The 16 qualifiers and the top 16 players from the snooker world rankings reached the tournament's main stage at the Crucible.

A total of 46 century breaks were compiled during the event's main stage, the highest being a 140 made by Ronnie O'Sullivan.

The first World Snooker Championship final took place in 1927 at Camkin's Hall in Birmingham, England, and was won by Joe Davis.

[3][4][5] Scottish player Stephen Hendry had been the most successful participant at the World Championship in the modern era, having won the title seven times.

Following new EU and UK legislation banning tobacco advertising, it could not be sponsored by Embassy, as had been the case for the previous three decades.

In January 2006, World Snooker – the sport's governing body – announced that the online casino 888.com would be the new sponsors of the event for the next five years.

[10] Concerns were expressed among the sport's elite at the decrease in prize money and in the number of ranking events (down to six for the 2005–06 season) since the loss of tobacco sponsorship.

[13] The defending champion, Shaun Murphy, was afflicted with a chest infection, but still defeated Thai player James Wattana 10–4.

[17] "These days I can't sustain my concentration for long periods and if I'm on a break of 40 or 50 I know a bad shot is coming up.

[17] John Higgins, winner in 1998 and champion of the Grand Prix and Masters during the season, lost 4–10 against qualifier Mark Selby.

[19] His opponent, Paul Hunter, was playing in pain from chemotherapy treatment for a rare form of stomach cancer.

[19] The encounter, which ended with a 10–5 victory for him,[19] would turn out to be the last professional match for Hunter, who died later that year, aged 27.

[23] Six-time champion Steve Davis, who was aged 48, built in the first session a four-frame cushion against qualifier and 1995 semi-finalist Andy Hicks.

[24] Although Hicks managed to cut the deficit by half when the match resumed, Davis then won four frames in a row to secure victory.

[24] Peter Ebdon, the 2002 champion, faced qualifier Michael Holt, who had made his debut at the Crucible the previous year.

[27] In a repeat of one of the 2000 semi-finals, two-time runner-up Matthew Stevens compiled two century breaks in the first session against Joe Swail, who was "absolutely disgusted" with the table and fell 3–6 behind in the scoreboard.

Fu went into the final session with a 4–3 lead and won six out of the six frames that were played to seal victory, leaving McManus out of the top 16 for the following season.

[30] Stephen Maguire, who had not made it past the first round up to that point, defeated Mark King 10–6, producing breaks of 78 and 77 in the final session.

[32] Mark Williams, the 2000 and 2003 champion, won the first four frames of his match against Anthony Hamilton, who then replied with a 115, but who would end up losing 1–10.

[33] "John Higgins has gone out, and now I hope Ronnie O'Sullivan, Stephen Hendry and Matthew Stevens go out and Willie Thorne (now retired) comes in!

[34] Lee then produced breaks of 61 and 62 to move to one away from victory and also took the final one after Carter failed to pot a long-distance red ball to win 10–8.

[36] Murphy began his match against Davis with a century break and had an 8–3 lead,[37] when the Crucible had to be evacuated due to a fire alarm.

[42] Dott had a four-frame lead going into the final session against Bond, whom he regarded as having a "similar style based on tactics rather than potting", and managed to preserve it and won 13–9.

O'Sullivan compiled in the sixth frame the highest break of the tournament with a 140,[13] but Day, who miscued on various occasions during the match, took a 9–7 lead into the final session.

[46] Each player went on to make a century[46] as, for the second year in a row, Ebdon ousted the defending champion in the quarter-finals,[47] having won over O'Sullivan in the previous edition.

This also made Murphy the 13th first-time champion who failed to defend his title since the tournament moved to the Crucible in 1977, succumbing to what has been called the 'Crucible curse'.

[52] However, first time quarter-finalist Robertson then won the next four frames, including a 103 break, to level the match at 12–12 and take it to a deciding frame,[53][54] which Dott won, after Robertson was left needing a snooker with only the pink and black remaining on the table and accidentally potted the pink instead of laying a snooker.

[52][55] Robertson said afterwards that he thought he was "one of the best players in the world" at the moment: "Obviously I have to start winning tournaments to prove that, but I don't think anyone can out-play me long-potting wise".

[58] Clive Everton, writing for The Guardian, predicted "TV viewing figures would soon slump dramatically" if the same "funereal pace" were to affect every game, with one frame lasting 52 minutes and another one 46.

[66] In the 24th frame, Dott missed the black off its spot when he was on a 51 break trying to counteract Ebdon's 34, and allowed him to get back to the table.