From this season every qualifying match was held open to the public at various venues in the United Kingdom, replacing the World Snooker Academy in Sheffield.

[2] In all but three tournaments, every player participated in round one featuring 64 seeds for the first time in the history of snooker.

If a seeded player lost his first-round match in these events, then only half of the prize money counted to his official ranking.

[7] Neil Robertson became the first player in the history of snooker to compile one hundred century breaks in a season.

[8] Ding Junhui equalled Stephen Hendry's then record of winning five major ranking titles in a season by claiming the Shanghai Masters, the Indian Open, the International Championship, the German Masters and the China Open.