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 that took place at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It started on 21 April 2007 and was scheduled to finish on 7 May 2007, but continued into the early hours of 8 May, ending at 12:54 a.m. BST. The final broke the record for the latest finish time in a World Snooker Championship final, narrowly beating the 2006 final by two minutes.

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 (2007-04-21 – 2007-05-07)
VenueCrucible Theatre
CitySheffield
CountryEngland
OrganisationWPBSA
FormatRanking event
Total prize fund£941,000
Winner's share£220,000
Highest break Ali Carter (ENG) (144)
Final
Champion John Higgins (SCO)
Runner-up Mark Selby (ENG)
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
  • There were five debutants in this year's tournament: future Masters champion Mark Allen was the only one of the five to win his opening match, knocking out third seed and 1997 Champion Ken Doherty 10–7.[1] Future world champion and future world number one Judd Trump won four qualifying matches, but lost 6–10 to Shaun Murphy after having led 6–5. Another future world number one, Ding Junhui, lost heavily to Ronnie O'Sullivan 2–10. David Gilbert led 7-time champion Stephen Hendry 5–1 at one stage before eventually losing 10–7. Irishman Joe Delaney won two final-frame deciders in Qualifying against Barry Pinches and double world semi-finalist Alan McManus, but was heavily defeated by Matthew Stevens 10–2 having trailed 0–5.
  • Former world champion John Parrott made his final appearance at the Crucible, beating Steve Davis 10–9 in the first round before losing 8–13 to Shaun Murphy in the last 16.[2][3]
  • There were final-frame opening round wins for qualifiers Fergal O'Brien and Joe Swail over Barry Hawkins and Mark Williams respectively, Swail coming from 0–4 down. Mark Selby was even further behind, 0–5 against Stephen Lee before winning 10–7.
  • Ian McCulloch qualified for the first time since his semi-final appearance in 2005. Having beaten defending champion Graeme Dott in the first round, he lost 8–13 to Anthony Hamilton in the last 16, and this would also prove to be his last appearance at the Crucible.
  • Before the tournament began, Ronnie O'Sullivan alleged that the WPBSA draw had been fixed,[4] after having been drawn in the first round against Ding, considered by bookmakers to be among the favourites for the title,[4][5] and noting that he had drawn European Open and UK Champion, Stephen Maguire, in both 2004 and 2005.[4] O'Sullivan later withdrew the accusation,[6] and made no formal complaint to the WPBSA, who maintain that the draw was genuine.[4]
  • 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.[7]
  • In frame 29 of his semi-final match, John Higgins compiled the Crucible's 1,000th century break.[8][9]
  • Future four-time world champion Mark Selby reached his first final this year. He had a surprising run to the final, as he was a qualifier, he had only made his Crucible debut two years earlier, and he had not previously progressed beyond the last 16.
  • The final had the latest finish in World Championship history, with the conclusion of the 31st and final frame coming at 12:54 a.m. BST, just two minutes later than in 2006.[10]
  • John Higgins' second world title came nine years after his first,[11] the longest gap between wins since his namesake Alex Higgins. This was the longest gap between titles at the Crucible until 2018.

Prize fund

The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:[12][13]

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.[12][14][15][16][17]

First round
Best of 19 frames		Second round
Best of 25 frames		Quarter-finals
Best of 25 frames		Semi-finals
Best of 33 frames		Final
Best of 35 frames
21 April
Scotland Graeme Dott (1)7
26, 27 & 28 April
England Ian McCulloch10
England Ian McCulloch8
21 & 22 April
England Anthony Hamilton (16)13
England Anthony Hamilton (16)10
1 & 2 May
Hong Kong Marco Fu3
England Anthony Hamilton (16)7
23 & 24 April
Scotland Stephen Maguire (9)13
Scotland Stephen Maguire (9)10
27 & 28 April
England Joe Perry3
Scotland Stephen Maguire (9)13
24 April
Northern Ireland Joe Swail8
Wales Mark Williams (8)9
3, 4 & 5 May
Northern Ireland Joe Swail10
Scotland Stephen Maguire (9)15
25 & 26 April
Scotland John Higgins (5)17
Scotland John Higgins (5)10
28, 29 & 30 April
England Michael Holt4
Scotland John Higgins (5)13
22 & 23 April
Republic of Ireland Fergal O'Brien4
England Barry Hawkins (12)9
1 & 2 May
Republic of Ireland Fergal O'Brien10
Scotland John Higgins (5)13
25 April
England Ronnie O'Sullivan (4)9
Australia Neil Robertson (13)10
29 & 30 April
Wales Ryan Day5
Australia Neil Robertson (13)10
22 & 23 April
England Ronnie O'Sullivan (4)13
England Ronnie O'Sullivan (4)10
6 & 7 May
China Ding Junhui2
Scotland John Higgins (5)18
23 & 24 April
England Mark Selby 13
Republic of Ireland Ken Doherty (3)7
27 & 28 April
Northern Ireland Mark Allen10
Northern Ireland Mark Allen9
21 & 22 April
Wales Matthew Stevens (14)13
Wales Matthew Stevens (14)10
1 & 2 May
Republic of Ireland Joe Delaney2
Wales Matthew Stevens (14)12
21 & 22 April
England Shaun Murphy (6)13
England Steve Davis (11)9
26 & 27 April
England John Parrott10
England John Parrott8
23 April
England Shaun Murphy (6)13
England Shaun Murphy (6)10
3, 4 & 5 May
England Judd Trump6
England Shaun Murphy (6)16
21 & 22 April
England Mark Selby 17
England Peter Ebdon (7)10
29 & 30 April
England Nigel Bond7
England Peter Ebdon (7)8
24 & 25 April
England Mark Selby13
England Stephen Lee (10)7
1 & 2 May
England Mark Selby10
England Mark Selby13
25 & 26 April
England Ali Carter (15)12
England Ali Carter (15)10
28, 29 & 30 April
England Andy Hicks4
England Ali Carter (15)13
24 & 25 April
Scotland Stephen Hendry (2)6
Scotland Stephen Hendry (2)10
England Dave Gilbert7
Final (Best of 35 frames) Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, 6 & 7 May 2007. Referee: Eirian Williams[18]
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
Scotland 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.[12][19]

Round 1

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

Round 2

England Bradley Jones5–0England Stephen Ormerod
England Les Doddw/o-w/dIndia David Singh
England Ali Bassiri0–5England Phil Seaton
England Del Smith5–0England 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.[12][19]

Round 1

Thailand Issara Kachaiwong8–10England Bradley Jones
Netherlands Roy Stolk10–7England Phil Seaton
England Ben Woollaston10–3England Del Smith
England James Leadbetter10–8England 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
England Alfie Burden10England Dave Gilbert10Northern Ireland Gerard Greene6England Mark King6
Scotland Robert Stephen9England Alfie Burden9England Dave Gilbert10England Dave Gilbert10
China Liu Song10Malta Tony Drago9England Adrian Gunnell10England Michael Holt10
New Zealand Dene O'Kane3China Liu Song10China Liu Song8England Adrian Gunnell7
England Judd Trump10Pakistan Shokat Ali7England Jamie Cope7Thailand James Wattana5
England Bradley Jones8England Judd Trump10England Judd Trump10England Judd Trump10
China Tian Pengfei10England Joe Jogia10Scotland Drew Henry10England Joe Perry10
Netherlands Roy Stolk2China Tian Pengfei4England Joe Jogia7Scotland Drew Henry5
England Mark Joyce10Finland Robin Hullw/dRepublic of Ireland Fergal O'Brien10England Stuart Bingham5
United Arab Emirates Mohammed Shehab6England Mark Joycew/oEngland Mark Joyce4Republic of Ireland Fergal O'Brien10
England Paul Wykes3England Rory McLeod10England Tom Ford8England Andy Hicks10
Malta Alex Borg10Malta Alex Borg6England Rory McLeod10England Rory McLeod4
England Lee Page10Wales Paul Davies10Republic of Ireland Michael Judge10Hong Kong Marco Fu10
Northern Ireland Dermot McGlinchey1England Lee Page1Wales Paul Davies5Republic of Ireland Michael Judge9
England Matthew Couch10England Jimmy Michie10England Mark Davis10China Ding Junhui10
Wales Jamie Jones5England Matthew Couch4England Jimmy Michie2England Mark Davis6
Wales Ian Preece10Republic of Ireland Joe Delaney10England Barry Pinches9Scotland Alan McManus9
England Ben Woollaston8Wales Ian Preece7Republic of Ireland Joe Delaney10Republic of Ireland Joe Delaney10
China Liang Wenbo10England Mike Dunn10England Dave Harold10Northern Ireland Joe Swail10
England Jeff Cundy5China Liang Wenbo3England Mike Dunn3England Dave Harold9
England Paul Davison10Scotland Jamie Burnett10England Jimmy White4England Nigel Bond10
England Peter Lines8England Paul Davison5Scotland Jamie Burnett10Scotland Jamie Burnett6
Thailand Passakorn Suwannawat10England David Roe8Scotland Marcus Campbell10Wales Ryan Day10
Germany Patrick Einsle4Thailand Passakorn Suwannawat10Thailand Passakorn Suwannawat9Scotland Marcus Campbell5
England Chris Melling6England Andrew Norman10Wales Dominic Dale10England Ian McCulloch10
Republic of Ireland David Morris10Republic of Ireland David Morris8England Andrew Norman8Wales Dominic Dale4
England Lee Spick10Northern Ireland Mark Allen10England Rod Lawler5England Robert Milkins4
England Sean Storey4England Lee Spick5Northern Ireland Mark Allen10Northern Ireland Mark Allen10
England Chris Norbury9England Stuart Pettman3England John Parrott10England David Gray7
England James Leadbetter10England James Leadbetter10England James Leadbetter7England John Parrott10
England Andrew Higginson10Scotland Scott MacKenzie6England Ricky Walden10England Mark Selby10
Scotland Mark Boyle4England Andrew Higginson10England Andrew Higginson9England Ricky Walden6

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.[20][21]

Qualifying stage centuries

[12]

References
  1. "Debutant overcomes nerves to stun Doherty". The Guardian. 24 April 2007. Archived from the original on 3 October 2014. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
  2. "Parrott edges out colleague Davis". BBC Sport. 22 April 2007. Archived from the original on 27 May 2007. Retrieved 22 April 2007.
  3. Everton, Clive (28 April 2007). "Murphy turns the screw and puts an end to Parrott's party". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 3 October 2015. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
  4. "O'Sullivan draw fix claim denied". BBC Sport. 17 April 2007. Archived from the original on 28 April 2007. Retrieved 27 April 2007.
  5. "World Championship – Outright". EasyOdds.com. Archived from the original on 27 April 2007. Retrieved 27 April 2007.
  6. Viner, Brian (20 April 2007). "Interview: Snooker player Ding Junhui". The Independent. UK. Archived from the original on 9 February 2010. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  7. "Stevens hit for six as Murphy prevails". WorldSnooker.com. 2 May 2007. Archived from the original on 13 January 2008.
  8. "Snooker: Selby pockets a place in the final; Snooker: 888.com World Championship from Sheffield". Sunday Sun on HighBeam Research. 6 May 2007. Archived from the original on 11 June 2014. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
  9. 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.
  10. "John Higgins held off a dogged fightback from Mark Selby to claim his second World Snooker Championship title at The Crucible". BBC Sport. 8 May 2007. Archived from the original on 23 April 2012. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  11. Weaver, Paul (7 May 2007). "Higgins rallies to take title after Selby comeback". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 6 May 2014. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
  12. "World Snooker Championship 2007". Global Snooker. Archived from the original on 10 March 2011. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
  13. Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 130.
  14. "888.Com World Championship 2007". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 27 March 2010. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
  15. "2007 World Championships Results". Snooker Database. Archived from the original on 27 August 2011. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
  16. "2007 888.com World Championship". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 19 August 2007.
  17. Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. pp. 64–65.
  18. Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 143.
  19. "2007 888.com World Championship Qualifying". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 19 August 2007.
  20. Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 152.
  21. "Crucible Centuries". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 23 May 2011. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
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