2011 World Snooker Championship

The 2011 World Snooker Championship (also referred to as the 2011 Betfred.com World Snooker Championship for the purposes of sponsorship) was a professional snooker tournament that took place between 16 April and 2 May 2011 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was the 35th consecutive year that the World Snooker Championship had been held at the Crucible and was the last ranking event of the 2010-11 snooker season. The event was organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association and had a total prize fund of £1,111,000, with £250,000 going to the winner of the event. The tournament was sponsored by sports betting company Betfred.

2011 Betfred.com World Snooker Championship
Tournament information
Dates16 April – 2 May 2011
VenueCrucible Theatre
CitySheffield
CountryEngland
Organisation(s)WPBSA
FormatRanking event
Total prize fund£1,111,000
Winner's share£250,000
Highest break
Final
Champion John Higgins (SCO)
Runner-up Judd Trump (ENG)
Score18–15
2010
2012

Neil Robertson was the defending champion, but lost 8–10 against Judd Trump in the first round. Trump became the youngest player since 1990 to reach the final where he lost to John Higgins. This was Higgins' fourth world title, becoming only the fourth man to win four or more championships. Ding Junhui meanwhile became the first player from China to reach the semi-finals. Mark King and Ding Junhui made the highest breaks at the Crucible with 138; while James Wattana compiled the highest break of the tournament during qualifying with 141.

An audience of 3.93 million viewers watched the final session in Great Britain with 2.03 million watching the third session of the final.[1] The second and fourth sessions of the final was the most watched programme on BBC Two for their particular weeks. Viewing figures on the BBC peaked at 6.6 million viewers. The figure of 3.9 million who watched the final session was up 50% on the year before. It was estimated that nearly half of the UK population watched the tournament at some point. In China, Ding Junhui's semi-final had an average watch of 19.4 million with a peak audience of 30 million over seven television networks.[2] A record number of fans bought tickets, with the last four days and other sessions sold out with sales up 15% on 2010.[3]

Tournament summary

First round

Second round

  • Mark Selby made three records in his 13–4 victory over Stephen Hendry.[15] Selby became the first snooker player to compile six century breaks at a World Championship match in the Crucible.[16][17][18] This was also a record for a best of 25 frame match and took the number of Selby's century breaks in the season to 54, a record previously held by Hendry.[17][19]
  • Ding Junhui came back from 9–12 to defeat Stuart Bingham 13–12. Ding qualified for the quarter-finals of the World Championship for the first time in his career.[20]

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

  • Judd Trump defeated Ding Junhui 17–15 in an absorbing match to become the second youngest player, after Stephen Hendry in 1990, to reach the final of the World Championship.[26] Trump also reached his second consecutive ranking final after winning the China Open at the start of the month.[27] In China, the second session of the match drew a peak audience of nearly 30 million viewers and averaging over 19 million, with the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association claiming it was the highest rated sports programme of 2011 up to that point;[28] however, the Women's Tennis Association claimed that the women's singles final of the Australian Open held earlier in the year drew an audience of 60 million viewers on Chinese television.[29][30]
  • Mark Williams won the first session 5–3, and could maintain his advantage after the second session, which ended 4–4. John Higgins then won six of the next eight frames, to lead 13–11. Higgins won the match 17–14 to reach his third final in five years.[31] During the 28th frame Higgins was heckled by a member of the audience, "How did you swallow that £300,000, John? ... You're a disgrace to snooker." in reference to the News of the World allegations the previous year, for which the heckler was later ejected from the venue.[32]

Final

  • Ted Lowe, BBC commentator for many years and the deviser of the long-running snooker programme Pot Black, died at the age of 90 on the morning of 1 May. Before the start of the final that day, a minute's applause in honour of Lowe took place.[33]
  • The referee of the final was Jan Verhaas, who refereed his fourth World Championship final.[34][35]
  • There was a small format change with sessions of 8, 9, 8 and 10 frames rather than 8, 8, 8 and 11.
  • After the first session was tied at four frames all, Trump won the second session 6–3 to take a 10–7 lead into the second day's play.[36][37] Higgins took a 13–12 lead after the third session of the final, which he won 6–2.[38] The score levelled at fourteen frames all, but Higgins won four of the last five frames to win the match 18–15. Higgins won his 24th ranking title and became only the fourth player to win the World Championship four times in the modern era after Ray Reardon, Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry.[39]
  • The highest break of the tournament was 138 made by both Mark King and Ding Junhui. This was the first time that the highest break of the tournament was lower than 140 since 1987, when it was 127 made by Steve Davis.[40]

Prize fund

In an effort of World Snooker to cut costs there was no separate prize money for a maximum break. In previous years the prize money for this achievement was £147,000.[41] For the 2011 tournament there was a £1,111,000 prize fund with the winner receiving £250,000. The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:[42][43][44]

Main draw

Below is the full draw for the main stage of the tournament. The numbers in brackets denote player seeding, whilst those in bold denote match winners.[45][46][47][48] The draw for the first round took place on 21 March 2011, one day after the Players Tour Championship Finals.[4][49]

First round Second round Quarter-finals Semi-finals
Best of 19 frames Best of 25 frames Best of 25 frames Best of 33 frames
                           
16 April            
  Neil Robertson (1)  8
21, 22 & 23 April
  Judd Trump  10  
  Judd Trump  13
19 & 20 April
    Martin Gould  6  
  Marco Fu (16)  8
26 & 27 April
  Martin Gould  10  
  Judd Trump  13
19 & 20 April
    Graeme Dott (9)  5  
  Graeme Dott (9)  10
22 & 23 April
  Mark King  7  
  Graeme Dott (9)  13
16 & 17 April
    Ali Carter (8)  11  
  Ali Carter (8)  10
28, 29 & 30 April
  Dave Harold  3  
  Judd Trump  17
17 & 18 April
    Ding Junhui (5)  15
  Ding Junhui (5)  10
24 & 25 April
  Jamie Burnett  2  
  Ding Junhui (5)  13
18 & 19 April
    Stuart Bingham  12  
  Peter Ebdon (12)  8
26 & 27 April
  Stuart Bingham  10  
  Ding Junhui (5)  13
17 & 18 April
    Mark Selby (4)  10  
  Stephen Hendry (13)  10
23, 24 & 25 April
  Joe Perry  9  
  Stephen Hendry (13)  4
20 & 21 April
    Mark Selby (4)  13  
  Mark Selby (4)  10
  Jimmy Robertson  1  
16 & 17 April            
  Mark Williams (3)  10
21 & 22 April
  Ryan Day  5  
  Mark Williams (3)  13
16 & 17 April
    Jamie Cope (14)  4  
  Jamie Cope (14)  10
26 & 27 April
  Andrew Pagett  7  
  Mark Williams (3)  13
19 & 20 April
    Mark Allen (11)  5  
  Mark Allen (11)  10
22 & 23 April
  Matthew Stevens  9  
  Mark Allen (11)  13
18 April
    Barry Hawkins  12  
  Stephen Maguire (6)  9
28, 29 & 30 April
  Barry Hawkins  10  
  Mark Williams (3)  14
16 & 17 April
    John Higgins (2)  17
  Shaun Murphy (7)  10
23, 24 & 25 April
  Marcus Campbell  1  
  Shaun Murphy (7)  10
18 & 19 April
    Ronnie O'Sullivan (10)  13  
  Ronnie O'Sullivan (10)  10
26 & 27 April
  Dominic Dale  2  
  Ronnie O'Sullivan (10)  10
19 & 20 April
    John Higgins (2)  13  
  Ricky Walden (15)  6
24 & 25 April
  Rory McLeod  10  
  Rory McLeod  7
20 & 21 April
    John Higgins (2)  13  
  John Higgins (2)  10
  Stephen Lee  5  
Final (Best of 35 frames) Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, 1 & 2 May 2011. Referee: Jan Verhaas.[50]
Judd Trump
 England
15–18 John Higgins (2)
 Scotland
64–19, 76–1, 38–73, 54–75, 5–115, 113–0, 68–69, 56–19, 20–64, 67–45, 68–0, 127–0, 38–63, 25–64, 77–18, 60–9, 69–36, 8–64, 113–0, 0–97, 99–0, 55–65, 35–93, 1–113, 8–77, 38–66, 78–0, 60–38, 52–64, 35–65, 75–52, 44–64, 61–62 Century breaks: 4
(Trump 3, Higgins 1)

Highest break by Trump: 104
Highest break by Higgins: 113

64–19, 76–1, 38–73, 54–75, 5–115, 113–0, 68–69, 56–19, 20–64, 67–45, 68–0, 127–0, 38–63, 25–64, 77–18, 60–9, 69–36, 8–64, 113–0, 0–97, 99–0, 55–65, 35–93, 1–113, 8–77, 38–66, 78–0, 60–38, 52–64, 35–65, 75–52, 44–64, 61–62
John Higgins wins the 2011 Betfred.com World Snooker Championship

Qualifying

Preliminary qualifying

The preliminary qualifying rounds for the tournament took place on 3 March 2011 at the World Snooker Academy in Sheffield. (WPBSA members not on The Tour.)[51][52][53][54]

Round 1

Sam Baird5–1 Colin Mitchell
Tony Brown2–5 Ali Bassiri
David Singh4–5 David Gray
Ian Stark5–2 Paul Cavney
Philip Minchin0–5 Stephen Rowlings
Tony Knowles4–5 Del Smith
Les Dodd4–5 Stephen Ormerod

Round 2

Neil Selman3–5 Sam Baird
Ali Bassiri0–5 David Gray
Ian Stark0–5 Stephen Rowlings
Del Smith5–0 Stephen Ormerod

Main qualifying

The qualifying rounds 1–4 for the tournament took place between 4 and 10 March 2011 at the World Snooker Academy in Sheffield. The final round of qualifying took place between 12 and 13 March 2011 at the same venue.[51][52][53][54]

Round 1

Reanne Evans6–10 Sam Baird
Jak Jones3–10 Stephen Rowlings

Rounds 2–5

  Round 2
Best of 19 frames
  Round 3
Best of 19 frames
  Round 4
Best of 19 frames
  Round 5
Best of 19 frames
                               
Kyren Wilson 10   Joe Swail 6   Rory McLeod 10   Mark Davis 5
Dermot McGlinchey 5   Kyren Wilson 10   Kyren Wilson 3   Rory McLeod 10
Liu Song 10   Adrian Gunnell 9   Mark Joyce 6   Joe Perry 10
Michael Judge 8   Liu Song 10   Liu Song 10   Liu Song 6
James Wattana 10   Andy Hicks 2   Jamie Burnett 10   Liang Wenbo 7
Justin Astley 3   James Wattana 10   James Wattana 8   Jamie Burnett 10
Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon 8   Alfie Burden 7   Mike Dunn 10   Mark King 10
Sam Baird 10   Sam Baird 10   Sam Baird 9   Mike Dunn 5
James McBain 10   Ian McCulloch 5   Michael Holt 10   Dominic Dale 10
Issara Kachaiwong 9   James McBain 10   James McBain 8   Michael Holt 6
Igor Figueiredo 5   Joe Jogia 10   Robert Milkins 10   Martin Gould 10
Joe Delaney 10   Joe Delaney 4   Joe Jogia 4   Robert Milkins 6
Liu Chuang 10   Jimmy White 9   Tom Ford 8   Ryan Day 10
David Gray 3   Liu Chuang 10   Liu Chuang 10   Liu Chuang 7
David Morris 8   Barry Pinches 7   Peter Lines 6   Judd Trump 10
David Gilbert 10   Dave Gilbert 10   Dave Gilbert 10   Dave Gilbert 4
Paul Davison 10   Anthony McGill 7   Fergal O'Brien 10   Matthew Stevens 10
Stephen Rowlings 5   Paul Davison 10   Paul Davison 4   Fergal O'Brien 9
Patrick Wallace 10   Rod Lawler 5   Matthew Selt 10   Marcus Campbell 10
Del Smith 2   Patrick Wallace 10   Patrick Wallace 9   Matthew Selt 6
Michael White 10   Matthew Couch 3   Anthony Hamilton 10   Barry Hawkins 10
Adam Wicheard 2   Michael White 10   Michael White 7   Anthony Hamilton 5
Liam Highfield 8   Jack Lisowski 10   Steve Davis 10   Stephen Lee 10
Kuldesh Johal 10   Kuldesh Johal 7   Jack Lisowski 9   Steve Davis 2
Simon Bedford 10   Jamie Jones 10   Dave Harold 10   Gerard Greene 9
Noppon Saengkham 3   Simon Bedford 6   Jamie Jones 9   Dave Harold 10
Ben Woollaston 10   Stuart Pettman 10   Alan McManus 10   Stuart Bingham 10
Jamie O'Neill 8   Ben Woollaston 5   Stuart Pettman 8   Alan McManus 2
Andrew Pagett 10   Bjorn Haneveer 4   Nigel Bond 9   Andrew Higginson 6
Zhang Anda 6   Andrew Pagett 10   Andrew Pagett 10   Andrew Pagett 10
Xiao Guodong 10   Jimmy Robertson 10   Tony Drago 8   Ken Doherty 6
Kurt Maflin 9   Xiao Guodong 9   Jimmy Robertson 10   Jimmy Robertson 10

Century breaks

Televised stage centuries

There were 74 century breaks in the televised stage of the World Championship.[55][56]

Qualifying stage centuries

There were 73 century breaks in the qualifying stage of the World Championship.[55]

References

  1. "Weekly Top 30 Programmes". Barb.co.uk. Archived from the original on 1 September 2014. Retrieved 11 May 2012. (No permanent link available. Search for 2 May 2011.)
  2. "Snooker Scores Massive Viewing Figures". Matchroom Sport. Archived from the original on 17 July 2014. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  3. "Record Sales For Crucible Snooker Tickets". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived from the original on 7 March 2011. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  4. "Nugget Crushed By Rampant Lee". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived from the original on 17 March 2011. Retrieved 14 March 2011.
  5. "Nervy Cope ousts debutant Pagett". BBC Sport. 17 April 2011. Archived from the original on 20 April 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  6. "Mark Selby win sets up Hendry clash". BBC Sport. 21 April 2011. Archived from the original on 22 April 2011. Retrieved 21 April 2011.
  7. Ashenden, Mark (16 April 2011). "Champion Robertson felled by Trump". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 17 April 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  8. "Barry Hawkins delight at Crucible win". BBC Sport. 19 April 2011. Archived from the original on 22 April 2011. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
  9. "'Highlander' leaves Walden feeling low". Eurosport UK. Archived from the original on 14 July 2012. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
  10. Ashenden, Mark (18 April 2011). "O'Sullivan takes commanding lead". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 19 April 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  11. Ashenden, Mark (19 April 2011). "O'Sullivan wraps up emphatic win". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 22 April 2011. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
  12. Everton, Clive (13 April 2011). "Ronnie O'Sullivan seeks psychiatrist's help before world championship". London: www.guardian.co.uk. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 4 May 2011.
  13. "Hong Kong's Fu crashes out of snooker's World Championships". Bangkok Post. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
  14. "Gritty Bingham knocks out Ebdon". BBC Sport. 19 April 2011. Archived from the original on 22 April 2011. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  15. "Selby coasts past Hendry". Eurosport UK. Archived from the original on 8 July 2012. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
  16. "Selby rewrites the Crucible record books". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 24 April 2011. Archived from the original on 27 April 2011. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
  17. Turner, Chris. "Various Snooker Records". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 14 April 2011. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
  18. Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 162.
  19. "Record-breaking Selby close to victory". BBC Sport. 25 April 2011. Archived from the original on 25 April 2011. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
  20. "Ding Junhui redt zijn vel tegen Bingham, Hendry blijft in top 16". Metro. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  21. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 18 October 2020. Retrieved 12 August 2020.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  22. "Former champ Dott trumped by English tyro". SuperSport. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
  23. "Judd Trump easily sees off Graeme Dott". BBC Sport. 27 April 2011. Archived from the original on 28 April 2011. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
  24. "Ding makes history, reaches world champs semi-finals". Yahoo! News. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
  25. "Chinese Cracker Into Semis". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived from the original on 29 April 2011. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
  26. "Trump reaches final after Crucible classic". Eurosport UK. Archived from the original on 31 July 2012. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
  27. "Trump secures place in World Championship final". Yorkshire Post. Archived from the original on 11 October 2012. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
  28. "Snooker Scores Massive Viewing Figures". World Snooker. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 4 May 2011. Archived from the original on 7 May 2011.
  29. Landreth, Jonathan (10 June 2011). "Record Chinese Television Audience Watches Li Na Win at the French Open". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 12 August 2011. Retrieved 24 July 2011.
  30. The Associated Press (8 June 2011). "Li Na's French Open win watched by 116M in China". USA Today. Retrieved 24 July 2011.
  31. Kane, Desmond. "Higgins sets up Trump showdown". Eurosport UK. Archived from the original on 2 May 2011. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
  32. "Higgins heckled in semi-final". Irish Examiner. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 20 September 2012.
  33. "Ted Lowe Dies At 90". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived from the original on 3 May 2011. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
  34. Totten, Nick. "Fourth Final For Verhaas". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived from the original on 3 May 2011. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
  35. Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 143.
  36. Everton, Clive (1 May 2011). "John Higgins and Judd Trump all square in World Championship final". London: guardian.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2 October 2015. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
  37. Ashenden, Mark (1 May 2011). "Judd Trump takes control against Higgins". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 2 May 2011. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
  38. "Gritty Higgins recovers to lead Crucible final". Eurosport UK. Archived from the original on 8 July 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
  39. Ashenden, Mark (2 May 2011). "Higgins beats Trump to win fourth title". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 3 May 2011. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
  40. "Crucible Centuries". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 23 May 2011. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
  41. "Williams unhappy with 147 prize removal". BBC Sport. 23 April 2011. Archived from the original on 26 April 2011. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
  42. "Prize Money". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived from the original on 12 March 2011. Retrieved 2 March 2011.
  43. "Prize Money". Global Snooker. Archived from the original on 17 April 2011. Retrieved 25 March 2011.
  44. Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 130.
  45. "Main Event (Draw)" (PDF). worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 April 2011. Retrieved 21 February 2011.
  46. "Latest From The Crucible". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived from the original on 16 October 2011. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  47. "Betfred.com World Championship (2011)". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 20 April 2011. Retrieved 23 February 2011.
  48. "Betfred.com World Championship 2011 – Final Stages". Global Snooker. Archived from the original on 7 March 2011. Retrieved 23 February 2011.
  49. "Betfred.com World Snooker Championship Draw". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 21 March 2011.
  50. BBC Presents: The 2011 World Snooker Championship Final Live at The Crucible (TV production). Presenters: Dennis Taylor and Stephen Hendry. Sheffield, England: BBC Two. 1 May 2011.CS1 maint: others (link)
  51. "Qualifying (Draw)" (PDF). worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 March 2015. Retrieved 21 February 2011.
  52. "Crucible Qualifiers Results". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 4 March 2011.
  53. "Betfred.com World Championship Qualifiers (2011)". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 25 May 2011. Retrieved 23 February 2011.
  54. "Betfred.com World Championship 2011 – Qualifying". Global Snooker. Archived from the original on 7 March 2011. Retrieved 23 February 2011.
  55. "Century breaks". Global Snooker. Archived from the original on 30 August 2011. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  56. "Betfred.com World Champs Century breaks" (PDF). worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 May 2012. Retrieved 20 May 2011.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.