2002 World Snooker Championship 2002 World Snooker Championship The 2002 World Snooker Championship (also referred to as the 2002 Embassy World Snooker Championship for the purposes of sponsorship) was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 20 April and 6 May 2002 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. Ronnie O'Sullivan was the defending champion, but he lost in the semi-finals 13 frames to 17 against Stephen Hendry and became another first time champion who fell to the Crucible curse and could not defend his first World title. Peter Ebdon won his only world title by defeating seven-time World Champion Hendry 18–17
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