UK Snooker Championship

The UK Championship is a professional snooker tournament, the second biggest tournament after the World Championship.

The UK Championship was first held in 1977 as the United Kingdom Snooker Championship, an event open only to British residents. Patsy Fagan won, beating Doug Mountjoy by 12 frames to 9, to win £2000.

The rules were changed in 1984 to allow all professionals to enter (although until 2005, only players from Britain and Ireland had ever won the event), and it was granted ranking status. It carries one and a half times as many ranking points as all other tournaments, with the exception of the World Championship.

The tournament has seen many memorable finals. In 1977 and 1979 it provided Patsy Fagan and John Virgo, respectively, with their first and only major tournament wins. In 1980, it was Steve Davis's first of his 73 professional tournament wins. In 1981, the Davis-Terry Griffiths final set the stage for four more final battles between Davis and Griffiths that were to dominate the rest of the season before their unexpected losses in the first round of the 1982 World Championship.

In 1983, Alex Higgins beat Davis 16-15 after having trailed 7-0 at the end of the first session, a loss for Davis that was to prefigure and perhaps contribute to his even more memorable loss of the 1985 World Snooker Championship final to Dennis Taylor. In 1985, Willie Thorne, then on the brink of emerging as a major force to be reckoned with in the game, led Davis 13-10 at the start of the evening session, only to miss a simple blue off its spot and lose 16-14. The victory regenerated Davis's confidence after his devastating World Championship loss; Thorne, on the other hand, never won another ranking title.

In 1988, Doug Mountjoy, widely viewed as just making up the numbers against the rising Stephen Hendry, produced a stunning display of character and ability to win 16-12 and become the second-oldest ever winner of a ranking event; even more astonishingly, he was to win the Mercantile Credit Classic the following month to become one of only four players ever to win two ranking tournaments in a row.

Stephen Hendry's 1989 win prefigured his decade of dominance similar to the one prefigured by Davis's win in 1980; its significance was emphasised by the fact that the losing finalist was Davis himself. Hendry's 16-15 win the following year, over Davis again, spoke to his unique qualities of nerve. The Hendry/Ken Doherty final of 1994 is considered by many players as one of Hendry's best performance, as he won 10-5 making 7 century breaks along the way, six of which were in the span of eight frames played. Doherty has appeared in two more memorable finals.

The 2001 final is important as Doherty was on the receiving end of the worst loss in UK Championship final history (since it became a 19 frame final in 1993), as Ronnie O'Sullivan (who, in 1993, became the youngest ever winner of the event, and indeed any event, at just 17 years of age) eased to a 10-1 win. Astonishingly, just three years later Stephen Maguire repeated the feat against David Gray. 2002 was Doherty's last UK final to date, and was the best and most dramatic as he was edged 10-9 by Mark Williams.

The 2005 tournament saw Davis reach his first ranking tournament final for almost two years at the age of 48 (and make his highest break in tournament play for 23 years) before losing 10-6 to 18-year-old Ding Junhui in the final that featured the widest age gap between finalists in professional tournament history. The following year, Peter Ebdon won the title and, in doing so, became the first and only man to have both won and lost a World and a UK Championship final to Stephen Hendry.

The 2007 final was won by Ronnie O'Sullivan for the fourth time, again with some ease, winning 10-2 in the final against Stephen Maguire. The tournament was also notable for the longest televised frame in history between Marco Fu and Mark Selby at 77 minutes and Ronnie O'Sullivan's maximum 147 break in the deciding frame of the semi-final.

The tournament has had many different sponsors over the years including Coral, Tennents, StormSeal, Royal Liver Assurance, Liverpool Victoria, PowerHouse, Travis Perkins and is currently sponsored by Maplin Electronics. It is one of the tournaments televised by the BBC and it is held towards the end of each calendar year. Prize money in 2005 was £500,000 ($966,549) with the winner receiving £70,000 ($135,316).

Winners

Year     Winner                      Runner-up                    Final score        Venue              Season

Super Crystalate UK Championship (non-ranking)

1977    Patsy Fagan            Doug Mountjoy            12 - 9               Blackpool         1977/78

Coral UK Championship (non-ranking)

1978    Doug Mountjoy       David Taylor               15 - 9               Preston 1978/79

1979    John Virgo               Terry Griffiths               14 – 13            Preston 1979/80

1980    Steve Davis              Alex Higgins                 16 - 6               Preston 1980/81

1981    Steve Davis              Terry Griffiths               16 - 3               Preston 1981/82

1982    Terry Griffiths  Alex Higgins                16 - 15             Preston 1982/83

1983    Alex Higgins             Steve Davis                  16 - 15             Preston 1983/84

Coral UK Championship (ranking)

1984    Steve Davis               Alex Higgins                 16 - 8               Preston 1984/85

1985    Steve Davis               Willie Thorne                16 - 14             Preston 1985/86

Tennents UK Championship (ranking)

1986    Steve Davis               Neal Foulds                  16 - 7               Preston 1986/87

1987    Steve Davis               Jimmy White                 16 - 14             Preston 1987/88

1988    Doug Mountjoy        Stephen Hendry            16 - 12             Preston 1988/89

Stormseal UK Championship (ranking)

1989    Stephen Hendry      Steve Davis                  16 - 12             Preston 1989/90

1990    Stephen Hendry      Steve Davis                  16 - 15             Preston 1990/91

UK Championship (ranking)

1991    John Parrott             Jimmy White                 16 - 13             Preston 1991/92

Royal Liver Assurance UK Championship (ranking)

1992    Jimmy White             John Parrott                  16 - 9               Preston 1992/93

1993    Ronnie O'Sullivan   Stephen Hendry            10 - 6               Preston 1993/94

1994    Stephen Hendry      Ken Doherty                10 - 5               Preston 1994/95

1995    Stephen Hendry       Peter Ebdon                 10 - 3               Preston 1995/96

UK Championship (ranking)

1996    Stephen Hendry       John Higgins                 10 - 9               Preston 1996/97

Liverpool Victoria UK Championship (ranking)

1997    Ronnie O'Sullivan   Stephen Hendry            10 - 6               Preston 1997/98

1998    John Higgins            Matthew Stevens          10 - 6               Bournemouth    1998/99

1999    Mark Williams Matthew Stevens          10 - 8               Bournemouth    1999/00

2000    John Higgins            Mark Williams  10 - 4               Bournemouth    2000/01

UK Championship (ranking)

2001    Ronnie O'Sullivan    Ken Doherty                10 - 1               York                2001/02

PowerHouse UK Championship (ranking)

2002    Mark Williams Ken Doherty                10 - 9               York                2002/03

Travis Perkins UK Championship (ranking)

2003    Matthew Stevens      Stephen Hendry            10 - 8               York                2003/04

2004    Stephen Maguire      David Gray                   10 - 1               York                2004/05

2005    Ding Junhui               Steve Davis                  10 - 6               York                2005/06

Maplin UK Championship (ranking)

2006    Peter Ebdon               Stephen Hendry            10 - 6               York                2006/07

2007    Ronnie O'Sullivan    Stephen Maguire          10 - 2               Telford             2007/08

2008    Shaun Murphy Marco Fu                     10 - 9               Telford             2008/09

Pukka Pies UK Championship (ranking)

2009                                                                                                    Telford             2009/10

Eurosport also provide coverage of the event.

World Snooker Championship

History

The first championship was held in 1927 and Joe Davis helped to organise the event. Matches were held at various venues, and the final took place at Camkin's Hall, Birmingham. Joe Davis won the event, beating Tom Dennis 20-11. His prize money was £6.10s. The highest break of the tournament was 60 by Albert Cope.

In subsequent years, finals were held at various venues. Joe Davis won every year until 1940. Despite an upsurge in interest in snooker there were only two entrants for the 1931 professional championship. The event was staged in the back room of a Nottingham pub, owned by Tom Dennis. The fact that he was playing on his own table didn't help as Joe Davis ran out a 25-21 winner for his fifth consecutive victory. In 1940, Joe Davis just beat his younger brother Fred 37-36. No tournaments were organised during the remaining war years, and it only resumed in 1946 when Joe Davis won again for the 15th time, a record that still stands. Joe Davis never contested the world championship again, though he continued to play professional snooker. Some have speculated that he did not want to risk losing his unbeaten record.

Walter Donaldson won in 1947, but it was Fred Davis who dominated the next few years, winning it three times in 1948, 1949 and 1951.

In 1952, as a result of a disagreement between the governing bodies (the Billiards Association and Control Council), and some of the players, two tournaments were held. The World Matchplay, organised by the players and widely viewed as the "real" world championship, continued until 1957. The BA&CC event only lasted one year. Meanwhile the 'official' world championship did attract two entrants in 1952, Horace Lindrum (Australia) beating New Zealander Clark McConachy – and it is Lindrum's name that is inscribed on the familiar trophy.

Snooker then went into a period of decline, and no tournament was held between 1958 and 1963. In 1964 it was revived on a challenge basis, a format which lasted until 1968. This meant that matches took place on an irregular basis, sometimes more than once a year. John Pulman completely dominated during this period, overcoming all challengers in a total of seven matches.

The championship reverted back to a knockout tournament in 1969. That year it was won by John Spencer, but it was Ray Reardon who was to dominate over the coming years, winning six times between 1970 and 1978.

1976 was the first year the championships were sponsored by the cigarette brand Embassy. The following year, the event moved to the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, UK, and the BBC started providing major television coverage. The Crucible provides a unique atmosphere to the tournament, both for spectators and live television viewers. The venue seats fewer than a thousand people with the front row of seats only a few feet from the players. This was about the time snooker started attracting very large television audiences, and for most fans the Crucible is synonymous with snooker. The most successful players at the Crucible are Steve Davis, who won six times in the 1980s, and Stephen Hendry, who won seven times in the 1990s. Recently, the tournament has been more open, with six different players winning in the 2000s. The most famous final occurred in 1985, when Dennis Taylor beat Steve Davis 18-17 in one of the most closely contested matches of all time (see 1985 World Snooker Championship final for details). It finished at 00:19 but was superseded as the latest finish first by the 2006 final (00:52 BST), then the 2007 final (00:55 BST).

In 2004, the championship offered a total of £1,378,920 ($2,665,589) in prize money, including £250,000 ($483,274) for the winner and £125,000 ($241,637) for the runner-up. A further £147,000 ($284,165) was on offer for a 147 break, though no player achieved this.

Recent United Kingdom legislation has placed restrictions on tobacco advertising, including sponsorship of sporting events. Embassy had a special dispensation to continue snooker sponsorship until 2005. The Championship is currently sponsored by BetFred.com after 888.com pulled out of their five year sponsorship deal after three years.

On 15 April 2009 the World Snooker Championship website announced that Betfred.com would be the new sponsor of the World Championship for the next four years.

On 27 April 2009, it was confirmed that the World Championships would stay at the Crucible for at least another five years (until 2014).

Records

Top performers of the modern era

The 'modern' era is considered to start in 1969, when the championship reverted to a knock-out tournament format from a challenge format. In the modern game, the best record is that of Stephen Hendry, who has won seven times to date. Steve Davis won six times in the 1980s, as did Ray Reardon in the 1970s.

General records and statistics

The greatest number of wins of all time is fifteen, by Joe Davis. This was in an era when there were few professional players and far fewer matches required to win, and is unlikely to be beaten.

The first 147 in the championship was achieved by Cliff Thorburn in 1983. Ronnie O'Sullivan (1997, 2003, 2008) and Stephen Hendry (1995, 2009) are the only players to achieve the feat more than once; they are also the only players to lose the match they were playing after scoring a 147. Jimmy White (1992), Mark Williams (2005) and Ali Carter (2008) are the other players to have made a maximum break at the World Championship.

O'Sullivan's maximum in 1997 was, at 5 minutes 20 seconds, the fastest ever recorded in the professional game.

The 2008 Championship was the first ranking tournament to produce two 147 breaks in the latter stages. They were scored by Ali Carter and Ronnie O'Sullivan.

In 2009, Stephen Hendry completed his 9th 147 break in frame seven of his quarter-final against Shaun Murphy. This was also the 9th 147 made at the Crucible Theatre. Furthermore, it was the third in two years.

Fergal O'Brien is the only player to score a century in his first frame at the Crucible, which he did in 1994.

The longest ever frame at the Crucible lasted 1 hour, 15 minutes, and was played between Stephen Maguire and Mark King in 2009.

Stephen Hendry was the youngest ever champion when he won in 1990 aged 21.

In the 2009 Championship, Stephen Hendry won his 1000th frame at the Crucible Theatre, against Ding Junhui.

Horace Lindrum of Australia, who won in 1952, Cliff Thorburn of Canada, who won in 1980 and Ken Doherty of Ireland, who won in 1997, are the only champions from outside the United Kingdom. Lindrum's official title is often discounted, as most of the best players did not compete.

Surprise winners at the Crucible include Joe Johnson and Shaun Murphy, who won in 1986 and 2005 respectively against odds of 150-1 each, and Terry Griffiths, whose 1979 victory came in only his second professional tournament.

Jimmy White has reached six finals, but has never won. The closest he came was 18-17 in 1994 against Stephen Hendry, on his 32nd birthday.

Ronnie O'Sullivan is the only finalist in the modern era to have never lost in a final.

Ken Doherty is the only player to have won the world title at junior, amateur and professional level.

Stephen Hendry holds the record for the longest unbeaten run at the Crucible Theatre. He won the Championship every year between 1992 and 1996, and continued unbeaten until the 1997 final.

John Parrott is the only player to have recorded a whitewash in the final tournament. He beat Eddie Charlton 10-0 in the first round in 1992.

Since the tournament has been held at the Crucible only two players have successfully defended a world title: Steve Davis in 1984, 1988 and 1989, and Stephen Hendry 1993-1996. No player has successfully defended their first title in the modern era.

Media Coverage

BBC Coverage used to be hosted from its inception in 1976 until 2000 by David Vine with commentary by the like of Ted Lowe. Since 2000 the BBC Coverage has been hosted by Hazel Irvine or Ray Stubbs or more recently with Richie Persad when Hazel or Ray is unavailable. Commentary is by a raft of ex-pros and current pros including Willie Thorne, Dennis Taylor, John Virgo, John Parrott, Steve Davis, Ken Doherty, Clive Everton, Terry Griffiths and Neal Foulds. The BBC will continue to televise this event (along with three other tournaments) until 2011. IMG Media (initially as TWI) have produced the BBC's Snooker coverage since 1998.

World Snooker Championship

History

The first championship was held in 1927 and Joe Davis helped to organise the event. Matches were held at various venues, and the final took place at Camkin's Hall, Birmingham. Joe Davis won the event, beating Tom Dennis 20-11. His prize money was £6.10s. The highest break of the tournament was 60 by Albert Cope.

In subsequent years, finals were held at various venues. Joe Davis won every year until 1940. Despite an upsurge in interest in snooker there were only two entrants for the 1931 professional championship. The event was staged in the back room of a Nottingham pub, owned by Tom Dennis. The fact that he was playing on his own table didn't help as Joe Davis ran out a 25-21 winner for his fifth consecutive victory. In 1940, Joe Davis just beat his younger brother Fred 37-36. No tournaments were organised during the remaining war years, and it only resumed in 1946 when Joe Davis won again for the 15th time, a record that still stands. Joe Davis never contested the world championship again, though he continued to play professional snooker. Some have speculated that he did not want to risk losing his unbeaten record.

Walter Donaldson won in 1947, but it was Fred Davis who dominated the next few years, winning it three times in 1948, 1949 and 1951.

In 1952, as a result of a disagreement between the governing bodies (the Billiards Association and Control Council), and some of the players, two tournaments were held. The World Matchplay, organised by the players and widely viewed as the "real" world championship, continued until 1957. The BA&CC event only lasted one year. Meanwhile the 'official' world championship did attract two entrants in 1952, Horace Lindrum (Australia) beating New Zealander Clark McConachy – and it is Lindrum's name that is inscribed on the familiar trophy.

Snooker then went into a period of decline, and no tournament was held between 1958 and 1963. In 1964 it was revived on a challenge basis, a format which lasted until 1968. This meant that matches took place on an irregular basis, sometimes more than once a year. John Pulman completely dominated during this period, overcoming all challengers in a total of seven matches.

The championship reverted back to a knockout tournament in 1969. That year it was won by John Spencer, but it was Ray Reardon who was to dominate over the coming years, winning six times between 1970 and 1978.

1976 was the first year the championships were sponsored by the cigarette brand Embassy. The following year, the event moved to the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, UK, and the BBC started providing major television coverage. The Crucible provides a unique atmosphere to the tournament, both for spectators and live television viewers. The venue seats fewer than a thousand people with the front row of seats only a few feet from the players. This was about the time snooker started attracting very large television audiences, and for most fans the Crucible is synonymous with snooker. The most successful players at the Crucible are Steve Davis, who won six times in the 1980s, and Stephen Hendry, who won seven times in the 1990s. Recently, the tournament has been more open, with six different players winning in the 2000s. The most famous final occurred in 1985, when Dennis Taylor beat Steve Davis 18-17 in one of the most closely contested matches of all time (see 1985 World Snooker Championship final for details). It finished at 00:19 but was superseded as the latest finish first by the 2006 final (00:52 BST), then the 2007 final (00:55 BST).

In 2004, the championship offered a total of £1,378,920 ($2,665,589) in prize money, including £250,000 ($483,274) for the winner and £125,000 ($241,637) for the runner-up. A further £147,000 ($284,165) was on offer for a 147 break, though no player achieved this.

Recent United Kingdom legislation has placed restrictions on tobacco advertising, including sponsorship of sporting events. Embassy had a special dispensation to continue snooker sponsorship until 2005. The Championship is currently sponsored by BetFred.com after 888.com pulled out of their five year sponsorship deal after three years.

On 15 April 2009 the World Snooker Championship website announced that Betfred.com would be the new sponsor of the World Championship for the next four years.

On 27 April 2009, it was confirmed that the World Championships would stay at the Crucible for at least another five years (until 2014).

Snooker Tournaments

RANKING TOURNAMENTS  

• World Championship
• UK Championship
• Grand Prix
• Welsh Open
• China Open
• Shanghai Masters

OTHER TOURNAMENTS

• The Masters
• Masters Qualifiers
• Premier League
• Jiangsu Classic
• World Series of Snooker

List of snooker equipment

Chalk

The tip of the cue is 'chalked' to ensure good contact between the cue and the cue-ball.

 

Cue

A stick, made of wood or fibreglass, the tip of which is used to strike the cue-ball.

 

Extension

A shorter baton that fits over, or screws into, the back end of the cue, effectively lengthening it. Is used for shots where the cue-ball is a long distance from the player.

 

Rest

A stick with an X-shaped head that is used to support the cue when the cue ball is out of reach at normal extension.

 

Hook rest

 

Identical to the normal rest, yet with a hooked metal end. It is used to set the rest around another ball. The hook rest is the most recent invention in snooker.

 

Spider

 

Similar to the rest but with an arch-shaped head; it is used to elevate and support the tip of the cue above the height of the cue-ball.

 

Swan (or swan-neck spider)

 

This equipment, consisting of a rest with a single extended neck and a fork-like prong at the end, is used to give extra cueing distance over a group of balls.

 

Triangle/Rack

 

The piece of equipment is used for gathering the red balls into the formation required for the break to start a frame.

 

Extended rest

 

Similar to the regular rest, but with a mechanism at the butt end which makes it possible to extend the rest by up to three feet.

 

Extended spider

A hybrid of the swan and the spider. Its purpose is to bridge over large packs of reds. Is less common these days in professional snooker but can be used in situations where the position of one or more balls prevents the spider being placed where the striker desires.

 

Ball marker

A multi-purpose instrument with a 'D' shaped notch, which a referee can (1) place next to a ball, in order to mark the position of it. They can then remove the ball to clean it; (2) use to judge if a ball is preventing a colour from being placed on its spot; (3) use to judge if the cue ball can hit the extreme edge of a "ball on" when awarding a free ball (by placing it alongside the potentially intervening ball).

Governance and Tournaments

 The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA, also known as World Snooker), founded in 1968 as the Professional Billiard Players' Association, is the governing body for the professional game. Its subsidiary, World Snooker, based in Bristol, England, organises the professional tour. Over the years the board of the WPBSA has changed many times, which some argue is an indication of in-fighting within the sport. The amateur game is governed by the International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF).

Professional snooker players can play on the World Snooker main tour ranking circuit. Ranking points, earned by players through their performances over the previous two seasons, determine the current world ranking. A player's ranking determines what level of qualification they require for ranking tournaments. The elite of professional snooker is generally regarded as the "Top 16" ranking players, who are not required to pre-qualify for any of the tournaments. The tour contains 96 players - the top 64 from the previous two seasons, the 8 highest one-year point scorers who are not in the top 64, the top 8 from the previous season's Pontin's International Open Series (PIOS), and various regional, junior and amateur champions.

The most important event in professional snooker is the World Championship, held annually since 1927 (except during the Second World War and between 1958 and 1963). The tournament has been held at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield (England) since 1977, and was sponsored by Embassy from 1976 to 2005. Since 2005, tobacco companies have not been allowed to sponsor sporting events in the United Kingdom, and the World Snooker Championship had to find a new sponsor. It was announced in January 2006 that the 2006–2010 world championships would be sponsored by online casino 888.com. The Championship is currently sponsored by BetFred.com after 888.com pulled out of their five year sponsorship deal after three years. On 15th April 2009 the World Snooker Championship website announced that Betfred.com would be the new sponsor of the World Championship for the next four years.

The status of winning the World Championship is great, and it is the most highly valued prize in professional snooker, both in terms of financial reward (£250,000 for the winner) as well as prestige. The World Championship is televised extensively in the UK by the BBC and gains significant coverage in Europe on Eurosport and in the Far East.

The group of tournaments that come next in importance are the other ranking tournaments. Players in these tournaments score world ranking points. A high ranking ensures qualification for next year's tournaments, invitations to invitational tournaments and an advantageous draw in tournaments. The most prestigious of these after the World Championship is the UK Championship. Third in line are the invitational tournaments, to which most of the highest ranked players are invited. The most important tournament in this category is The Masters, which to most players is the second or third most sought-after prize.

In an attempt to answer criticisms that televised matches can be slow or get bogged down in lengthy safety exchanges and that long matches causes problems for advertisers, an alternative series of timed tournaments has been organised by Matchroom Sport Chairman Barry Hearn. The shot-timed Premier League Snooker was established, with the top eight players in the world invited to compete at regular United Kingdom venues, televised on Sky Sports. Players have twenty-five seconds to take each shot, with a small number of time-outs per player. While some success has been achieved with this format it generally does not receive the same amount of press attention or status as the regular ranking tournaments.

There are also other tournaments that have less importance, earn no world ranking points and are not televised. These can change on a year-to-year basis depending on calendars and sponsors.