Defending champion Ray Reardon played Eddie Charlton in a best of 61 frames match.

Dennis Taylor made the highest break of the tournament, 128, in his quarter-final match against Gary Owen.

[5][6] Charlton was a leading player, and the losing finalist in the 1973 World Snooker Championship.

Snooker historian Clive Everton later wrote that "Some sports might have found it odd that a world championship should be promoted by one of its leading contenders but professional snooker, ever since the days of Joe Davis, was used to the idea of a player or clique of players having control of either promotion or administration, or both.

[11] Journalist and author John Dee referred to "shady goings on perhaps by the draw committee who seemed to be doing their utmost to bring the title to Australia.

[13] Reardon arrived in Australia on 3 March for to play a series of 23 exhibition matches against Charlton ahead of the tournament.

[14] This was the only year that Rex King, Ron Mares and Phil Tarrant ever participated in the main Championship.

[15]: 130, 150, 234  Jim Charlton and Lou Condo also made their world championship debuts.

[16][8] Tarrant needed to win only a single frame from their last session to defeat Bernard Bennett after building a 14–7 lead, and took the match 15–8.

[8] Warren Simpson, runner-up in 1970, defeated Ron Mares 19–10 after he had achieved a winning margin at 15–5.

[8] Ian Anderson, who, aged 28, was one of the youngest competitors, took a 6–1 lead against Lou Condo,[18] and won 15–8.

[8] South African Professional Championship winner Perrie Mans was defeated by Dennis Taylor 15–12.

[17] Gary Owen progressed to the next round after achieving a decisive margin against Greaves at 15–3.

[8] Cliff Thorburn took a 10–4 lead against Paddy Morgan, gained the win at 15–6, and finished the contest at 17–12.

[24][8] In a match that was played against a noisy background of numerous slot machines at the Marrickville RSL Club, Dennis Taylor won each of the first three sessions against Davis by the odd frame, 4–3.

[8] Davis later wrote that the tournament "turned out to be a farce from my point of view ... the noise and distraction were incredible".

"[8]: 5  The match between Higgins and Williams was delayed for 50 minutes during the second session after an overhead light fell onto the snooker table.

[29][8] Taylor gained a 13–5 leads against Owen,[30] and made the highest break of the tournament, 128, during his 19–9 win.

[28] Thorburn later recalled that, shortly after the commencement of the fifth session, Charlton started to play more quickly: "He went for everything.

[37] Everton considered that for Charlton, losing the final was "a psychological set back from which [he] never recovered".