007. Retrieved 27 April 2007.
  2. "World Championship – Outright". EasyOdds.com. Archived from the original on 27 April 2007. Retrieved 27 April 2007.
  3. Viner, Brian. "Interview: Snooker player Ding Junhui". The Independent. UK. Archived from the original on 9 February 2010. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  4. "Stevens hit for six as Murphy Prevails Archived 13 January 2008 at the Wayback Machine" WorldSnooker.com – Tournament News, 2 May 2007
  5. "Parrott edges out colleague Davis". BBC Sport. BBC News. 22 April 2007. Archived from the original on 27 May 2007. Retrieved 22 April 2007.
  6. "Snooker: Selby pockets a place in the final ; SNOOKER: 888.COM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FROM SHEFFIELD". Sunday Sun on HighBeam Research. Archived from the original on 11 June 2014. Retrieved 10 May 2012.(subscription required)
  7. Lyon, Sam; Dirs, Ben (5 May 2007). "John Higgins (Sco) 17–15 Stephen Maguire (Sco)". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 20 April 2014. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
  8. "Higgins beats brave Selby in epic". BBC Sport. 8 May 2007. Archived from the original on 23 April 2012. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  9. "World Snooker Championship 2007". Global Snooker. Archived from the original on 10 March 2011. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
  10. Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 130.
  11. "888.Com World Championship 2007". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 27 March 2010. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
  12. "2007 World Championships Results". Snooker Database. Archived from the original on 27 August 2011. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
  13. "2007 888.com World Championship". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 19 August 2007.
  14. Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. pp. 64–65.
  15. Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 143.
  16. "2007 888.com World Championship Qualifying". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 19 August 2007.
  17. Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 152.
  18. "Crucible Centuries". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 23 May 2011. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
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