2008 Bahrain Championship
The 2008 Bahrain Championship was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 8 and 15 November 2008 at the Bahrain International Exhibition Centre in Manama, Bahrain. It was the fourth ranking event of the 2008/2009 season.
Due to a clash with a previously arranged Premier League match-day, three leading players were forced to miss the event. This meant that they earned no ranking points. While Matthew Stevens, Ken Doherty and Jamie Cope qualified automatically due to the extra spaces in the draw. Likewise, the players ranked from 33–35 and 49–51 played one qualifier less than usual. Additionally, Ronnie O'Sullivan withdrew three days before the tournament for unspecified medical reasons.
Steve Davis was also involved in Premier League action, playing on 13 November, but did not withdraw from the tournament. He played his qualifying match and received a walkover due to O'Sullivan's withdrawal, meaning that he reached the last sixteen. However, before his last 16 match he withdrew from the event as an ear infection prevented him from flying to Bahrain.
Liang Wenbo made the 65th official maximum break during his qualifying match against Martin Gould. This was Liang's first official 147. Marcus Campbell made the 66th official maximum break during his wildcard round match against Ahmed Basheer Al-Khusaibi. This was Campbell's first official 147.
Neil Robertson won his third ranking title by defeating Matthew Stevens 9–7.
Prize fund
The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:- Winner: £48,000
- Runner-up: £22,500
- Semi-final: £12,000
- Quarter-final: £6,500
- Last 16: £4,275
- Last 32: £2,750
- Last 48: £1,725
- Last 64: £1,325
- Stage one highest break: £500
- Stage two highest break: £2,000
- Stage one maximum break: £1,000
- Stage two maximum break: £20,000
- Total: £271,000
Wildcard round
| Match | Score | ||
| WC1 |  Robert Milkins | 5–1 |  Ahmed Saif |
| WC2 | Barry Pinches | 5–1 |  Ahmed Ghuloom |
| WC3 | Mike Dunn | 5–0 |  Ahmed Abdulla Asiry |
| WC4 |  Marcus Campbell | 5–0 |  Ahmed Basheer Al-Khusaibi |
| WC5 | Rod Lawler | 5–1 |  Isa Ali Al-Hashmi |
| WC6 | Mark Davis | 5–0 | Habib Subah |
Main draw
Final
Qualifying
Qualifying for the tournament took place at Pontins in Prestatyn, Wales between 27 and 30 October 2008.Century breaks
Qualifying stage centuries
- 147, 139, 139, 115 Liang Wenbo
- 137 Dominic Dale
- 136 Atthasit Mahitthi
- 135 Li Hang
- 131, 126 Rory McLeod
- 128 Alan McManus
- 127 Kuldesh Johal
- 124 Liu Chuang
- 122 Jin Long
- 122, 114, 103 Judd Trump
- 111 Michael Holt
- 110 Scott MacKenzie
- 105, 100 Fergal O'Brien
- 105 Robert Milkins
- 101 Vincent Muldoon
Televised stage centuries
- 147 Marcus Campbell
- 139, 132, 113, 111, 106 Stephen Hendry
- 137, 114, 102 Robert Milkins
- 129, 117, 116, 100 Neil Robertson
- 123 Joe Perry
- 123 Barry Hawkins
- 122 Stephen Maguire
- 120 Ricky Walden
- 120, 116, 110 Matthew Stevens
- 119, 112, 111, 105 Mark Allen
- 118 Peter Ebdon
- 117 Dave Harold
- 112, 100 Barry Pinches
- 110 Graeme Dott
- 105 Michael Holt
- 101 Mike Dunn
- 100 Rod Lawler
- 100 Ali Carter