2016 World Snooker Championship new record for the most centuries made by a player in a World Championship match, beating the previous record of six centuries set by Joe Davis in 1946, Mark Selby in 2011, and Ronnie O'Sullivan in 2013. Ding's seven centuries equalled the record for the most by one player in any professional snooker match, set by Stephen Hendry in the 1994 UK Championship final. In total, 10 centuries were made in the match, which was a record in professional play, surpassing the previous record of 8 which had been first achieved in the 1999 semifinal by Hendry and O'Sullivan. 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