[1] John Higgins was the defending champion, but he lost in the second round 4–6 against Stephen Maguire.

[2] Judd Trump won his second ranking title by defeating Mark Allen 10–8 in the final.

The changes allowed for every match in the early rounds to be played in front of television cameras and avoided the need to use two extra tables.

[5] However, the changes angered some players including John Higgins,[6] and Mark Williams, while Mark Allen called for Barry Hearn to resign as head of World Snooker, after Hearn had promised not to alter the championship when he had become the chairman in 2010.

[13] [14][15][16][17] These matches were held between 5 and 9 November 2011 at the South West Snooker Academy, Gloucester, England.