Prize fund

The tournament featured a total prize fund of £475,000, with £95,000 being awarded to the winner.^[11]: 146 The prize money allocation is shown below.^[15] An award of £90,000 would have been made to a player making a maximum break.^[11]: 146

Qualifying

Qualifying matches took place at Preston Guild Hall from 22 March to 2 April 1988.^[10] The qualifying competition consisted of five knockout rounds, including a single preliminary round match, starting with 113 players, and all qualifying matches were played as best-of-19-frames.^[11]: 200 American pool player Steve Mizerak made his professional snooker debut in the preliminary round, losing 3–10 to Anthony Harris.^[16] On the first day of the qualifying competition, Billy Kelly established a new record highest break for world championship qualifying, compiling a 141 in the sixth frame of his match against Tony Kearney.^[17] Kelly won 10–4, concluding with a 76 break in the 14th frame.^[18] Alain Robidoux had walkovers against Frank Jonik, who withdrew due to problems with his back, and Robbie Grace, who was unable to travel from South Africa, which meant Robidoux earned a ranking merit point that enabled him to gain full professional status for the following season.^[19] He lost 2–10 to Bill Oliver in the third round.^[20]

Dene O'Kane, a quarter-finalist in 1987, led 9–8 against Eddie Sinclair but lost 9–10.^[21] Oliver eliminated six-time champion Ray Reardon 10–4 before losing 6–10 to Cliff Wilson.^[22] It was the first time in his career that Reardon had failed to qualify for the main event.^[23] Returning to snooker after a four-month absence during which he had been treated in a Canadian clinic for cocaine addiction, Kirk Stevens defeated Mark Bennett 10–7.^[24] Eight-time champion Fred Davis, aged 74, progressed past Jack Fitzmaurice, 10–8, and Jim Bear, 10–4, before losing 3–10 to John Campbell in the last qualifying round.^{[25][11]: 26–27} John Spencer, three-times world champion, was eliminated 7–10 by Warren King at the same stage.^[23]

Four players, Steve James, Bob Chaperon, Tony Drago and Peter Francisco, qualified for the main event for the first time.^[26] James received a walkover against Terry Whitthread in the first round, and eliminated Joe O'Boye, Paddy Browne and Eugene Hughes; Chaperon defeated Robert Marshall, Tommy Murphy and David Taylor; Drago won against Tony Chappel; and Francisco eliminated Robby Foldvari.^{[11]: 26–27}

First round

The first round took place between 16 and 21 April, each match played over two sessions as the best of 19 frames.^{[11]: 26–27} Davis, who had won three of the five ranking events during the season leading up to the world championship, was Coral bookmakers' pre-tournament favourite to win, with odds of 5/4. Stephen Hendry, winner of the other two ranking tournaments, was the second favourite at 4/1. They were followed by Jimmy White at 8/1 and John Parrott at 10/1.^[26]

Davis won a closely contested match against John Virgo, finally prevailing 10–8.^[27] Mike Hallett was 8–1 ahead of Chaperon at the end of their first session, and completed a 10–2 victory.^[27] Alex Higgins, who won the competition in 1972 and 1982, had been banned (in April 1987) from the first two ranking events of the season, as part of a punishment imposed by the WPBSA for behaviour including headbutting the tournament director at the 1986 UK Championship.^[28][29] He trailed Drago 2–7 after their first session,^[27] and after being defeated 2–10, lost his place in the elite top 16 of the snooker world rankings for the first time since rankings were introduced in 1976.^{[28][30][lower-alpha 1]} The 1985 champion Taylor was 4–5 behind to Bill Werbeniuk as their first session ended.^[32] After their second session the following morning was stopped due to over-running as a result of lengthy tactical exchanges and several delays while Werbeniuk visited the toilet during frames, eventually prevailed 10–8 when it was reconvened.^[32] This was Werbeniuk's last appearance at the World Snooker Championship finals.^[33]

Joe Johnson, champion in 1986 and runner-up in 1987, knocked out Wilson 10–7.^[34] Nine days after suffering a serious road traffic accident that wrote off his car, James compiled a break of 140, and another of 104, on his way to defeating Rex Williams 10–6.^[35] In the opening frame against King, Parrott produced a break of 80, which turned out to be his only break above 40 as he won 10–4.^[34] Cliff Thorburn, the champion in 1980 and the first player to make a maximum break in the championship, in 1983,^[36] was only able to compete after his lawyers managed to postpone a disciplinary hearing relating to his failed drug test at the 1988 British Open.^[35][37] He eliminated Stevens, who had undergone voluntary treatment for cocaine addiction and fell from fourth place to outside the top 32 in the rankings during the season. Thorburn won the match 10–6.^[37][38]

From 3–3 against Wayne Jones, Neal Foulds led 6–3 at the end of the first session and progressed by winning 10–7.^[34] Doug Mountjoy recorded a 10–6 win against Barry West, and Willie Thorne won by the same score against Peter Francisco. Steve Longworth won only a single frame as he went out 1–10 to the 1979 champion Terry Griffiths.^[34]

Tony Knowles eliminated Danny Fowler 10–8.^{[11]: 26–27} Silvino Francisco made breaks of 91, 109 and 105 against Eddie Charlton in their first session, but still ended it 4–5 behind.^[27] Charlton, playing with a cue stick that he had only started using earlier that year, won 10–7.^[35] Hendry led Dean Reynolds 6–3 and 7–6, taking the last three frames to progress at 10–6.^[27] After winning the first seven frames against Campbell, White achieved a 10–3 victory.^[27]

Second round

The second round, which took place between 21 and 25 April, was played as best-of-25-frames matches spread over three sessions.^{[11]: 26–27} Davis finished a 13–1 defeat of Hallett with a break of 106. This result matched the heaviest defeat ever recorded in the world snooker championship at the Crucible, Davis's 18–6 victory over Thorburn in the 1983 final.^[39] Drago, having defeated a former world champion in the first round, knocked out another in the second round,^[40] winning 13–5 against Dennis Taylor.^{[11]: 26–27} James compiled a break of 112 in the last frame of the first session against Johnson and led 7–1.^{[11]: 26–27} During the second session, he increased this to 11–3. Johnson won the last two frames of the second session, and the first four frames of the third session, before James took two consecutive frames to qualify 13–9.^[40] Thorburn defeated Parrott 13–10, after the pair had been level at 6–6 and 7–7.^[15]

Foulds equaled Davis's record for an emphatic victory at the Crucible,^[40] and had a break of 102, eliminating Mountjoy 13–1; Mountjoy's failure to progress further meant that he lost his place in the top 16 of the rankings.^[41] Griffiths reached the quarter-finals for the fifth year in succession, going from 9–9 to 13–9 against Thorne and concluding with a 101 break in the 22nd frame.^[41] Knowles led Charlton 12–4 as they started the third session, and won 13–7.^[40]

White finished the first session against Hendry 5–3 ahead, the pair both preferring attempts to pot balls rather than play safety shots. White added the first frame of the second session, before Hendry won six frames in a row, including breaks of 52, 79, 125, 56 and 101, thus led 9–6. White took the final frame of the second session. In the third session, Hendry claimed the first frame to lead 10–7. White replied with breaks of 62, 50, 78 and 71, to take the lead at 11–10. A 108 break from Hendry made it 11–11, but he scored no points in the 23rd frame as White moved ahead again. On a break of 43 in the 24th frame, White miscued, and Hendry won the frame after a break of 48. In the deciding frame, White started a break of 86 by potting a long-range red ball, and prevailed 13–12 in the match.^[42] In all, the match featured twenty breaks of 50 or more, including three century breaks.^[43] The match was re-shown on BBC Two on 23 April 2020 in a series called Crucible Classics shown in place of the 2020 World Snooker Championship which was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.^[44] It was the first of seven Crucible matches between White and Hendry over the following decade, including four finals, White losing each encounter until their seventh world championship clash in 1998.^[42]

Quarter-finals

The quarter-finals were played as best-of-25-frames matches over three sessions on 26 and 27 April.^{[11]: 26–27} Davis led Drago 3–2, and then won the next four frames scoring a total of 271 points while Drago scored none. Drago took the tenth frame, but from 3–7 was later one frame from defeat at 3–12. In the 16th frame, Davis snookered himself while on a break of 61, and Drago recovered to win that frame. The third session consisted of a single frame, as Davis completed a 13–4 victory.^[45] After the eight frames of the first session between Thorburn and James, the score was 4–4.^[45] James, who the bookmakers had rated a 500/1 outsider to win the tournament at the start, was still level at 6–6 but lost 11–13. During the match, he compiled a break of 103, his fourth century break of the competition.^[46]

Griffiths reached the quarter-finals for the first time since he won the title in 1979 by eliminating Foulds 13–9, having been 1–3 behind.^[46] White lost the opening frame but took a 7–1 lead over Knowles in their first session.^[45] After extending this lead to 10–2, White later commented "I did the worst thing possible. I started playing to the crowd."^[46] Knowles won four consecutive frames, compiling a break of 124 in the process, to trail 6–10. White responded by winning the next three to progress 13–6.^[46]

Semi-finals

The semi-finals took place between 28 and 30 April as best-of-31-frames matches played over four sessions.^{[11]: 26–27} Thorburn won the first frame against Davis with a clearance of 32, but lost the second on a re-spotted black despite having made a break of 62. Davis took the next three frames, one with a break of 103, and ended the first session 4–3 ahead after Thorburn won the last two frames.^[47] During the second session, the players were level at 6–6 before Davis moved into an 8–6 lead, increasing this to 11–6 by taking the first three frames of the third session. Breaks of 77 and 49 in the 18th frame, and a narrow win in the 19th frame, saw Thorburn move to 8–11. Thorburn led by 57 points in the twentieth frame but conceded 4 points by accidentally missing the red balls when playing a safety shot, and Davis compiled a break of 54 to clinch the frame by a single point, finishing the session 14–8 ahead after winning the last two frames.^[48] Davis won the first two frames of the fourth session to complete a 16–8 victory.^[49]

White won the first two frames against Griffiths, compiling a break of 83 in the second, and made it 3–1 after Griffiths had won the third frame. Griffiths reduced White's advantage to one frame with a fifth frame break of 114. In the next frame, Griffiths missed a red to allow White in and gain the frame. Griffiths won the following two frames and the first session ended level at 4–4.^[47] During the second session, White compiled breaks of 44, 77, and 83 while gaining a 7–6 lead. Griffiths replied with breaks of 32, 71, and 61 during the session's last two frames, and took the lead at 8–7.^[48] The third session included a 119 break from White in the 17th frame and saw Griffiths increase his lead to 12–10.^{[11]: 26–27} Griffiths fluked a red in the first frame of the fourth session and went on to compile a winning break of 78. White responded with a 69 break to gain the following frame, making it 13–11 to Griffiths. After potting a re-spotted black to go 14–11 ahead, Griffiths added the following two frames, winning 16–11.^[50]

Final

The final between Davis and Griffiths took place on 1 and 2 May, as a best-of-35-frames match played over four sessions.^{[11]: 26–27} It was Davis's sixth successive final,^[51] and Griffith's first since his win in 1979.^[52] Davis had won fifteen of the previous nineteen matches between the pair.^[53] Griffiths won the first frame before missing an easy blue ball in the second frame that allowed Davis in to equalise at 1–1. Davis then won the next four frames, Griffiths taking the last frame of the first afternoon session to finish it 2–5 behind.^[54] In the second session, Griffiths won the first frame after a break of 34. Davis followed this by taking the next two frames with breaks of 83 and 81 to lead 7–3. Griffiths equalised at 7–7, making breaks of 30, 49, 63 and 55. Davis took the lead back with a break of 66 in the 15th frame, but a fluke on a red by Griffiths and a later miss on a red by Davis contributed to Griffiths equalising at 8–8 at the session's end.^[53]

Davis missed some easy pots at the start of the third session,^[55] but still won the first three frames to lead 11–8 as Griffiths made several errors.^[56] Griffiths took the 20th frame with a break of 46, but Davis restored a three-frame advantage with breaks of 33 and 36 in the 21st frame.^[56] In the 22nd frame, Griffiths laid a snooker and obtained the penalty points from Davis that he would have required to win the frame, but then missed in an attempt to pot the black ball and lost the frame as Davis moved to a 13–9 lead.^[51] A break of 57 by Griffiths won him a frame to reduce Davis's lead to 13–10, and he led 41–0 in the next frame before Davis compiled a 92 break to lead 14–10 at the end of the session.^[56]

In the fourth session, Davis won the opening frame after making a break of 46, and then won two of the next three frames with breaks of 118 and 123.^[56] In the 29th frame, Griffiths missed a black from its spot, and Davis went on to win the frame with a break of 66 and take the title, achieving victory at 18–11.^{[11]: 26–27 [51]}

Clive Everton, who played in the qualifying rounds of the tournament, wrote in The Guardian that, despite Griffiths equalising at 7–7 by winning four consecutive frames, "it was not a vintage final."^[51] The Benson and Hedges Snooker Year report of the championship concluded that "The final was never a classic but merely emphasized Davis's superiority and grip on the world of professional snooker."^[52] Griffiths, who was the oldest world snooker championship finalist since Reardon in 1982, said "My long potting got me to the final. But in the end it let me down. Steve's safety is so good that you have to make the long potting count and I didn't which was the most disappointing part of my performance in the final."^[57] This was Davis's fifth world championship win, leaving him one behind Reardon's record total of six titles in the modern era. Davis commented "You are always delighted to win a world championship, and I'm not thinking about records. All I know is I keep coming back to the World Championship, which is two and a half weeks of agony and turmoil and trauma."^[56]

It was Davis's fourth win in six ranking tournaments in the 1987–88 snooker season, a period in which he also won the 1988 Masters and the 1988 Irish Masters,^[55] and he became first player to win all of the snooker "Triple Crown" events in a single season.^[58] His prize money earnings for the season were £425,000,^[57] and he retained his top position in the end-of-year rankings with 59 points, ahead of White in second on 44 points. Griffiths, with 33 points, was fifth, one place higher than in the previous ranking list.^[30]

Qualifying stages

There were 20 century breaks in the qualifying stages,^[20] the highest of which was 141 compiled by Billy Kelly.^[15]