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
2017 World Snooker Championship at one point. The top 16 seeds automatically qualified for the last 32. Defending champion Mark Selby was seeded 1, while other seedings were allocated based on the latest world rankings. All the other players (from 17th place in ranking) started in the first round of qualifying and were required to win three best-of-19-frame matches to reach the Crucible. Qualifying rounds were held at the Ponds Forge International Sports Centre in Sheffield from 5 to 12 April 2017. After losing to Mark Selby in the China Open final, two-time former world champion Mark Williams failed to regain his place in