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The 2005 UK Championship (called the 2005 Travis Perkins UK Championship for sponsorship purposes) was a professional snooker tournament and the 2005 edition of the

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 ...

. It was held at the Barbican Centre in

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

, England from 5 to 18 December 2005. The competition was the second of six

World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) is the governing body of professional snooker and English billiards based in Bristol, England. It owns and publishes the official rules of the two sports and engages in promotion ...

ranking events in the

2005–06 snooker season The 2005–06 snooker season was a series of snooker tournaments played between 17 May 2005 and 10 May 2006. There were six ranking tournaments, and the British Open and Irish Masters tournaments were removed from calendar. The Northern ...

the first of the three

Triple Crown Triple Crown may refer to: Sports Horse racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States) ** Triple Crown Trophy ** Triple Crown Productions * Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Tri ...

events and the tournament's 29th edition. It was broadcast in the United Kingdom and Europe on the

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 exam. ...

...

and

Eurosport Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through its international sports unit, it operates two main channels— Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2—across most of its territories, ...

. The defending champion was

Stephen Maguire Stephen Maguire (born 13 March 1981) is a Scottish professional snooker player. He has won six major ranking tournaments, including the 2004 UK Championship, and has twice since reached the finals of that event. Maguire turned professional in ...

, who had won the previous year's event with a 10–1 win over David Gray in the final. Maguire reached the third round where he was defeated 8–9 by

Steve Davis Steve Davis (born 22 August 1957) is an English retired professional snooker player who is currently a commentator, musician, DJ, and author. He is best known for dominating professional snooker during the 1980s, when he reached eight World S ...

Ding Junhui Ding Junhui (; born 1 April 1987) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He is the most successful Asian player in the history of the sport. Throughout his career, he has won 14 major ranking titles, including three UK Championships (200 ...

won the tournament, defeating six-time

world champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Davis 10–6 in the final for his second career ranking title. He was the first non-British and Irish person to win the UK Championship, the second youngest player to win it since

Ronnie O'Sullivan Ronald Antonio O'Sullivan (born 5 December 1975) is an English professional snooker player who is the current world champion and world number one. Widely recognised as one of the most talented and accomplished players in the sport's history, ...

triumphed in the 1993 competition. In the semi-finals Ding beat Joe Perry 9–4 and Davis defeated seven-time world champion

Stephen Hendry Stephen Gordon Hendry (born 13 January 1969) is a Scottish professional snooker player who dominated the sport during the 1990s, becoming one of the most successful players in its history. After turning professional in 1985 at age 16, Hendry ...

9–6. The tournament's highest break of 145 was shared by Davis,

John Higgins John Higgins, (born 18 May 1975) is a Scottish professional snooker player. He has won 31 career ranking titles, placing him in third position on the all-time list of ranking event winners, behind Ronnie O'Sullivan (39) and Stephen Hendry ( ...

and Michael Holt. The UK Championship preceded the

Malta Cup The European Masters is a professional ranking snooker tournament that has been staged periodically since 1989 as the European Open. Between 2005 and 2008 it was known as the Malta Cup and was the sole ranking tournament in Europe outside the Brit ...

and followed the Grand Prix.

Format

The

tournament was created and first played as the United Kingdom Professional Snooker Championship in

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

and was open to residents in the United Kingdom and holders of British passports. Seven years later all professional players were allowed to enter and snooker's governing body, the

(WPBSA), granted the tournament ranking status. It is considered to be snooker's second most important ranking tournament behind the

World Snooker Championship The World Snooker Championship is the longest-running and most prestigious tournament in professional snooker. It is also the wealthiest, with total prize money in 2022 of £2,395,000, including £500,000 for the winner. First held in 1927, it ...

and is one of three of the sport's

events. The 2005 event was held between 5 and 18 December at the Barbican Centre in

, England. It was the second of six WPBSA ranking events of the

, following the Grand Prix and preceding the

. Held in October, the Grand Prix was won by

who defeated his rival

nine frames to two (9–2) in the final. The defending UK Champion was

, who had defeated David Gray 10–1 in the previous year's final. The 2005 UK Championship was sponsored by builders' merchant and home improvement retailer

Travis Perkins Travis Perkins plc is a British builders' merchant and home improvement retailer with head offices based in Northampton. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange, and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History The company began in 179 ...

, and was broadcast by the

...
and

. The tournament featured 48 participants with 16

seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ...

ed players, who were given a bye to the second round. The remaining 32 competitors were awarded by a three-round qualification tournament. The qualifying stage was played between players ranked 17 and those ranked lower for one of 16 places in the final stage between 31 October and 5 November at Pontin's Snooker Centre,

Prestatyn Prestatyn is a seaside town and community in Denbighshire, Wales. Historically a part of Flintshire, it is located on the Irish Sea coast, to the east of Rhyl. Prestatyn has a population of 19,085, History Prehistory There is evidence that ...

, Wales. The matches were best-of-17 frames until the final.

, the China Open champion, beat

Fergal O'Brien Fergal O'Brien (born 8 March 1972) is an Irish professional snooker player who plays on the main professional tour since 1991. Ranked within the world's top 64 players from 1994 to 2022, he has reached his highest position of 9th in the 2000 ...

9–4 in the third stage of qualifying. The other successful qualifiers included the likes of Ryan Day,

Stuart Bingham Stuart Bingham (born 21 May 1976) is an English professional snooker player who is a former world and Masters champion. Bingham won the 1996 World Amateur Championship but enjoyed little sustained success in the early part of his professional ...

and Mark Allen.

Prize fund

The tournament had a prize fund of £495,875, with £70,000 being awarded to the winner. Below is a breakdown of the prize money awarded. * Winner: £70,000 * Runner-up: £35,000 * Semi-final: £17,500 * Quarter-final: £14,000 * Last 16: £10,500 * Last 32: £7,250 * Last 48: £4,125 * Last 64: £2,000 * Highest break: £6,000 * Total: £495,875

Summary

Round 1

The 16 first-round matches were between players ranked 17–32 and those who had made it through the qualifying stage. In this round Ian McCulloch lost 9–7 to

Jamie Burnett Jamie Burnett (born 16 September 1975) is a Scottish former professional snooker player from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire. A journeyman, Burnett was ranked within the world's top 64 players for 20 consecutive years between 1996 and 2016, reac ...

in spite of the score tied at 4–4 at the first session's conclusion and him compiling breaks of 64, 71, 118, 52, 65 and 63. World number 18

Barry Pinches Barry Pinches (born 13 July 1970 in Catton, Norwich) is an English professional snooker player, recognisable for his bright and flamboyant waistcoats, which usually feature the yellow and green colours of Norwich City F.C. He is a former top 3 ...

lost his match against

Dominic Dale Dominic Dale (born Christopher Dale on 29 December 1971) is a Welsh professional snooker player and snooker commentator and presenter for the BBC and Eurosport. Career Dale was born in Coventry, England. He won the Welsh Amateur Championship, ...

with a heavy 9–3 defeat, while

Ali Carter Allister Carter (born 25 July 1979) is an English professional snooker player. He has twice been the World Championship runner-up, in 2008 and 2012, losing both finals to Ronnie O'Sullivan. He has won four ranking titles and briefly reached numb ...

beat

Jamie Cope Jamie Cope (born 12 September 1985) is an English former professional snooker player. A finalist in two ranking tournaments, the 2006 Grand Prix and the 2007 China Open, Cope also reached the semi-finals of the 2011 Masters. He reached his h ...

by the same scoreline, and

Marco Fu Marco Fu Ka-chun, MH, JP (, born 8 January 1978) is a Hong Kong professional snooker player. He is a three-time snooker world rankings, ranking event winner, having won the 2007 Grand Prix (snooker), 2007 Grand Prix, the 2013 Australian ...

won 9–6 over

Michael Judge Michael Judge (born 12 January 1975 in Dublin) is a professional snooker player from the Republic of Ireland. His best performance in a ranking event came in the 2004 Grand Prix, where he reached the semi-finals, and he reached his highest rank ...

Gerard Greene Gerard Eamonn Greene (born 12 November 1973 in Chatham, Kent) is a Northern Irish professional snooker player. He represents Northern Ireland in international events, as his parents are from Belfast. Greene has enjoyed moderate success in his ...

received a

walkover John_Carpenter_was_disqualified,_prompting_his_teammates_John_Taylor_(athlete).html" ;"title="John_Carpenter_(athlete).html" "title="Athletics at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres">men's 400 metres running in a walkover. Americ ...

to the next round after his opponent the world number 22

Quinten Hann Quinten may refer to: People Surname * Christopher Quinten (born 1957), British actor Given name * Quinten Burg (born 1948), American politician * Quinten Hann (born 1977), Australian snooker player * Quinten Hermans (born 1995), Belgian cyclist ...

failed to appear for the match and withdrew from the tournament for undisclosed reasons. Breaks of 84, 83, 74, 62 and 61 gave Ding a 5–3 advantage over Anthony Hamilton, and he won four successive frames in the game's second session to take a 9–3 win and progress to the second round. World amateur champion Allen claimed a 9–6 victory over 2004 UK Championship runner-up David Gray and

Joe Swail Joe Swail (born 29 August 1969) is a Northern Irish former professional snooker player from Belfast. He retired in May 2019 after being relegated from the tour. He has reached ten major ranking semi-finals, including the 2000 and 2001 World Ch ...

won seven frames in a row en route to defeating

Andy Hicks Andrew Hicks (born 10 August 1973) is an English professional snooker player. Nicknamed "The Cream of Devon", Hicks was a semi-finalist at both the World Snooker Championship and UK Championship in 1995, and the same stage at four other ranking ...

9–3. Michael Holt defeated

Ricky Walden Ricky Walden (born 11 November 1982) is an English professional snooker player from Chester. Walden turned professional in 2000 and it took him eight years to win his first ranking title at the Shanghai Masters. He has since won the 2012 Wuxi ...

9–8, a match in which Holt had a frame docked. He was warned by referee Patricia Murphy for conceding a frame too early in frame eight. Holt was further cautioned for "ungentlemanly conduct" when he was heard swearing seven frames later, leading Murphy to deduct a frame because he was warned twice. That put him 8–7 behind but he recovered with a 56 break in the final frame decider. After 1991 world champion

John Parrott John Stephen Parrott, (born 11 May 1964) is an English former professional snooker player and television personality. He was a familiar face on the professional snooker circuit during the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, and remained withi ...

was defeated 9–5 by Mark Davis he admitted that winning another ranking event in his career was not possible.

Neil Robertson Neil Robertson (born 11 February 1982) is an Australian professional snooker player who is a former world champion and former world number one. The only Australian to have won a ranking event, he is also the only player from outside the United ...

achieved a break of 123 in him narrowly beating Rory McLeod 9–8, and world number 30

Barry Hawkins Barry Hawkins (born 23 April 1979) is an English professional snooker player from Ditton, Kent. He turned professional in 1996, but only rose to prominence in the 2004–05 snooker season, when he reached the last 16 of the 2004 UK Championship ...

achieved breaks of 118 and 100 en route to a 9–5 win over

Stuart Pettman Stuart Pettman (born 24 April 1975) is an English former professional snooker player and author. The Preston native has qualified for the World Championship three times, in 2003, 2004 and 2010. He beat 2005 champion Shaun Murphy in qualifying t ...

. World number 37 Stuart Bingham, the winner of the Masters Qualifying Event in November, took a 9–4 victory against

Robert Milkins Robert Milkins (born 6 March 1976) is an English professional snooker player. Considered one of the most naturally talented and quickest players in the game, Milkins has been a mainstay on the tour since regaining his tour card in 1998. Milkin ...

with successive breaks of 95, 77 and 88, while

Dave Harold David Harold (born 9 December 1966) is an English former professional snooker player from Stoke-on-Trent. He was known by the nicknames of "the Hard Man" and "the Stoke Potter" (conflating his home city's pottery industry and his profession of ...

lost 9–7 to

Nigel Bond Nigel Bond (born 15 November 1965) is an English former professional snooker player. Bond competed on the main tour from 1989 to 2022, and was ranked within the world's top 16 players between 1992 and 1999, peaking at 5th for the 1996–97 s ...

. A break of 133 helped

James Wattana James Wattana (; born January 17, 1970, as วัฒนา ภู่โอบอ้อม ''Wattana Pu-Ob-Orm'', then renamed รัชพล ภู่โอบอ้อม ''Ratchapol Pu-Ob-Orm'' in 2003) is a Thai former professional snooker pl ...

beat

Drew Henry Drew Henry (born 24 November 1968) is a Scottish former professional snooker player, who spent five consecutive seasons of his career in the top 32 of the rankings, peaking at No. 18. Career A strong amateur, Henry won the 1988 Scottish Amateur ...

9–4, and Mark King emerged a 9–4 winner over Ryan Day.

Round 2

The winners of round one went through to face members of the top 16 in the second round. In this round world number 6

Paul Hunter Paul Alan Hunter (14 October 1978 – 9 October 2006) was an English professional snooker player. He was a three-time Masters champion, winning the event in 2001, 2002, and 2004, recovering from a deficit in the final to win 10–9 on a ...

, suffering from

neuroendocrine tumours Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are neoplasms that arise from cells of the endocrine (hormonal) and nervous systems. They most commonly occur in the intestine, where they are often called carcinoid tumors, but they are also found in the pancreas, lun ...

, won the deciding frame of his near seven-hour match over Burnett 9–8 on both the

pink Pink is the color of a namesake flower that is a pale tint of red. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, politeness, ...

and black balls and Hunter received a

standing ovation A standing ovation is a form of applause where members of a seated audience stand up while applauding after extraordinary performances of particularly high acclaim. In Ancient Rome returning military commanders (such as Marcus Licinius Crassus a ...

from the crowd. Higgins was tied 2–2 with Greene but he claimed seven of the next eight frames of the match that had a break of 145 in frame ten from Higgins who won 9–3. Fu came from 8–5 down against

Ken Doherty Ken Doherty (born 17 September 1969) is an Irish professional snooker player, commentator and radio presenter. As an amateur, Doherty won the Irish Amateur Championship twice, the World Under-21 Amateur Championship and the World Amateur C ...

to tie the match at 8–8 and force a final frame decider that Doherty won with a score of 9–8. At one point in his match eighth seed

Peter Ebdon Peter David Ebdon (born 27 August 1970) is an English former snooker player. The winner of the 2002 World Snooker Championship, Ebdon won nine world ranking events, placing twelfth on the all-time list of ranking tournament winners. In addit ...

was equal 4–4 with Dale but he claimed five successive frames for a 9–4 success. After dominating Holt 7–1 with breaks of 110, 91, 73 and 64, number 10 seed and two-time

Mark Williams followed up with two of the next three frames to advance into the third round 9–2, after which he spoke of his relief that the win would prevent him from losing his top 32 world ranking status. World number 4 and

Pot Black ''Pot Black'' was a snooker tournament in the United Kingdom broadcast on the BBC. Each match was contested over a single , where other tournaments were significantly longer. The event carried no ranking points, but played a large part in t ...

and

Northern Ireland Trophy The Northern Ireland Trophy was a professional snooker tournament. History First contested in 1981 and named ''Northern Ireland Classic''. It was an invitational event held at Ulster Hall, Belfast, and Jimmy White beat Steve Davis in the f ...

champion

Matthew Stevens Matthew Stevens (born 11 September 1977) is a Welsh professional snooker player. He has won two of the game's Triple Crown events, the Masters in 2000 and the UK Championship in 2003. He has also been a two-time runner-up in the other triple ...

was the second highest ranked player to lose in the round when he lost 9–3 over Bingham as the match's second session lasted more than an hour. Ninth seed and 1992 UK champion

Jimmy White James Warren White (born 2 May 1962) is an English professional snooker player who has won three seniors World titles. Nicknamed "The Whirlwind" because of his fluid, attacking style of play, White is the 1980 World Amateur Champion, 2009 ...

was beaten 9–3 by Ding who led 8–0 after the first session. White won three successive frames in the second session with a best break of 106 on the pink ball in frame ten to prevent a

whitewash Whitewash, or calcimine, kalsomine, calsomine, or lime paint is a type of paint made from slaked lime (calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2) or chalk calcium carbonate, (CaCO3), sometimes known as "whiting". Various other additives are sometimes used. ...

before Ding won the match with a 77 run. Stephen Lee lost 4–9 to Robertson. Trailing 3–2 Robertson concluded the first session 5–3 ahead. Lee won frame nine with a break of 124 and led 52–0 before Robertson cleared with 76 for 64. Robertson added the next three frames with runs of 90, 55 and 53 to win. Six-time world champion

led Allen 8–3 but he was temporarily prevented from winning as Allen took the score to 8–7 before Davis claimed a 9–7 success.

Shaun Murphy Shaun Peter Murphy (born 10 August 1982) is an English professional snooker player who won the 2005 World Championship. Nicknamed "The Magician", Murphy is noted for his straight cue action and his long potting. Born in Harlow, Essex and r ...

, the surprise world champion, beat Bond 9–7 despite taking painkillers before and during the match to ease pain from prior

dental surgery Dental surgery is any of a number of medical procedures that involve artificially modifying dentition; in other words, surgery of the teeth, gums and jaw bones. Types Some of the more common are: * Endodontic (surgery involving the pulp or r ...

that saw four of his teeth removed and affected his vision. World number one Ronnie O'Sullivan established a 5–3 advantage over King but he lost the first three frames of the evening session. O'Sullivan conceded the eleventh frame early, leading to a warning by referee Alan Chamberlain for transgressing tournament rules, and he later scolded O'Sullivan for draping a white towel over his face and head during a prolonged safety shot exchange in frame 15. Down 8–6 O'Sullivan made breaks 106 and 86 to force a final frame decider that King won with a run of 46. World number two and seven-time world champion

overcame Wattana 9–7. Coming from 7–5 behind Hendry accumulated breaks of 100, 79, 109 and 69 with a sequence of 355 unanswered points to win 9–7. Stephen Maguire, the defending champion, took less than an hour to clinch the three match-winning frames for 9–2 victory against Swail. Of the other seeded players in round two,

Graeme Dott Graeme Dott (born 12 May 1977) is a Scottish professional snooker player and snooker coach from Larkhall. He turned professional in 1994 and first entered the top 16 in 2001. He has won two ranking titles, the 2006 World Snooker Championship a ...

was edged out by Mark Davis 9–8, Joe Perry overcame Hawkins 9–7 and

Alan McManus Alan McManus (born 21 January 1971) is a Scottish retired professional snooker player and current commentator who works for Eurosport. A mainstay of the world's top sixteen during the 1990s and 2000s, he has won two ranking events, the 1994 Du ...

lost 9–4 to Carter.

Round 3

In the third round Doherty and Higgins shared the first four frames of their match before Doherty made a 107 break and another century to move 4–2 in front. Higgins won two more frames to equal the score at 4–4. Doherty later made three century breaks of 127, 107 and 102 over Higgins to level 6–6 and runs of 64, 52 and 46 in the final three frames won him the match at 9–6, after which he remarked it was his best match since losing to Williams in the

2003 World Snooker Championship The 2003 World Snooker Championship (also referred to as the 2003 Embassy World Snooker Championship for the purposes of sponsorship) was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 19 April to 5 May 2003 at the Crucible T ...

final. Bingham was the second player to progress to the quarter-finals with his 9–2 victory over his practice partner Mark Davis. In his match with Ding Hunter played with a loss of feeling in both of his hands and feet, as he went 7–1 behind and took one frame in the next session as Ding secured a 9–2 victory. Ebdon became the sixth top ten ranked player to be eliminated from the competition when he lost 9–7 to Carter. Having recovered from being 4–0 and 7–4 behind to equal the match at 7–7 Ebdon missed the final black ball shot on its

spot Spot or SPOT may refer to: Places * Spot, North Carolina, a community in the United States * The Spot, New South Wales, a locality in Sydney, Australia * South Pole Traverse, sometimes called the South Pole Overland Traverse People * Spot (prod ...

on the

table Table may refer to: * Table (furniture), a piece of furniture with a flat surface and one or more legs * Table (landform), a flat area of land * Table (information), a data arrangement with rows and columns * Table (database), how the table data ...

in the 15th frame and he lost the next frame on a brown ball. Hendry established a 6–2 advantage during the first session of his match against Williams with breaks of 136, 94 and five more over 40 as Williams did not score a single point in four frames. Hendry claimed the second session's first frame before Williams took the next which the former responded to win 9–3. Davis emerged a 9–8 victor over Maguire. Going 5–3 and then 7–4 ahead Maguire appeared set for a comfortable victory but Davis came back with safety play and a total clearance of 145. In the final frame Maguire missed a straightforward red ball and Davis made a 78 run for the win as Davis outscored Maguire 296–1 in the final three frames. Robertson and Murphy tied at 4–4 until the former won two successive frames. Murphy responded with breaks of 66, 90 and 88 to move 7–6 in front before both players shared frames. Robertson clinched the final frame decider with a break of 47 to win 9–8. King held a 6–2 lead over Perry at the end of his match's first session with a season-high break of 136 but Perry won seven consecutive frames to clinch a 9–6 victory.

Quarter–finals

In the quarter finals Hendry was the first player to progress to the semi-finals with a 9–7 victory against Carter. Holding a 5–3 advantage in an opening session that included an unsuccessful

maximum break A maximum break (also known as a maximum, a 147, or orally, a one-four-seven) is the highest possible in a single of snooker. A player compiles a maximum break by potting all 15 with 15 for 120 points, followed by all six for a further 27 ...

attempt from Carter as the

cue ball A billiard ball is a small, hard ball used in cue sports, such as carom billiards, pool, and snooker. The number, type, diameter, color, and pattern of the balls differ depending upon the specific game being played. Various particular ball pro ...

was in the jaws of a

corner pocket "Corner Pocket" is a 1955 jazz standard. Versions with lyrics are titled "Until I Met You", or "Until I Met You (Corner Pocket)". It was composed by Freddie Green, with lyrics by Donald E. Wolf. Recordings The song was first popularized in 195 ...

on the 14th black ball shot, Hendry extended his lead to 8–4 before Carter won three frames in a row with runs of 73, 57 and 61. In frame 16, and on a break of 35, Carter misjudged a safety shot to split a pack of red balls and Hendry made a break of 64 to claim victory. Davis took 53 minutes to claim frame one over Doherty and he followed with the next four with runs of 54 and 81 to hold a 5–0 advantage. During frame six, Doherty fluked a re-spotted black ball to reduce the deficit but Davis restored his lead of five frames at the first session's conclusion. Doherty came from 8–4 down to narrow the margin to 7–4 and then 8–7. But Davis prevented Doherty from taking the game to a final frame decider when he executed a double shot to pot the black ball into the middle pocket and win 9–7. Ding continued his strong form by defeating Robertson 9–5. Breaks of 102, 77, 65 and 54 gave Ding a 5–3 lead. Upon the resumption of the match Ding increased his advantage to 8–4 before he finished the match with a break of 92 to overturn Robertson's 36-point lead in frame 15. After the match Ding spoke of his happiness over the win as it ensured he would rise into the top 40 in the provisional world snooker rankings after the tournament's while Robertson praised his opponent's white ball control. Perry edged out Bingham 9–8 to enter the UK Championship semi-finals for the second successive year and Bingham's 13-game winning streak in all competitions ended in a tightly contested match. Perry won frames one and two with breaks of 94 and 73 before Bingham's 92 and 70 breaks concluded the first session at 4–4. Bingham appeared to progress to his first career ranking tournament semi-final at 8–7 but Perry forced a final frame decider with a 100 century break. Perry won the half an hour final frame, outscoring Bingham 79–14 after potting a long-range red ball off the baulk cushion.

Semi–finals

In the semi-finals Davis reached his 100th career final, and aged 48 became the oldest finalist in a ranking tournament since

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 Wo ...

in the 1986 Grand Prix with a 9–6 win over Hendry. Davis entered the evening session 7–1 ahead with runs of 57 and 81 but Hendry added five of the first six frames including a 130 break for a new scoreline of 8–6. Hendry was on course to win frame 16 but he missed a straightforward black off its spot while 59–0 in front and Davis responded to win the match with a 66 clearance. After the match Davis said it was "a double bonus" for himself because of him beating his rival Hendry and reaching his 100th career final, "I played a really great frame to go 8–2 up and everything was going nicely, but I botched chances in the next two and then Stephen started playing better." In contrast, Hendry revealed he was indecisive when before he missed the black ball shot that lost him the possibility of winning the game, "I changed my mind about what shot to play and it's a fatal mistake to make." The other semi-final match had Ding defeat Perry 9–4 to become the first non-British or Irish player to compete in the final of the UK Championship in its 29-year history. After going through the first frame without scoring a point Ding won the second without Perry challenging him. Ding backed it up with century breaks of 129 and 100 and a half-century of 79 to lead Perry 5–3 after the first session. Ding moved clear from Perry with three successive frames and he completed the victory with a break of 131 in the 13th frame. The result ensured Ding, the tournament's youngest player, would face its oldest competitor Davis in the final. Ding said afterwards that he did not feel up to acceptable standard upon entering the competition because of his form in the qualifying rounds but spoke of his belief that he could win. Perry admitted that his opponent outperformed him during the match but reserved praise for Ding's playing style, "I never felt like I was in the match tonight. Ding played better than me throughout. You have to rate him up there with the best now and he looks like becoming world champion in the not too distant future."

Final

In the best-of-19-frame final Ding defeated Davis 10–6 to become the first non-British or Irish player to win the UK Championship. He became the second youngest player after O'Sullivan in the 1993 tournament to win the UK Championship, the second lowest ranked participant (world number 62) to claim overall victory, and the second 18-year old to win two career ranking titles. The victory earned Ding £70,000 in prize money; although he moved from 62nd to 31st in the provisional world rankings, it did not permit him to play in the Masters as Ian McCulloch was awarded a wild card and Shaun Murphy was seeded for all of the season's events. Ding was also not guaranteed automatic qualification to the

. Nonetheless, Jon Wilde of the '' Evening Chronicle'' wrote that Ding had during the match "produced some fantastic break-building and tactical awareness that was beyond his 18 years." In the afternoon session both players shared the match's first six frames with a break of 111 from Ding in the third. In frame seven Ding retook the lead with a break of 81 and he established a two frame lead after Davis missed a straightforward red ball shot to a corner pocket to end the first session 5–3 ahead. In the evening session Davis conceded 33 points in fouls but was still in contention until he was out of position on a run of 40 and Ding took frame nine after 38 minutes. Davis received a reprieve from Ding after missing a simple pink ball shot to claim frame ten, but he missed a

blue ball Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when o ...

to the middle pocket while on a break of 39 in the eleventh because he concentrated solely on manoeuvring the cue ball. It allowed Ding to produce a 77 clearance and he followed it with 52 and 78 runs in the 12th frame to lead 8–4 at the mid-session interval. When play resumed Davis made a break of 72 to lower his deficit but Ding immediately re-established a four-frame advantage in frame 14. A break of 74 enabled Ding to lead frame 15 as Ding could not land the required snookers needed. At 9–6 Davis played a poor positional shot on the green ball and Ding cleared the table up to the pink ball to win the match and the tournament. After the match Ding spoke through an interpreter to thank the audience for their support, "This is the second-most important ranking tournament, so it is a great pleasure to win it. York is a big step for me. I've gained loads of confidence and experience here." He also said that he felt additional pressure than in the China Open but spoke of his hope that more Chinese players would venture to England to play snooker. Davis praised Ding's playing style and spoke of his expectation that more Chinese players would take up snooker, "Ding was stronger than me throughout the final and played great. He deserved to win. He played some really good stuff. He produced some excellent safety shots and strong break-building. I expect more players from China will emerge on the back of this. Some very good players are already coming through there."

Main draw

Numbers to the left of the players' names are the tournament seedings. Players in bold indicate match winners.

Final

Scores in bold denote winning frame scores and the winning finalist. Breaks over 50 are shown in brackets.

Qualifying

The qualifying took place between 31 October and 5 November at Pontin's, Prestatyn,

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. Players in bold denote match winners.

Century breaks

Televised stage centuries

There were a total of 50 century breaks compiled by 24 different players during the main stage of the event. Three players, Davis, Higgins and Holt had the highest break of the event, a 145. * 145, 133, 102

* 145, 114

* 145, 111 Michael Holt * 138, 133

* 136, 130, 114, 109, 100

* 136, 118, 110

* 136 Mark King * 133, 111, 103

* 133, 102

* 131, 129, 111, 102, 100

* 127, 111, 107, 107, 102

* 124 Stephen Lee * 123, 105, 104

* 123

* 118 Ian McCulloch * 116, 105

* 111

* 110 Mark Williams * 107

* 106

* 102

* 101, 100 Joe Perry * 101

* 100

Qualifying stage centuries

A total of 35 century breaks were achieved during the qualifying stages of the competition. Mark Allen scored the highest of the qualifying stage, a 139. * 139, 111 Mark Allen * 135, 131, 101

Rod Lawler Rod Lawler (born 12 July 1971) is an English professional snooker player. He is noted for his slow playing style which gave rise to his nickname, "Rod the Plod". After turning professional in 1990, Lawler has reached one ranking tournament fin ...

* 135, 127, 121, 100

* 134

Liang Wenbo Liang Wenbo (; born 25 March 1987) is a Chinese professional snooker player based at the Oracle Snooker Club, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England. Liang, who plays left-handed, has reached one Triple Crown final, made three Masters appearances, and ...

* 132

* 131, 105, 101

Bjorn Haneveer Bjorn Haneveer (born 4 September 1976 in) is a Belgian snooker player and commentator. Haneveer, formerly a professional competitor, now plays at semi-professional level and also commentates on snooker matches for Dutch Eurosport. Career A six ...

* 125

* 124

Sean Storey Sean Storey (born 19 August 1971 in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England) is a former English professional snooker player. His best ranking performance to date came in the World Championship in 2003, where he defeated Joe Perry before bowing o ...

* 119

* 117 Gary Wilson * 114

James Tatton James Tatton (born 20 July 1978) is an English former professional snooker player. Career Born in 1978, Tatton turned professional in 1996. His first season's results meant that he fell off the tour at its conclusion. Several seasons alte ...

* 113, 107

Tom Ford Thomas Carlyle Ford (born August 27, 1961) is an American fashion designer and filmmaker. He launched his eponymous luxury brand in 2005, having previously served as the creative director at Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent. Ford wrote and direct ...

* 112 Ryan Day * 112

Patrick Wallace Patrick Wallace (born 20 September 1969) is a former professional snooker player from Dungannon in Northern Ireland. During his career, which lasted seventeen years from 1994 to 2011, he won two non-ranking titles, and notably was a quarter-fi ...

* 111

Robin Hull Robin Hull (born 16 August 1974) is a Finnish former professional snooker player. For some time, he was the sole Nordic player on the game's main tour. He is known as a solid -builder, having compiled over 150 competitive during his career, a ...

* 109

Paul Wykes Paul Wykes (born 15 April 1971) is an English former professional snooker player from Bournemouth, Dorset. He spent 16 years on the circuit and remained in the world's top 64 for 13 years. Career Wykes turned professional in 1991 and achieved ...

* 108, 105 David Gilbert * 108, 104

* 107 Justin Astley * 106

Lee Walker Lee Walker (born 11 February 1976) is a Welsh former professional snooker player who is the reigning World Seniors Champion. He is both an official WPBSA and SightRight coach. Career After turning professional in 1994 at the age of 18, Walker r ...

* 105, 103

* 104 Mark Davis * 103

Marcus Campbell Marcus Campbell (born 22 September 1972) is a Scottish former professional snooker player. He was ranked within the world's top 64 for 15 consecutive seasons. Career Campbell is most famous for whitewashing Stephen Hendry 9–0 in the 1998 ...

References

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