World Snooker Championship successive title. There were 48 century breaks during the final stages, a new record. In the first round of 1997 championship Ronnie O'Sullivan made the fastest maximum break in snooker history, taking just 5 minutes and 20 seconds. The final was between Stephen Hendry and Irishman Ken Doherty. Doherty led 15–7 before Hendry won 5 frames in a row. Doherty then won the next three frames to win 18–12, ending Hendry's winning run of 29 consecutive matches. Stephen Hendry lost to Jimmy White in the first round of the 1998 championship. Doherty reached the final again meeting 22-year-old John Higgins.
1947 World Snooker Championship would no longer play in the World Championship. Davis did not, in any other sense, retire from snooker, continuing to play in other tournaments and exhibition matches for many years. Walter Donaldson won the title by defeating Fred Davis 82–63 in the final, although he already reached the winning margin at 73–49. Davis made the highest break of the tournament with a 135 clearance in frame 86 of the final, just one short of the championship record. Source: Qualifying matches were held at Burroughes Hall in London from 2 January to 8 February 1947. Herbert Holt had scratched from the