The winner of the event was the defending champion and world number one Mark Selby, who defeated John Higgins 18–15 in the final.

[1] Founded in the late 19th century by British Army soldiers stationed in India,[2] the sport was popular in Great Britain.

[3] In modern times it has been played worldwide, especially in East and Southeast Asian nations such as China, Hong Kong and Thailand.

[4] The 2017 tournament featured 32 professional players competing in one-on-one snooker matches played over several frames, using a single elimination format.

[9] As of 2022[update], Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O’Sullivan are the event's most successful participants in the modern era, having both won the championship seven times.

[6] This was the 41st consecutive year that the tournament had been staged at the Crucible, and it was the 49th successive world championship to be contested using the modern knockout format.

[26] Williams qualified at the following year's event, where he defeated John Higgins 18–16 in the final to win his third world title.

[27] The deciding frame of the third-round qualifying match between Fergal O'Brien and David Gilbert on 12 April was the longest frame on record in the modern era of the game; lasting for 123 minutes and 41 seconds, it broke the previous record of 100 minutes and 24 seconds set by Alan McManus and Barry Pinches in 2015.

[28] Gary Wilson made the 131st officially recognised maximum break, the second of his career, in the fourth frame of his first-round qualifying match against Josh Boileau on 6 April.

[29] Wilson was one of five players to qualify for the main stage of the championship at the Crucible for the first time, the other four debutants being David Grace, Noppon Saengkham, Yan Bingtao, and Zhou Yuelong.

[32] In his 25th consecutive appearance at the World Championship, Ronnie O'Sullivan withstood a fightback from qualifier Gary Wilson—who had recovered from 5–9 down to 7–9 down—to win their first round match 10–7.

In doing so, O'Sullivan secured a place in the last 16 for the 14th year in a row, equalling the record set by Terry Griffiths in 1996.

[34] Third seed Stuart Bingham played 2002 world champion Peter Ebdon, who was appearing at the Crucible for the 24th time since first qualifying in 1992.

[38] His poor performance in the match, which ran into a third session, was exacerbated by a shoulder injury that was causing him visible pain when down on shots.

[39] This resulted in 46-year-old McLeod becoming the oldest player to reach the last 16 since Steve Davis' quarter-final run in 2010 aged 52.

[40] McLeod commented that his victory was "the best win of [his] career, to beat Judd Trump on centre stage is brilliant.

"[41] In an all-Chinese match, fourth seed Ding Junhui defeated debutant Zhou Yuelong 10–5 to reach the last 16.

[43] The 2010 world champion Neil Robertson made his 500th career century during his 10–4 first round win over Noppon Saengkham.

[46] Seven former world champions progressed to the second round: Selby, Bingham, O'Sullivan, Higgins, Robertson, Dott and Shaun Murphy.

[48] Kyren Wilson advanced to his second consecutive World Championship quarter-final by defeating third seed Stuart Bingham 13–10.

[49] Five-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan beat Shaun Murphy 13–7, to set up his 18th quarter-final appearance at the Crucible.

[50] Having dispatched Zhou Yuelong in the first round, Ding Junhui played in a second consecutive all-Chinese match, defeating fellow countryman Liang Wenbo 13–12.

[48] Defending champion Mark Selby defeated Xiao Guodong 13–6, commenting afterwards, "I don't feel as though I have peaked".

[31] John Higgins won all three sessions of his match against Kyren Wilson and triumphed 13–6, to advance to his first semi-final since winning the event in 2011.

With the score tied at 3–3 in the first session, Wilson miscued and split his cue tip, requiring a 15-minute break to carry out the repair.

Defending champion Mark Selby played fourth seed Ding Junhui in the first semi-final, which was a rematch of the previous year's final.

[36][72] He became the fourth player (after Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry, and Ronnie O'Sullivan) to defend the world title in the Crucible era.

[31][74] Qualifying for the 2017 World Snooker Championship took place from 5 to 12 April 2017, at the Ponds Forge International Sports Centre in Sheffield.

The highest was a maximum break compiled by Gary Wilson in frame four of his first qualifying round win over Josh Boileau.