April| Mark King (15)|10| Rory McLeod |6 |22 & 23 April| Stephen Maguire (2)|10| Jamie Burnett|5 |23, 24 & 25 April| Ronnie O'Sullivan (1)|11| Mark Allen (16)|13 |24 & 25 April| Nigel Bond|5| Ryan Day (8)|13 |25, 26 & 27 April| John Higgins (5)|13| Jamie Cope |12 |26 & 27 April| Graeme Dott (13) |10| Mark Selby (4)|13 |24 & 25 April| Shaun Murphy (3)|13| Marco Fu (14)|3 |23 & 24 April| Ding Junhui (11)|10| Stephen Hendry (6)|13|25, 26 & 27 April| Ali Carter (7)|8| Neil Robertson (10) |13 |26 & 27 April| Mark King (15)|6| Stephen Maguire (2)|13 |28 & 29 April| Mark Allen (16)|13| Ryan Day (8) |11 |28 & 29 April| John Higgins (5)|13| Mark Selby (4)|12 |28 & 29 April| Shaun Murphy (3)|13| Stephen Hendry (6)|11 |28 & 29 April| Neil Robertson (10)|13 | Stephen Maguire (2) |8 |30 April 1 & 2 May| Mark Allen (16)|13| John Higgins (5)|17 |30 April 1 & 2 May| Shaun Murphy (3)|17 | Neil Robertson (10)|14 |3 & 4 May| John Higgins (5)|18| Shaun Murphy (3)|9 }} Preliminary qualifying The preliminary qualifying rounds for the tournament took place on 25 February 2009 at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield. (World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association members not on The Tour.)Round 1Round 2Qualifying The qualifying rounds 1–4 for the tournament took place between 26 February and 4 March 2009 at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield. The final round of qualifying took place between 8 and 10 March 2009 at the same venue.Round 1Rounds 2–5''' Century breaks This is complete list of century breaks scored in both the qualifying and the televised stages. Televised stage centuries There were 83 century breaks in the televised stage of the World Championship, a new record beating 2002's and 2007's 68; this record was surpassed in 2015. 147, 140, 117, 114 Stephen Hendry 141, 131, 129, 128, 128, 128, 116, 114, 113, 107, 104 John Higgins 140, 107, 105, 104, 103 Ronnie O'Sullivan 137, 123, 115, 110, 109, 106, 104, 102, 101, 101 Shaun Murphy 134, 120, 106 Ryan Day 133, 127, 122, 115, 101 Stephen Maguire 130, 121, 112, 111 Ding Junhui 129, 124, 122, 111 Marco Fu 129, 119, 119, 115, 108, 108, 106, 103, 103, 103 Mark Allen 129, 105 Barry Hawkins 127, 124, 119, 118, 117, 117, 114, 104, 101, 101 Mark Selby 125, 124, 112, 105, 101