Mark Selby of both the Masters and Welsh Open to Ronnie O'Sullivan, but won the Gdynia Open with a 4–1 victory over Martin Gould. Before the World Championship Selby withdrew from the PTC Finals and China Open due to personal reasons. He beat Robert Milkins 10–6, Sam Baird 13–11 and Kyren Wilson 13–8 to face Marco Fu in the semi-finals. Selby drew level at 12–12 thanks to winning a 76-minute frame, the longest in Crucible history and went on to win 17–15 with an excellent snooker on the brown in the final frame. He took a 6–0 lead over Ding Junhui in
2017 World Snooker Championship 20, O'Sullivan attempted a 147 maximum break. He ran out of position after potting the 13th red and had to take the pink instead of the black and made a clearance of 146, which still ended up as the highest break of the championship. Barry Hawkins reached his fourth Crucible semifinal in five years, beating Stephen Maguire, the only qualifier to reach the quarterfinals, 13–9. The semifinals saw a repeat of the 2016 final, with Mark Selby playing Ding Junhui. Selby would defeat Ding 17–15. Selby would be ahead for most of the match, pulling away from Ding after the