World Snooker Championship centuries in a professional match was set in the semi-final between Ding Junhui and Alan McManus, with Ding also setting a new record of seven centuries by one player in a World Championship match. Mark Selby and Marco Fu set a new record for the longest frame of snooker ever played at the Crucible, 76 minutes 11 seconds. Prize money for the 2017 Championship was a record £1,750,000 with the winner receiving £375,000. Prize money for first-round losers was a record £16,000, exceeding the £15,000 players received in 2003. In a high-quality and tightly contested semi-final, defending champion Mark Selby
Mark Selby once again faced Higgins in the first round and this time caused a huge upset by defeating the reigning Grand Prix and Masters champion 10–4, before being eliminated in the next round by Mark Williams. In the 2007 World Championship, Selby beat Stephen Lee 10–7 in the first round, having won eight successive frames from being 5–0 behind. He then defeated former World Champion Peter Ebdon 13–8, with five centuries (including three-in-a-row) to reach the quarter-finals. In the quarter-final, he beat Ali Carter 13–12, from 11–8 up and 11–12 down, in a match that lasted well over nine hours. He