2006 World Snooker Championship

The 2006 World Snooker Championship (officially the 2006 888.com World Snooker Championship) was a professional snooker tournament that was held at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England, the 38th consecutive year that the World Snooker Championship was staged at the venue. It started on 15 April 2006 and was scheduled to finish on 1 May 2006, but continued into the early hours of 2 May. The sixth and final ranking tournament of the 2005–06 snooker season, it was organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association and sponsored for the first time by online casino 888.com. The total prize fund was £896,240, of which the winner received £200,000.

The qualifying rounds took place from 8 to 13 January and from 14 to 15 March 2006 at Pontin's, in Prestatyn, Wales. The top 16 players from the snooker world rankings and the 16 successful qualifiers reached the tournament's main stage at the Crucible. Shaun Murphy was the defending champion, having defeated Matthew Stevens 18–16 in the 2005 final. He lost in the quarter-finals against eventual runner-up Peter Ebdon and became another world champion who fell to the Crucible curse and could not defend his first world title.

Barry Hawkins featured at the main stage for the first time, meaning it was the first time there was only one debutant at the Crucible. Graeme Dott defeated Ebdon 18–14 in the final, which surpassed the 1985 final between Dennis Taylor and Steve Davis as the latest finish ending at 12:52 a.m. BST, although it was not the longest-lasting ever. A total of 46 century breaks were compiled during the event's main stage. Another 52 century breaks were made during the qualifying rounds.