1997 World Snooker Championship

The 1997 World Snooker Championship (also referred to as the 1997 Embassy World Snooker Championship for the purposes of sponsorship) was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 19 April and 5 May 1997. Staged at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England, the tournament was sponsored by cigarette manufacturer Embassy.

Ken Doherty won the only world title of his professional career by defeating the defending champion Stephen Hendry 18–12 in the final. The first player to win world championships at junior, amateur, and professional level, Doherty became the second player from outside the United Kingdom to win the title in the modern era, following Cliff Thorburn in 1980. Doherty remains the only world champion from the Republic of Ireland. Hendry's defeat in the final was his first loss in the World Championship since 1991, which ended his record 29 consecutive Crucible victories.

• The semi-final matches were best of 33 for the first time, having previously been best of 31.
• Ronnie O'Sullivan made the fastest maximum break in history with a time of 5 minutes and 8 seconds, and the fourth in the history of the tournament.
• Terry Griffiths' first round encounter against Mark Williams was his last ever professional match and meant that he retired having played 999 frames at The Crucible. This match was also three time World Champion Williams' Crucible debut.
• Other debutants this year were Bradley Jones (England); Graham Horne; David McLellan and future World Champion and twice runner-up Graeme Dott (all Scotland); Lee Walker and Dominic Dale (Wales). All these players lost in the first round except Dale and Walker, who reached the last-16 and quarter finals respectively. This meant that all three Welsh debutants won their first round matches.
• Alain Robidoux had his best run at the World Championship, reaching the semi-finals. The Canadian player lost 7–17 to Ken Doherty.
• James Wattana reached the semi-finals for the second time (after 1993) but the Thai player lost 13–17 to defending champion Stephen Hendry.
• Hendry's five-year run as World Champion came to an end after losing to Doherty 12–18. It was Hendry's first defeat at the World Championship since 1991, spanning 29 matches, a Crucible record.
• Doherty became only the second player from outside the United Kingdom to win the world title in the modern era, following Cliff Thorburn in 1980.
• Alan Chamberlain refereed his first and only World Championship final. He was the first referee since Jim Thorpe in 1984 to officiate a debut final. All finals up to this year were officiated by either John Williams, Len Ganley or John Street. The next four years also had referees debuting the final: Lawrie Annandale in 1998, Colin Brinded in 1999, John Newton in 2000 and Eirian Williams in 2001, before John Williams did his 10th final in 2002.

The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:

• Winner: £210,000
• Runner-up: £126,000
• Semi-finalist: £63,000
• Quarter-finalist: £31,500
• Last 16: £16,800
• Last 32: £9,450
• Highest break: £18,000
• Maximum break: £147,000
• Total £1,260,000

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).

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

19 April

Stephen Hendry (1)

10

25 & 26 April

Andy Hicks

6

Stephen Hendry (1)

13

19 & 20 April

Mark Williams (16)

8

Mark Williams (16)

10

29 & 30 April

Terry Griffiths

9

Stephen Hendry (1)

13

20 & 21 April

Darren Morgan (9)

10

Darren Morgan (9)

10

24, 25 & 26

Gary Wilkinson

5

Darren Morgan (9)

13

20 & 21 April

Ronnie O'Sullivan (8)

12

Ronnie O'Sullivan (8)

10

1, 2 & 3 May

Mick Price

6

Stephen Hendry (1)

17

22 April

James Wattana (12)

13

Nigel Bond (5)

8

27 & 28 April

Stephen Lee

10

Stephen Lee

7

23 & 24 April

James Wattana (12)

13

James Wattana (12)

10

29 & 30 April

Graeme Dott

9

James Wattana (12)

13

23 April

John Parrott (4)

10

Jimmy White (13)

9

26, 27 & 28 April

Anthony Hamilton

10

Anthony Hamilton

11

21 & 22 April

John Parrott (4)

13

John Parrott (4)

10

4 & 5 May

Bradley Jones

9

Stephen Hendry (1)

12

19 & 20 April

Ken Doherty (7)

18

Peter Ebdon (3)

3

25 & 26 April

Stefan Mazrocis

10

Stefan Mazrocis

9

22 & 23 April

Alain Robidoux (14)

13

Alain Robidoux (14)

10

29 & 30 April

Brian Morgan

8

Alain Robidoux (14)

13

19 & 20 April

Lee Walker

8

Dave Harold (11)

7

24 & 25 April

Lee Walker

10

Lee Walker

13

21 & 22 April

Alan McManus (6)

10

Alan McManus (6)

10

1 & 2 May

Billy Snaddon

9

Alain Robidoux (14)

7

19 & 20

Ken Doherty (7)

17

Ken Doherty (7)

10

26 & 27 April

Mark Davis

8

Ken Doherty (7)

13

21 April

Steve Davis (10)

3

Steve Davis (10)

10

29 & 30 April

David McLellan

2

Ken Doherty (7)

13

23 & 24 April

John Higgins (2)

9

Tony Drago (15)

9

27 & 28 April

Dominic Dale

10

Dominic Dale

5

22 & 23 April

John Higgins (2)

13

John Higgins (2)

10

Graham Horne

6

Final (Best of 35 frames) Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, 4 & 5 May 1997. Referee: Alan Chamberlain
Stephen Hendry (1)  Scotland	12–18	Ken Doherty (7)  Ireland
7–67, 117–5, 106–0, 13–77, 9–78, 51–75, 11–69, 122–0, 76–12, 32–89, 55–62, 43–57, 13–65, 50–85, 74–47, 28–60, 70–23, 24–71, 110–4, 0–86, 16–85, 45–59, 137–0, 75–12, 61–30, 114–0, 61–57, 23–82, 19–69, 49–71	Century breaks: 5 (Hendry 5) Highest break by Hendry: 137 Highest break by Doherty: 85	7–67, 117–5, 106–0, 13–77, 9–78, 51–75, 11–69, 122–0, 76–12, 32–89, 55–62, 43–57, 13–65, 50–85, 74–47, 28–60, 70–23, 24–71, 110–4, 0–86, 16–85, 45–59, 137–0, 75–12, 61–30, 114–0, 61–57, 23–82, 19–69, 49–71
Ken Doherty wins the 1997 Embassy World Snooker Championship

There were 39 century breaks in this year's championship.

The qualifying matches were held between 2 January and March 1997 at the Newport Centre in Newport, Wales. The last round was played at Telford International Centre, Telford on 24 and 25 March 1997.

Round 2 (Best of 19 frames)	Round 3 (Best of 19 frames)
Matthew Stevens 10–7 Jason Prince	Andy Hicks 10–7 Matthew Stevens
Alfie Burden 10–6 Barry Pinches	Terry Griffiths 10–4 Alfie Burden
Michael Judge 10–5 Anthony Davies	Gary Wilkinson 10–9 Michael Judge
Jimmy Michie 10–9 Paul Davies	Mick Price 10–9 Jimmy Michie
Drew Henry 10–3 Alan Burnett	Stephen Lee 10–5 Drew Henry
Graeme Dott 10–7 Geoff Dunn	Graeme Dott 10–8 Joe Swail
Karl Broughton 10–5 Fergal O'Brien	Anthony Hamilton 10–5 Karl Broughton
Bradley Jones 10–9 Jamie Burnett	Bradley Jones 10–4 David Finbow
Stefan Mazrocis 10–9 Jason Weston	Stefan Mazrocis 10–4 Chris Small
Brian Morgan 10–7 Nick Pearce	Brian Morgan 10–6 Dene O'Kane
Lee Walker 10–8 Euan Henderson	Lee Walker 10–7 Dennis Taylor
Billy Snaddon 10–3 Paul Davison	Billy Snaddon 10–7 Rod Lawler
Mark Davis 10–6 Terry Murphy	Mark Davis 10–5 Jason Ferguson
David McLellan 10–6 Nick Dyson	David McLellan 10–9 Neal Foulds
Dominic Dale 10–3 Jonathan Birch	Dominic Dale 10–6 Willie Thorne
Graham Horne 10–6 Mark King	Graham Horne 10–7 Steve James