1973 World Snooker Championship

Tournament summary

• The competition took place over 13 days, rather than the months it had taken to complete previous championships. Park Drive continued to sponsor the event.
• The first-round matches were played on 16 April, the second round matches on 17 and 18 April, the quarter-finals on 19 and 20 April, the semi-finals from 21 to 23 April with the final played over 5 days from 24 to 28 April.
• Cliff Thorburn and Dennis Taylor made their debuts; both would later become world champions. They played each other in the first round and Thorburn won 9–8.
• Alex Higgins beat Fred Davis in the quarter-finals 16–14. The match is noted for a rain interruption.
• Reardon staged a recovery when, having trailed John Spencer 12–19, he won their semi-final 23–22. Reardon lost the first session of the final against Eddie Charlton 0–7, but went on to win 38–32. For the first time some frames of the final were televised by the BBC.
• Spencer made the highest break of the tournament with 139.

  Main draw