The 2005 World Snooker Championship (also referred to as the 2005 Embassy World Snooker Championship for the purposes of sponsorship) was a professional snooker tournament that took place at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. The tournament started on 16 April, and ended on 2 May 2005. The event was the eighth and final world ranking event of the 2004–05 snooker season, following the 2005 China Open. The event was organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Due to laws banning advertising cigarettes in Great Britain, this was the last time the event was sponsored by the cigarette company Embassy. The event had a prize fund of £1,121,800, with the winner receiving £250,000.
Ronnie O'Sullivan was the defending champion, having defeated Graeme Dott in the 2004 World Snooker Championship final. O'Sullivan lost in the quarter-finals 11–13 against Peter Ebdon. Qualifier Shaun Murphy won his first ranking title by defeating Matthew Stevens 18–16 in the final. This was the first time that a qualifier won the championship since Terry Griffiths did so in 1979. Murphy aged 22 years and 265 days is the second youngest winner of the event after Stephen Hendry in 1990. There was a total of 63 century breaks made during the tournament, the highest being a maximum made by Mark Williams in the first round.
Overview
The World Snooker Championship is an annual cue sport tournament and the official world championship of the game of snooker. Founded in the late 19th century by British Army soldiers stationed in India, the sport was popular in Great Britain. In modern times it has been played worldwide, especially in East and Southeast Asian nations such as China, Hong Kong and Thailand. The event was sponsored by the cigarette company Embassy. This was the last event to be sponsored by Embassy, after cigarette advertising was banned within the United Kingdom. The following season was sponsored by 888.com.
In the 2005 tournament, 32 professional players competed in one-on-one snooker matches played over several , using a single elimination format. The 32 players were selected for the event using the snooker world rankings and a pre-tournament qualification competition. In 1927, the first world championship was won by Joe Davis. The event's final took place in Camkin's Hall, Birmingham, England. Since 1977, the event has been held at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. Ronnie O'Sullivan had won the 2004 championship by defeating Scotland's Graeme Dott in the final 18–8. This was the second time O'Sullivan had won the world championship, the first being in 2001. The event was organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. The event was broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC.
Format
The 2005 World Snooker Championship took place from 16 April to 2 May 2005 in Sheffield, England. The tournament was the last of eight ranking events in the 2004–05 snooker season on the World Snooker Tour. It featured a 32-player main draw that was held at the Crucible Theatre, as well as a 70-player qualifying draw that was played at the Pontin's, Prestatyn Sands, from 6 February to 24 March. This was the 29th consecutive year that the tournament had been staged at the Crucible. The draw for the championships was held after qualifying on 28 March.
The top 16 players in the latest world rankings automatically qualified for the main draw as seeded players. Ronnie O'Sullivan was seeded first overall as the defending champion, and the remaining 15 seeds were allocated based on the latest world rankings. The number of frames required to win a match increased throughout the tournament. The first round consisted of best-of-19-frames matches, with the final match being played over a maximum of 35 frames. All 16 non-seeded spots in the main draw were filled with players from the qualifying rounds. The draw for the qualifying competition consisted of 70 players from the World Snooker Tour. Players were seeded by their world ranking, with 16 players added in rounds 2–5. Players who won round five qualified for the main draw.
Prize fund
There was a total prize fund of £1,121,800, with the winner receiving £250,000. In making a maximum break, Mark Williams earned a bonus of £147,000. The breakdown of prize money for the event is shown below: