<Tr> <Th> World Championship </Th> <Td> Mark Williams </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> ← 2016 / 2017 2018 / 2019 → </Td> </Tr> <P> The 2017 / 2018 snooker season was a series of professional snooker tournaments played between 4 May 2017 and 7 May 2018 . </P> <P> The China Championship became a ranking event and was brought forward to a mid-August date, ahead of the Paul Hunter Classic . The Shanghai Masters was initially withdrawn from the season calendar, but was later rescheduled for November 2017 . The biennial World Cup team event was played in July 2017 . Another event not held every year returning in 2017 was the 2017 IWGA World Games . The Shoot - Out was brought forward to the start of February, ahead of both the World Grand Prix and Welsh Open . </P>

When does the snooker season start and finish
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