The 1978 UK Championship was a professional non-

ranking A ranking is a relationship between a set of items such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than" or "ranked equal to" the second. In mathematics, this is known as a weak order or total preorder of o ...

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sports, cue sport played on a Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets, one at each corner and o ...

tournament that took place between 22 November and 1 December 1978 at the

Guild Hall A guildhall, also known as a "guild hall" or "guild house", is a historical building originally used for tax collecting by municipalities or merchants in Great Britain and the Low Countries. These buildings commonly become town halls and in som ...

in Preston, England. The 1978 tournament was the first of twenty

UK Championship The UK Championship is a professional ranking snooker tournament. It is one of snooker's prestigious Triple Crown events, along with the World Championship and the Masters. It is usually held at the Barbican Centre, York. Ronnie O'Sullivan h ...

competitions to be played in Preston's Guildhall. For the first time, the event was sponsored by

Coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and sec ...

who continued to sponsor the UK Championship until

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

. The most dramatic match came in the qualifying rounds when

Terry Griffiths Terence Martin Griffiths (born 16 October 1947) is a Welsh retired professional snooker player and current snooker coach and pundit. In his second professional tournament, he became world champion when he won the 1979 World Snooker Champion ...

, a newly turned professional, was beaten 8–9 by

Rex Williams Desmond Rex Williams (born 20 July 1933) is a retired English professional snooker and billiards player. He was the second player to make an official maximum break, achieving this in an exhibition match in December 1965. Williams won the Worl ...

after leading 8–2. The main stage of the championship also provided plenty of surprises.

Patsy Fagan Patsy Fagan (born 15 January 1951) is an Irish former professional snooker player. Having been runner-up in the 1974 English Amateur Championship, he turned professional in October 1976. He experienced early success with victories at the 1977 ...

, the defending UK champion, went out 7–9 in the first round to David Taylor who, after a decade in the professional ranks, reached his first major final by beating

Alex Higgins Alexander Gordon Higgins (18 March 1949 – 24 July 2010) was a Northern Irish professional snooker player who is remembered as one of the most iconic figures in the game. Nicknamed "Hurricane Higgins" because of his fast play, he was Wor ...

9–5 in the semi-finals. In the other half of the draw,

Roy Andrewartha Roy Andrewartha (23 April 1938 – 15 October 2020) was a Welsh professional snooker player. Career Born in 1938, Andrewartha lost in the 1976 final of the English Amateur Championship to Chris Ross. He played in the World Amateur Snooker ...

beat John Spencer 9–8 and

Willie Thorne William Joseph Thorne (4 March 195417 June 2020) was an English professional snooker player. He won one ranking title, the 1985 Classic. He also reached the final of the 1985 UK Championship, losing 16–14 to Steve Davis after leading 13–8 ...

beat

Ray Reardon Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (gr ...

9–6 only to collapse 1–9 against

Graham Miles Graham Miles (11 May 1941 – 12 October 2014) was an English snooker player. Career Miles turned professional in 1971. He first gained recognition in 1974, when he reached the final of the World Championship. Although he lost 12–22 to Ray Re ...

, whose 139 break set a tournament record. In the semi-finals it was Miles' turn to collapse 1–9 to

Doug Mountjoy Doug Mountjoy (8 June 1942 – 14 February 2021) was a Welsh snooker player from Tir-y-Berth, Gelligaer, Glamorgan, Wales. He was a member of the professional snooker circuit from the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, and remained within the ...

who, keeping his best until last, clinched his final victory over Taylor with a break of 120. The

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

televised the final on their ''

Grandstand A grandstand is a normally permanent structure for seating spectators. This includes both auto racing and horse racing. The grandstand is in essence like a single section of a stadium, but differs from a stadium in that it does not wrap a ...

'' programme with

Ted Lowe Edwin Charles Ernest Lowe (1 November 19201 May 2011) was an English snooker commentator for the BBC and ITV. His husky, hushed tones earned him the nickname "Whispering Ted". Life and career Born in Lambourn, Berkshire, Lowe was general manage ...

commentating the match.

Main draw

Final

Qualifying

Last 24 Best of 17 frames David Taylor 9–2

Maurice Parkin Maurice Parkin is an English former professional snooker player. Career Parkin turned professional in 1971, entering the 1972 World Championship that season. He won his first qualifying round match 11–10 against Geoff Thompson, but was def ...

John Virgo John Virgo (born 4 March 1946) is an English former professional snooker player who has since developed a career as a snooker commentator and TV personality. Snooker career Early professional career (1973–1978) Virgo's first notable appear ...

9–4

Ray Edmonds Ray Edmonds (born 25 April 1936 in Grimsby, Lincolnshire) is a former English professional player of English billiards and snooker. He twice won the World Amateur Snooker title, and won the World Professional Billiards Championship in 1985. Pla ...

John Dunning 9–3

David Greaves David Greaves (1 September 1946 – 5 October 2019) was an English former professional snooker player. Life David Greaves was born 1 September 1946 in St-Annes-on-Sea (Lancashire). In his early life he went to Stanley Junior School in Clev ...

Jim Meadowcroft Jim Meadowcroft (15 December 1946 – 25 September 2015) was an English professional snooker player who latterly was a coach and a commentator on the game. His most successful years were during the 1970s; he was ranked number 12 in the world in ...

9–5

Jackie Rea John Joseph "Jackie" Rea (6 April 1921 – 20 October 2013) was a Northern Irish snooker player. He was the leading Irish snooker player until the emergence of Alex Higgins. Rea reached the semi-final of the 1952 World Championship losing to ...

9–5 John Barrie

9–3

Pat Houlihan Patrick Houlihan (7 November 1929 – 8 November 2006https://wst.tv/the-greatest-snooker-player-you-never-saw/) was an English snooker player. He was born in Deptford, London. Houlihan turned professional in 1971 at the age of 42 after many ...

9–8

9–4

Bernard Bennett Bernard Bennett (31 August 1931 – 12 January 2002) was an English former professional player of snooker and English billiards, whose career spanned twenty-six years between 1969 and 1995. Bennett was a stalwart of professional snooker and ...

Century breaks

* 139

* 120, 118

* 101 John Dunning

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1978 Uk Snooker Championship UK Championship (snooker)