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.
2002 World Snooker Championship in 2007 and superseded in 2009. The highest break of the tournament was 145, made by Matthew Stevens during his quarter-final match against Higgins. This was just the second time that the highest break of the tournament was 145, after Doug Mountjoy's in 1981. Hendry made 16 century breaks during the tournament, the record for most centuries at a ranking event. 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