1986 World Snooker Championship

The 1986 World Snooker Championship was a snooker tournament that took place between 19 April and 5 May 1986. It was held at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was the sixth and final ranking event of the 1985–86 snooker season. It was the 1986 edition of the World Snooker Championship first held in 1927. The total prize fund was £350,000 with £70,000 given to the winner. The tournament was sponsored by cigarette manufacturer Embassy.

The defending champion was Northern Ireland's Dennis Taylor, who had defeated Steve Davis 18–17 in the 1985 final to win his first title. Taylor lost in the first round of the event 4–10 to Mike Hallett. The world number 16 Joe Johnson beat Davis 18–12 in the final to win his only ranking event.

Prize fund
The tournament featured a prize fund of £350,000 with a bonus of £80,000 if a player made a maximum break. The winner of the event won a total of £70,000. The breakdown of prize money for the event is shown below:
 Winner: £70,000
 Runner-up: £42,000
 Semi-finals: £21,000
 Quarter-finals: £10,500
 Last 16: £5,250
 Last 32: £2,953
 Last 48: £1,203
 Highest break: £7,000
 Maximum break: £80,000
 Total: £350,000

 Main draw 
The numbers in brackets next to some of the players are their seeding. Players in bold denote match winners. Shown below are the results for the event:

 Century breaks 
There were 20 century breaks in the championship, the highest until 1991. The highest break was a 134 made by Steve Davis.
 134, 112, 108, 108, 107, 102, 101, 100 Steve Davis
 121 Jimmy White
 115 Dean Reynolds
 112 John Virgo
 111, 110 Terry Griffiths
 110, 110, 102 Joe Johnson
 105 Tony Knowles
 104 Cliff Thorburn
 101 Silvino Francisco
 100 Willie Thorne

 Qualifying stages 
There were 12 century breaks made in qualifying. The highest was a 141 made by Stephen Hendry.
 141, 117 Stephen Hendry
 126 Paul Thornley
 120 Tony Drago
 118 Joe O'Boye
 118 Steve Longworth
 114 Ian Williamson
 112, 102 Barry West
 111 Vic Harris
 108 Martin Smith
 105 Robby Foldvari

 References 

Category:World Snooker Championship