Qualifying There were nine rounds matches across the pre-qualifying and qualifying stages. The pre-qualifying competition, which had four rounds with matches played as the best of 11 frames, started on 22 May 1991 at three snooker clubs: Frames Plaza in Sheffield, Spencers in
Bolton, and the Royal Hampshire Snooker Lodge in
Aldershot. The main qualifying stage was held at
Preston Guild Hall from 18 to 29 March 1992. Matches at Preston were the best of 19 frames. During pre-qualifying, Robert Foxall became the first player to make a century break in their first frame as part of a world championship match, when he compiled a 107 against Mike Colquitt in the first of the rounds. The 10–0 win by defending champion
John Parrott over
Eddie Charlton in the first round was the first-ever in Crucible history. There would not be another whitewash until
Shaun Murphy's 10–0 defeat of
Luo Honghao in
2019.
Tony Knowles established a 4–0 lead against Johnston-Allen and despite losing the next three frames, won the match 10–4. When Taylor was 4–5 behind, referee
Len Ganley called five shots in succession, which Taylor said afterwards was "the turning point... There was no way I was trying to miss the red." Bond was 2–6 behind against
Alain Robidoux but made a 129 break, missing the final from its .
Steve Davis's 4–10 defeat to qualifier Ebdon was his first loss in the opening round since
1982. It also ended his nine-year streak of reaching at least the semi-finals of the tournament. Davis led 4–3 but Ebdon won the next seven frames.
Martin Clark and
Peter Francisco were level at 5–5 and 7-7- before Clark won 10–7.
Second round The second round, which took place between 23 and 27 April, was played as best of 25 frames matches spread over three sessions. Parrott defeated Knowles 13–4. At 4–6 behind, Knowles asked Parrott to replay after the referee Len Ganley had called a miss against Parrott. The pair were level again at 10–10. Snooker journalist
Clive Everton wrote of Ebdon that, "No more assured start has been made at the Crucible since Terry Griffiths won the title at his first attempt in 1979." Ebdon lost each of the first two sessions against Griffiths by margins of 3–5, despite making a 134 break in the fifth frame and a 108 in frame 15. Hendry took a 5–3 first session lead against O'Kane. O'Kane won two of the next three frames, but lost 6–13. In the third session, White won seven of the eight frames, and wrapped up his victory at 16–7 by taking the first frame of session four. McManus said afterwards that he did not feel under pressure during the match, and commented that "I just went from bad to worse... The game with Parrott took a lot out of me." It also maintained Hendry's unbeaten record against Griffiths. This was their 13th competitive match. Hendry had two breaks over 50 in winning the first two frames, and took the third after . The session ended with Hendry 12–2 up. Hendry's break of 105 in the first frame was the first century break in the opening frame of a world championship final. Breaks of 70 and 47 saw White take frame two, then Hendry re-took the lead at 2–1, before a break of 100 from White equalised the match at 2–2. They were again level at 3–3; White won the seventh frame to hold the lead at the close of the first session. A of 63 in the first frame of the second session meant White was two frames ahead at 5–3. He led by the same margin at 6–4 and 7–5, then doubled this advantage to four frames by winning the next two. Hendry won the 15th frame, a break of 70 by White left him 10–6 ahead at the end of the first day. In the first frame of the third session, White made breaks of 40 and 50, then followed this in frame 18 with a total clearance of 134 to lead 12–6, having scored 294 points since Hendry had last scored any. Hendry compiled a break of 86 to take the 19th frame, and then won frame 20 with breaks of 30 and 45. The next two frames both featured breaks over 60 by White as he re-established a six-frame lead. Snooker journalist and historian David Hendon wrote in 2025 that "at 12–6 it seemed as if White's coronation as world champion was guaranteed", and that this still seemed very likely when the score reached 14–8. During the 24th frame, Hendry potted a brown off the spot from the last red and gained position to pot the yellow. In 2020 he called this "one of the best shots of my career". Brendan Cooper, author of
Deep Pockets: Snooker and the Meaning of Life (2023), described the shot as "a quintessential moment of ice-cold Hendry guts." Hendry went on to clear the table and win the frame; Cooper described this as "the beginning of the end" for White. Everton wrote that while Hendry "kept his nerve and his resolve", White was "strangely unfocused". Hendry compiled three century breaks during the concluding five frames and won 18–14. It was the fourth time that White had lost in a world championship final, and the third consecutive year that he had done so. Hendry said in a post-match interview that he felt it was the "best snooker [he] had ever played", adding that he did "feel sorry for Jimmy. If he wasn't playing me, I would have wanted him to win". White praised the standard of Hendry's play, and said "every time I made a mistake, he kept punching me. This is the only time I've lost here when I don't feel sick." The final attracted 11.6million television viewers, the highest viewing figure for the championship final for six years. This match was reshown on
BBC Two on 24 April 2020, one of the "Crucible Classics" shown in place of the
2020 World Snooker Championship which was postponed because of the
coronavirus pandemic. == Main draw ==