First round The first round took place from 18 to 23 April, each match played as the best of 19 over two . Eight players made their
Crucible debut this year:
Simon Bedford,
David Gray,
Quinten Hann,
Matthew Stevens,
Terry Murphy,
Alfie Burden,
Peter Lines, and
Jason Prince. The defending champion
Ken Doherty, who had won the
1997 Malta Grand Prix earlier that season, led
Lee Walker 63.
Dave Harold took a 20 lead against
Anthony Hamilton, who levelled the match with breaks of 53 and 108 and went on to lead 53 with three consecutive breaks of 72, 102 and 100. Debutant Gray recovered from 36 behind to level the match against
Alan McManus. McManus produced breaks of 111, 60 and 56 to go 97 in front. Gray, who made a 140 break during the match, won frame seventeen, but McManus sealed victory with a 30-point clearance in the eighteenth. Facing debutant Hann,
Mark Williams won five consecutive frames to go from 44 to 94, one away from victory. Hann forced a decider and built a 55-point lead before losing position. Williams took frame and match.
Peter Ebdon, runner-up in
1996, produced two centuries and further breaks of 82, 99 and 76 to eliminate debutant Murphy 103. At the beginning of the second session, Hendry stole the first frame with a 72 clearance and also won the following two to edge closer at 48. White took the next two for victory. "With Stephen [Hendry] you've never beaten him until you've shaken his hand. I tried to finish it too quickly but I thought 'chill out, you're going to get an opening' and I did," White said. Hendry commented: "If Jimmy [White] had played like that in any of the finals he'd be world champion by now. That's the best he's ever played against me." It was the first time since his debut in
1986 that Hendry lost in the first round and it was also the first quarter-final stage not to feature him since
1988. Hendry's eight-year run as the
world number one ended and he was replaced by Higgins.
Second round The second round took place from 23 to 27 April, each match played as the best of 25 frames over three sessions. Hamilton built a 62 lead in the first session of his match against the world number two Higgins. At the following day, Higgins produced a break of 131 in the first frame and went on to win the session by the same scoreline to level at 88. The next two frames were shared, and Higgins then produced breaks of 114, 71, 111, and 109 to take four in a row and win the match 139. "In past years I'd have gone to bed, sulked and probably lost 134. This time I made myself get up early and put in some practice," Higgins said. White won the first frame of the following day with a clearance of 138 and made further breaks of 67, 89, 54, and 118 as he won the match 133. "I've played Hendry, Davis and a lot of good players and those are the best two sessions of snooker that I've ever faced," Morgan stated. Parrott led Drago 53 and produced a century break as he took five consecutive frames for a 103 lead. He advanced to the next round with a 137 result.
Quarter-finals The quarter-finals took place on 28 and 29 April, each match played as the best of 25 frames over three sessions.
Semi-finals The semi-finals took place from 30 April to 2 May, played as the best of 33 frames over four sessions.
Final The best-of-35-frame final took place over four sessions on 3 and 4 May between Doherty and Higgins. == Main draw ==