2002 World Snooker Championship

The 2002 Embassy World Snooker Championship 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 first world title by defeating seven-time World Champion Hendry 18–17 in the final.

Tournament summary

• Stuart Bingham narrowly missed out on a maximum break during his first-round match against Ken Doherty, making it to the final pink.
• Stephen Hendry reached his record ninth World Championship final and beat the eight set by Steve Davis in the 1980s. Hendry also took the record for century breaks in a world championship, as his 16 bettered John Higgins's total of 14 in 1998.
• Davis himself failed to qualify for the Championship for the second year in a row, losing to Finland's Robin Hull 8–10 at Newport.
• John Williams refereed his tenth World final. He retired from the game soon afterwards.
• Ebdon's victory made him the first man to win both his semi-final and final in deciding frames. Ebdon also required a snooker to stay in his semi-final match against Matthew Stevens.

Prize fund

The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:

• Winner: £260,000
• Runner-up: £152,000
• Semi-final: £76,000
• Quarter-final: £38,000
• Last 16: £21,000
• Last 32: £14,500
• Last 48: £11,000
• Last 64: £6,825

• Last 96: £4,150
• Last 128: £1,185

• Stage one highest break: £2,250
• Stage two highest break: £20,000

• Stage one maximum break: £5,000
• Stage two maximum break: £147,000

• Total: £1,615,770

Main draw

Shown below are the results for each round. The numbers in parentheses beside some of the players are their seeding ranks (each championship has 16 seeds and 16 qualifiers).

First round

Second round

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Best of 19 frames

Best of 25 frames

Best of 25 frames

Best of 33 frames

20 April

Ronnie O'Sullivan (1)

10

25 & 26 April

Drew Henry

5

Ronnie O'Sullivan (1)

13

24 April

Robert Milkins

2

Fergal O'Brien (16)

8

30 April & 1 May

Robert Milkins

10

Ronnie O'Sullivan (1)

13

23 April

Stephen Lee (8)

10

Paul Hunter (9)

9

28 & 29 April

Quinten Hann

10

Quinten Hann

3

22 & 23 April

Stephen Lee (8)

13

Stephen Lee (8)

10

2, 3 & 4 May

Chris Small

7

Ronnie O'Sullivan (1)

13

21 & 22 April

Stephen Hendry (5)

17

Stephen Hendry (5)

10

27 & 28 April

Shaun Murphy

4

Stephen Hendry (5)

13

24 & 25 April

Anthony Davies

3

Alan McManus (12)

7

30 April & 1 May

Anthony Davies

10

Stephen Hendry (5)

13

20 & 21 April

Ken Doherty (4)

12

Mark King (13)

10

26 & 27 April

David Gray

5

Mark King (13)

12

21 & 22 April

Ken Doherty (4)

13

Ken Doherty (4)

10

Stuart Bingham

8

24 & 25 April

John Higgins (3)

10

28 & 29 April

James Wattana

1

John Higgins (3)

13

20 & 21 April

Graeme Dott (14)

2

Graeme Dott (14)

10

30 April & 1 May

Robin Hull

6

John Higgins (3)

7

22 & 23 April

Matthew Stevens (6)

13

Jimmy White (11)

10

25 & 26 April

Dominic Dale

2

Jimmy White (11)

3

20 & 21 April

Matthew Stevens (6)

13

Matthew Stevens (6)

10

2, 3 & 4 May

Mike Dunn

6

Matthew Stevens (6)

16

22 April

Peter Ebdon (7)

17

Peter Ebdon (7)

10

26 & 27 April

Michael Judge

4

Peter Ebdon (7)

13

20 & 21 April

Joe Perry

7

Joe Swail (10)

6

30 April & 1 May

Joe Perry

10

Peter Ebdon (7)

13

23 & 24 April

Anthony Hamilton

6

Dave Harold (15)

6

27, 28 & 29 April

Anthony Hamilton

10

Anthony Hamilton

13

23 & 24 April

Mark Williams (2)

9

Mark Williams (2)

10

John Parrott

7

Final (Best of 35 frames) Crucible Theatre, Sheffield. 5 & 6 May. Referee: John Williams.
Stephen Hendry (5) Scotland	17 – 18	Peter Ebdon (7) England
0–94, 0–140, 13–73, 16–71, 126–0, 73–40, 119–4, 65–36, 0–134, 67–56, 9–68, 68–70, 14–77, 13–69, 70–4, 33–89, 32–69, 126–0, 108–0, 66–21, 89–36, 43–67, 110–0, 97–0, 127–1, 65–58, 22–103, 26–62, 74–30, 21–73, 0–111, 78–39, 4–85, 62–52, 14–72	Century breaks: 8 (Hendry 4, Ebdon 4) Highest break by Hendry: 126 Highest break by Ebdon: 134	0–94, 0–140, 13–73, 16–71, 126–0, 73–40, 119–4, 65–36, 0–134, 67–56, 9–68, 68–70, 14–77, 13–69, 70–4, 33–89, 32–69, 126–0, 108–0, 66–21, 89–36, 43–67, 110–0, 97–0, 127–1, 65–58, 22–103, 26–62, 74–30, 21–73, 0–111, 78–39, 4–85, 62–52, 14–72
Peter Ebdon wins the 2002 Embassy World Snooker Championship

Century breaks

There were 68 century breaks in this World Championship, a record which was equalled 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.

• 145, 135, 113, 105, 105, 105, 101 Matthew Stevens
• 141, 134, 132, 130, 126, 126, 125, 124, 122, 116, 113, 113, 111, 108, 104, 100 Stephen Hendry
• 138, 134, 127, 111, 108, 103, 102, 101, 100, 100 Peter Ebdon
• 136, 124, 116, 112, 109, 107, 105, 101 John Higgins
• 136, 119 Stephen Lee
• 135, 101 Dave Harold
• 134, 109 Stuart Bingham
• 134, 109, 100 Joe Perry

• 134 Alan McManus
• 132, 129, 115, 115, 113, 110, 110, 102 Ronnie O'Sullivan
• 120, 117, 106, 105 Ken Doherty
• 109, 106 Anthony Hamilton
• 107 Drew Henry
• 102 Michael Judge
• 101 Paul Hunter