Liu began the season ranked world number 60, meaning he would need to win three qualifying matches to reach the main stage of the ranking event tournaments. He did not achieve this until the final and biggest tournament on the snooker calendar, the World Championship. He beat Rod Lawler 10–7, Jimmy White 10–8 and Jamie Cope 10–7 to reach the Crucible for the second time in his career. Liu was one of five Asian players to make it to the event, which was a new record. He played two-time world champion Mark Williams in the first round and was beaten 6–10, to finish the season ranked number 56, inside the top 64 who automatically retained their places for the 2012–13 season.