The 2001 World Snooker Championship (officially the 2001 Embassy World Snooker Championship) was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 21 April to 7 May 2001 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was the 25th consecutive year that the World Snooker Championship was staged at the venue. Sponsored by cigarette brand Embassy, the tournament was the eighth and final ranking event of the 2000–01 season. The winner received £250,000 from a total prize pool of £1,532,000.
The top 16 players from the snooker world rankings were seeded through to the main stage at the Crucible. They were joined by the 16 winning players from qualifying rounds, which took place from 20 February to 4 March at the Newport Centre in Newport, Wales. Mark Williams was the defending champion, having defeated Matthew Stevens 18–16 in the final of the 2000 World Snooker Championship. He lost in a in his second-round match against Joe Swail, becoming the 10th player to experience the so-called Crucible curse, referring to the fact that no first-time champion had retained the title since the tournament moved to the Crucible in 1977. Ronnie O'Sullivan defeated John Higgins 18–14 in the final to claim his maiden world title. The main stage of the tournament produced 53 century breaks, of which the highest was a 140 compiled by Swail.
Background
The inaugural 1927 World Snooker Championship, then known as the Professional Championship of Snooker, took place at various venues in England between November 1926 and May 1927. Joe Davis won the final—held at Camkin's Hall in Birmingham from 9 to 12 May 1927—and went on to win the tournament 15 consecutive times before retiring undefeated after the 1946 edition (no tournaments were held from 1941 to 1945 because of World War II). The tournament went into abeyance after only two players contested the 1952 edition. The six editions of the World Professional Championship held between 1952 and 1957 are retroactively regarded as legitimate continuations of the World Snooker Championship, but that tournament was discontinued due to waning public interest in snooker in the post-war era. The world title was uncontested between 1958 and 1963.
Then-professional player Rex Williams was instrumental in reviving the World Snooker Championship on a challenge basis in 1964. John Pulman, winner of the 1957 World Professional Championship, defended the world title across seven challenge matches between 1964 and 1968. The World Snooker Championship reverted to an annual knockout tournament for the 1969 edition, marking the beginning of the championship's "modern era". The 1977 edition was the first staged at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, where it has remained since. The most successful player in the modern era was Stephen Hendry, having won the title seven times. Hendry was also the tournament's youngest winner, having captured his first title at the 1990 event, aged . Ray Reardon became the oldest winner when he secured his sixth title at the 1978 event, aged .
Overview The 2001 World Snooker Championship was the eighth and last ranking tournament of the 2000–01 snooker season, held after the Scottish Open. It took place from 21 April to 7 May. It was sponsored by cigarette brand Embassy. The 2001 edition marked the 25th consecutive year that the tournament was held at the Crucible and the 33rd successive year that the World Championship was contested through the modern knockout format. The defending champion was Mark Williams, who had defeated Matthew Stevens 18–16 in the final of the 2000 World Championship to win his first world title.
Format The top 16 players in the snooker world rankings were seeded through to the main stage at the Crucible Theatre. They faced 16 players who progressed through the qualifying rounds, which took place from 20 February to 4 March at the Newport Centre in Wales. First-round matches were played as the best of 19 , held over two . Second-round and quarter-final matches were played as the best of 25 frames, held over three sessions. The semi-final matches were played as the best of 33 frames, held over four sessions. The final was the best of 35 frames, also held over four sessions.
Prize fund The breakdown of prize money is shown below:
Winner: £250,000 Runner-up: £147,000 Semi-final: £73,000 Quarter-final: £36,500 Last 16: £20,000 Last 32: £14,000 Last 48: £10,500 Last 64: £6,600 Last 96: £4,000 Last 128: £1,100 Highest break: £20,000 Highest pre-TV break: £2,200 Highest pre-qualifying break: £2,200 Maximum break: £147,000 Total: £1,532,000
Summary First round The first round was played between 21 and 26 April as the best of 19 held over two . The defending champion, Mark Williams, defeated Billy Snaddon 10–4. The of the match was a 69 by Williams in the last frame. Paul Hunter fell 1–4 behind David Roe, but produced breaks of 130, 60, 52, 100, 55, 108, 87 and 61 to win 10–6. Dave Harold and Quinten Hann shared the first ten frames of their match, but Harold made two as he won five frames in a row to clinch victory. Anthony Hamilton won 10–4 over Marcus Campbell. Tony Drago scored in every frame save one of his match against Matthew Stevens, runner-up in the previous edition of the tournament, but lost 1–10. Peter Ebdon compiled breaks of 54, 55, 110, 55, 83, 99 and 67 as he defeated James Wattana 10–8. Andy Hicks only won two frames in his match against Ronnie O'Sullivan. Ken Doherty eliminated Nick Dyson with a 10–7 result in a contest that featured three century breaks.
Patrick Wallace produced breaks of 64, 135, 55, 69 and 52 for a 10–2 defeat of Alan McManus. Mark King manufactured a 137 break to go 8–6 in front of Fergal O'Brien. O'Brien tied the scores again at 8–8, but King won the match with two half-centuries. John Higgins established a 5–2 lead against Graeme Dott and secured a 10–4 victory making breaks of 139, 67, 136 and 80 in the process. Joe Swail took back-to-back frames against Sean Storey to force a , which he won. Chris Small made a century break in his 10–8 defeat of Marco Fu. Nigel Bond only won three frames in his duel with Stephen Lee. Breaks of 53, 78, 60 and 80 aided Stephen Hendry to a 10–5 win against Mark Davis.
Second round
The second round was played as the best of 25 frames, held over three sessions, between 26 and 30 April. Stevens made a century break as he raced into a 4–0 lead against Hamilton, who won the next frame with a 114 break. Stevens made three more centuries, including a 139, to clinch a 13–5 victory. Swail made a 91 break to force a decider against Williams and won the match with another half-century. This made Williams the 10th first-time champion who failed to defend his title since the tournament moved to the Crucible Theatre in 1977, succumbing to what has been called the 'Crucible curse'. O'Sullivan made breaks of 100, 92 and 73 for a 3–1 lead against Harold. O'Sullivan went on to win 13–6, with two more centuries. Doherty won 13–7 over Judge.
Higgins made breaks of 64, 67 and 103 as he took a 6–2 lead against Small. Higgins clinched a 13–8 victory with a half-century in the last frame. King lost 5–13 to Wallace, who won two long frames that lasted 49 and 42 minutes and two consecutive frames on the final . Hendry eliminated Hunter by the same margin, making breaks of 71, 129, 51, 100, 95, 54, 60, 65 and 54 in the process. Writing for The Guardian, Clive Everton praised Hendry, stating that "he hardly made a mistake in the tactical exchanges and still scored heavily enough." Lee took an early lead against Ebdon with breaks of 121 and 66. At 36 seconds per shot, Ebdon was said by Everton to have used "attritional tactics". The match went to a decider, which Ebdon won.
Quarter-finals The quarter-finals were played as the best of 25 frames, held over three sessions, between 1 and 2 May. Stevens and Hendry shared the first two frames of their match, but Stevens then made breaks of 87, 56 and 65 to go 5–1 in front. Hendry replied with a century break, but Stevens, who recorded a 134 break, went on to win 13–5. "I was just outplayed. Matthew [Stevens] was outstanding. If his isn't the best in snooker, it's very close," Hendry said. Breaks of 69 and 101 for Ebdon and of 57 and 82 for O'Sullivan meant that the first four frames of their encounter were shared. Ebdon then built a two-frame cushion, but O'Sullivan won nine consecutive frames, making breaks of 108, 67, 89, 54, 65, 50, 72, 57 and 54 in the process. O'Sullivan claimed victory with a 13–6 result. "He's the game's equivalent to Mozart—the snooker he produced was nothing short of sensational," Ebdon said of O'Sullivan.
Doherty made breaks of 114 and 91 as he took a 3–1 lead against Higgins. Higgins, who was 5–3 ahead at the end of the first session, went on to win the match 13–6, with breaks including 72, 98, 110, 139, 56, 113 and 105. In his match against Swail, Wallace built a 3–1 lead and then extended it to 6–2. Swail halved the deficit, making a 93 break along the way, and went in front for the first time at 8–7. Wallace was within one frame at 8–9, 9–10, 10–11 and 11–12, but Swail advanced into the semi-finals for a second consecutive year. "We've been practising together for about 12 years. Joe [Swail] invariably wins," Wallace said.
Semi-finals
The semi-finals were played as the best of 33 frames, held over four sessions, between 3 and 5 May. Swail faced O'Sullivan in the first semi-final. A 107 gave Swail the first frame, but O'Sullivan replied with a 73 break in the second to tie the match. Swail won the third frame, but O'Sullivan then took seven in succession, featuring breaks of 62, 58, 70, 108 and 119, for an 8–2 lead. Swail reduced the deficit by winning two frames before the . O'Sullivan won frame thirteen. In the next, he played a on the and for the to win the frame and go 10–4 ahead. Swail replied with a 92 and also took the last of the session to edge closer at 6–10. At the resumption, Swail missed a that was , allowing O'Sullivan to pot both pink and and secure the frame. He followed this with a 133 break in the next for a 12–6 advantage. Had he also potted the last black, he would have tied his rival for the highest break of the tournament, but he ran out of . Swail won frame nineteen by two points and also had a chance in the next, but O'Sullivan took it by three points, securing a 13–7 going into the mid-session interval, four frames away from a place in the final. O'Sullivan made a 79 break to win frame 21 by two points, but Swail produced breaks of 52 and 138 to go 9–14. O'Sullivan won the last frame of the session with an 84 break. The following day, Swail followed a on a with a 114 break. O'Sullivan, on his first break, however, he took frame 26. Swail reduced the deficit to five frames on the next, but O'Sullivan got a and a in frame 28 that allowed him to clinch victory and secure a place in the final for the first time. "I'm surprised I haven't been in the final before. When I was younger I thought I'd have won it once or twice by now," O'Sullivan said.