1997 World Snooker Championship 1997 World Snooker Championship The 1997 World Snooker Championship (akso referred to as the 1997 Embassy World Snooker Championship for the purposes of sponsorship) was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 19 April – 5 May 1997 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. Ken Doherty won his only World title by defeating defending champion Stephen Hendry 18–12 in the final. Doherty also became the first snooker player to win the World Championship at junior, amateur and professional level. The tournament was sponsored by cigarette manufacturer Embassy. The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown
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