2011 World Snooker Championship

The 2011 World Snooker Championship (also referred to as the 2011 Betfred.com World Snooker Championship for the purposes of sponsorship) was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 16 April and 2 May 2011 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was the 35th consecutive year that the World Snooker Championship had been held at the Crucible and was the last ranking event of the 2010/2011 season. The event was organised by the WPBSA and had a prize fund of £1,111,000. The tournament was sponsored by Betfred.com.

Betfred.com
World Snooker Championship
Tournament information
Dates16 April – 2 May 2011
VenueCrucible Theatre
CitySheffield
CountryEngland
Organisation(s)WPBSA
FormatRanking event
Total prize fund£1,111,000
Winner's share£250,000
Highest break Ding Junhui (138)
Mark King (138)
Final
Champion John Higgins
Runner-up Judd Trump
Score18–15
← 2010
2012 →

Neil Robertson was the defending champion, but lost 8–10 against Judd Trump in the first round. Trump became the youngest player since 1990 to reach the final where he lost to John Higgins. This was Higgins' fourth world title, becoming only the fourth man to win four or more championships. Ding Junhui meanwhile became the first player from China to reach the semi-finals. Mark King and Ding Junhui made the highest breaks at the Crucible with 138; while James Wattana compiled the highest break of the tournament during qualifying with 141.

An audience of 3.93 million viewers watched the final session in Great Britain with 2.03 million watching the third session of the final.[1] The second and fourth sessions of the final was the most watched programme on BBC Two for their particular weeks. Viewing figures on the BBC peaked at 6.6 million viewers. The figure of 3.9 million who watched the final session was up 50% on the year before. It was estimated that nearly half of the UK population watched the tournament at some point. In China, Ding Junhui's semi-final had an average watch of 19.4 million with a peak audience of 30 million over seven television networks.[2] A record number of fans bought tickets, with the last four days and other sessions sold out with sales up 15% on 2010.[3]

Tournament summary

First round

Second round
  • Mark Selby made three records in his 13–4 victory over Stephen Hendry.[15] Selby became the first snooker player to compile six century breaks at a World Championship match in the Crucible.[16][17][18] This was also a record for a best of 25 frame match and took the number of Selby's century breaks in the season to 54, a record previously held by Hendry.[17][19]
  • Ding Junhui came back from 9–12 to defeat Stuart Bingham 13–12. Ding qualified for the quarter-finals of the World Championship for the first time in his career.[20]

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals
  • Judd Trump defeated Ding Junhui 17–15 in an absorbing match to become the second youngest player, after Stephen Hendry in 1990, to reach the final of the World Championship.[26] Trump also reached his second consecutive ranking final after winning the China Open at the start of the month.[27] In China, the second session of the match drew a peak audience of nearly 30 million viewers and averaging over 19 million, with the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association claiming it was the highest rated sports programme of 2011 up to that point;[28] however, the Women's Tennis Association claimed that the women's singles final of the Australian Open held earlier in the year drew an audience of 60 million viewers on Chinese television.[29][30]
  • Mark Williams won the first session 5–3, and could maintain his advantage after the second session, which ended 4–4. John Higgins then won six of the next eight frames, to lead 13–11. Higgins won the match 17–14 to reach his third final in five years.[31] During the 28th frame Higgins was heckled by a member of the audience, "How did you swallow that £300,000, John? ... You're a disgrace to snooker." in reference to the News of the World allegations the previous year, for which the heckler was later ejected from the venue.[32]

Final
  • Ted Lowe, BBC commentator for many years and the deviser of the long-running snooker programme Pot Black, died at the age of 90 on the morning of 1 May. Before the start of the final that day, a minute's applause in honour of Lowe took place.[33]
  • The referee of the final was Jan Verhaas, who refereed his fourth World Championship final.[34][35]
  • There was a small format change with sessions of 8, 9, 8 and 10 frames rather than 8, 8, 8 and 11.
  • After the first session was tied at four frames all, Trump won the second session 6–3 to take a 10–7 lead into the second day's play.[36][37] Higgins took a 13–12 lead after the third session of the final, which he won 6–2.[38] The score levelled at fourteen frames all, but Higgins won four of the last five frames to win the match 18–15. Higgins won his 24th ranking title and became only the fourth player to win the World Championship four times in the modern era after Ray Reardon, Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry.[39]
  • The highest break of the tournament was 138 made by both Mark King and Ding Junhui. This was the first time that the highest break of the tournament was lower than 140 since 1987, when it was 127 made by Steve Davis.[40]

Prize fund

In an effort of World Snooker to cut costs there was no separate prize money for a maximum break. In previous years the prize money for this achievement was £147,000.[41] For the 2011 tournament there was a £1,111,000 prize fund with the winner receiving £250,000. The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:[42][43][44]

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).[45][46][47][48] The draw for the first round took place on 21 March 2011, one day after the Players Tour Championship Finals.[4][49]

First round Second round Quarter-finals Semi-finals
Best of 19 frames Best of 25 frames Best of 25 frames Best of 33 frames
                           
16 April            
  Neil Robertson (1)  8
21, 22 & 23 April
  Judd Trump  10  
  Judd Trump  13
19 & 20 April
    Martin Gould  6  
  Marco Fu (16)  8
26 & 27 April
  Martin Gould  10  
  Judd Trump  13
19 & 20 April
    Graeme Dott (9)  5  
  Graeme Dott (9)  10
22 & 23 April
  Mark King  7  
  Graeme Dott (9)  13
16 & 17 April
    Ali Carter (8)  11  
  Ali Carter (8)  10
28, 29 & 30 April
  Dave Harold  3  
  Judd Trump  17
17 & 18 April
    Ding Junhui (5)  15
  Ding Junhui (5)  10
24 & 25 April
  Jamie Burnett  2  
  Ding Junhui (5)  13
18 & 19 April
    Stuart Bingham  12  
  Peter Ebdon (12)  8
26 & 27 April
  Stuart Bingham  10  
  Ding Junhui (5)  13
17 & 18 April
    Mark Selby (4)  10  
  Stephen Hendry (13)  10
23, 24 & 25 April
  Joe Perry  9  
  Stephen Hendry (13)  4
20 & 21 April
    Mark Selby (4)  13  
  Mark Selby (4)  10
  Jimmy Robertson  1  
16 & 17 April            
  Mark Williams (3)  10
21 & 22 April
  Ryan Day  5  
  Mark Williams (3)  13
16 & 17 April
    Jamie Cope (14)  4  
  Jamie Cope (14)  10
26 & 27 April
  Andrew Pagett  7  
  Mark Williams (3)  13
19 & 20 April
    Mark Allen (11)  5  
  Mark Allen (11)  10
22 & 23 April
  Matthew Stevens  9  
  Mark Allen (11)  13
18 April
    Barry Hawkins  12  
  Stephen Maguire (6)  9
28, 29 & 30 April
  Barry Hawkins  10  
  Mark Williams (3)  14
16 & 17 April
    John Higgins (2)  17
  Shaun Murphy (7)  10
23, 24 & 25 April
  Marcus Campbell  1  
  Shaun Murphy (7)  10
18 & 19 April
    Ronnie O'Sullivan (10)  13  
  Ronnie O'Sullivan (10)  10
26 & 27 April
  Dominic Dale  2  
  Ronnie O'Sullivan (10)  10
19 & 20 April
    John Higgins (2)  13  
  Ricky Walden (15)  6
24 & 25 April
  Rory McLeod  10  
  Rory McLeod  7
20 & 21 April
    John Higgins (2)  13  
  John Higgins (2)  10
  Stephen Lee  5  
Final (Best of 35 frames) Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, 1 & 2 May 2011. Referee: Jan Verhaas.[50]
Judd Trump
 England		 15–18 John Higgins (2)
 Scotland
64–19, 76–1, 38–73, 54–75, 5–115, 113–0, 68–69, 56–19, 20–64, 67–45, 68–0, 127–0, 38–63, 25–64, 77–18, 60–9, 69–36, 8–64, 113–0, 0–97, 99–0, 55–65, 35–93, 1–113, 8–77, 38–66, 78–0, 60–38, 52–64, 35–65, 75–52, 44–64, 61–62 Century breaks: 4
(Trump 3, Higgins 1)

Highest break by Trump: 104
Highest break by Higgins: 113

 64–19, 76–1, 38–73, 54–75, 5–115, 113–0, 68–69, 56–19, 20–64, 67–45, 68–0, 127–0, 38–63, 25–64, 77–18, 60–9, 69–36, 8–64, 113–0, 0–97, 99–0, 55–65, 35–93, 1–113, 8–77, 38–66, 78–0, 60–38, 52–64, 35–65, 75–52, 44–64, 61–62
John Higgins wins the 2011 Betfred.com World Snooker Championship

Preliminary qualifying

The preliminary qualifying rounds for the tournament took place on 3 March 2011 at the World Snooker Academy in Sheffield. (WPBSA members not on The Tour.)[51][52][53][54]

Round 1

Sam Baird5–1 Colin Mitchell
Tony Brown2–5 Ali Bassiri
David Singh4–5 David Gray
Ian Stark5–2 Paul Cavney
Philip Minchin0–5 Stephen Rowlings
Tony Knowles4–5 Del Smith
Les Dodd4–5 Stephen Ormerod

Round 2

Neil Selman3–5 Sam Baird
Ali Bassiri0–5 David Gray
Ian Stark0–5 Stephen Rowlings
Del Smith5–0 Stephen Ormerod

Qualifying

The qualifying rounds 1–4 for the tournament took place between 4 and 10 March 2011 at the World Snooker Academy in Sheffield. The final round of qualifying took place between 12 and 13 March 2011 at the same venue.[51][52][53][54]

Round 1

Reanne Evans6–10 Sam Baird
Jak Jones3–10 Stephen Rowlings

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
                               
Kyren Wilson 10   Joe Swail 6   Rory McLeod 10   Mark Davis 5
Dermot McGlinchey 5   Kyren Wilson 10   Kyren Wilson 3   Rory McLeod 10
Liu Song 10   Adrian Gunnell 9   Mark Joyce 6   Joe Perry 10
Michael Judge 8   Liu Song 10   Liu Song 10   Liu Song 6
James Wattana 10   Andy Hicks 2   Jamie Burnett 10   Liang Wenbo 7
Justin Astley 3   James Wattana 10   James Wattana 8   Jamie Burnett 10
Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon 8   Alfie Burden 7   Mike Dunn 10   Mark King 10
Sam Baird 10   Sam Baird 10   Sam Baird 9   Mike Dunn 5
James McBain 10   Ian McCulloch 5   Michael Holt 10   Dominic Dale 10
Issara Kachaiwong 9   James McBain 10   James McBain 8   Michael Holt 6
Igor Figueiredo 5   Joe Jogia 10   Robert Milkins 10   Martin Gould 10
Joe Delaney 10   Joe Delaney 4   Joe Jogia 4   Robert Milkins 6
Liu Chuang 10   Jimmy White 9   Tom Ford 8   Ryan Day 10
David Gray 3   Liu Chuang 10   Liu Chuang 10   Liu Chuang 7
David Morris 8   Barry Pinches 7   Peter Lines 6   Judd Trump 10
David Gilbert 10   Dave Gilbert 10   Dave Gilbert 10   Dave Gilbert 4
Paul Davison 10   Anthony McGill 7   Fergal O'Brien 10   Matthew Stevens 10
Stephen Rowlings 5   Paul Davison 10   Paul Davison 4   Fergal O'Brien 9
Patrick Wallace 10   Rod Lawler 5   Matthew Selt 10   Marcus Campbell 10
Del Smith 2   Patrick Wallace 10   Patrick Wallace 9   Matthew Selt 6
Michael White 10   Matthew Couch 3   Anthony Hamilton 10   Barry Hawkins 10
Adam Wicheard 2   Michael White 10   Michael White 7   Anthony Hamilton 5
Liam Highfield 8   Jack Lisowski 10   Steve Davis 10   Stephen Lee 10
Kuldesh Johal 10   Kuldesh Johal 7   Jack Lisowski 9   Steve Davis 2
Simon Bedford 10   Jamie Jones 10   Dave Harold 10   Gerard Greene 9
Noppon Saengkham 3   Simon Bedford 6   Jamie Jones 9   Dave Harold 10
Ben Woollaston 10   Stuart Pettman 10   Alan McManus 10   Stuart Bingham 10
Jamie O'Neill 8   Ben Woollaston 5   Stuart Pettman 8   Alan McManus 2
Andrew Pagett 10   Bjorn Haneveer 4   Nigel Bond 9   Andrew Higginson 6
Zhang Anda 6   Andrew Pagett 10   Andrew Pagett 10   Andrew Pagett 10
Xiao Guodong 10   Jimmy Robertson 10   Tony Drago 8   Ken Doherty 6
Kurt Maflin 9   Xiao Guodong 9   Jimmy Robertson 10   Jimmy Robertson 10

Century breaks

Televised stage centuries

There were 74 century breaks in the televised stage of the World Championship.[55][56]

Qualifying stage centuries

There were 73 century breaks in the qualifying stage of the World Championship.[55]

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