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The 2006 UK Championship (known as the 2006 Maplin UK Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the 2006 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 h ...
, a professional
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 is one of the sport's 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 * Trip ...
events. It was held from 4 to 17 December 2006 at the
Barbican Centre The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhi ...
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 ...
. The competition was the third of seven
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 ...
(WPBSA) ranking events in the 2006/2007 season and the 30th edition of the tournament. 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 Warner Bros. Discovery Sports#Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe properties, its international sports unit, it operates two ...
.
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 ...
won the tournament, defeating the five-time UK 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 ...
10 to 6 in the final. It was Ebdon's first UK Championship win and his seventh career ranking title. He was the ninth player in history to win both the UK Championship and 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 Wor ...
. In the semi-finals Ebdon beat
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 ( ...
9–7 and Hendry defeated fellow Scot
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 ...
by the same scoreline. David Gray and Mark King both achieved the tournament's highest with individual breaks of 146. The tournament followed the
Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...
and 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 ...
.


Background

The tournament was created as the United Kingdom Professional Snooker Championship in 1977 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
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 ...
(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 Wor ...
and is one of three of the sport's
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 * Trip ...
events. The 2006 tournament was held from 4 to 17 December 2006 at the
Barbican Centre The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhi ...
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 ...
. It was the third of seven WPBSA ranking events in the 2006/2007 season, following the
Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...
and preceding 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 ...
. The defending UK champion was
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 (2005 ...
, who beat
Steve Davis Steve Davis (born 22 August 1957) is an English retired professional snooker player who is currently a Sports commentator, commentator, musician, DJ, and author. He is best known for dominating professional snooker during the 1980s, when he rea ...
10–6 in the previous year's final. Sponsored by the electronics retailer Maplin for the first time, the 2006 tournament was the 30th time it had been held. The competition had a total prize fund of £552,500, and was broadcast 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. ...
...
in the United Kingdom and
Eurosport Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through Warner Bros. Discovery Sports#Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe properties, its international sports unit, it operates two ...
in Europe. All matches held between 4 and 16 December were the best-of-17- until the final on 17 December.


Prize fund

The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below: *Winner: £77,000 *Runner-up: £37,000 *Semi-final: £20,300 *Quarter-final: £15,800 *Last 16: £11,750 *Last 32: £8,000 *Last 48: £4,500 *Last 64: £2,200 *Stage one highest break: £500 *Stage two highest break: £5000 *Stage one maximum break: £1,000 *Stage two maximum break: £25,000 *Total: £552,500


Tournament summary


Qualifying

The qualifying rounds were played between players on the main tour ranked 33 and lower for one of 32 places in the final stage at
Pontin's Pontins is a British company operating holiday parks in the UK, founded in 1946 by Fred Pontin. Since 2011, it has been owned by Britannia Hotels. Pontins specialises in offering half-board and self-catering holidays featuring entertainment ...
in
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 the ...
, from 14 to 19 November.
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 within ...
, the 1991 world champion, beat David Gilbert 9–8 after coming from 8–5 behind to earn a spot in the first round. The other successful qualifiers included
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
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, reachin ...
and
Robin Hull Robin Hull (born 16 August 1974) is a Finnish former professional snooker player. For some time, he was the sole Nordic countries, Nordic player on the game's Snooker world rankings, main tour. He is known as a solid -builder, having compiled ov ...
.


Round one

The 16 first-round matches were between players ranked 17–32 and those who had made it through the qualifying stage from 4 to 5 December. Ryan Day came from 3–0 down to beat
Liu Song Song, known as Liu Song (), Former Song (前宋) or Song of (the) Southern Dynasty (南朝宋) in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the first of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. ...
9–5 with a match-winning of 130.
2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...
runner up David Gray was helped by breaks of 131, 81 and 68 to defeat Pinches 9–2, while
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 ...
emerged a 9–8 winner over Rory McLeod from 7–5 and 8–7 down.
Mark Selby Mark Anthony Selby (born 19 June 1983) is an English professional snooker player, who is a four-time World Snooker Champion. Ranked world number one on multiple occasions, he has won a total of 21 ranking titles, placing him eighth on the ...
defeated Parrott 9–1 with breaks of 110, 104, 59 and 57 to lead 7–1 entering the evening and Selby took less than half an hour in the second to give Parrott his biggest career defeat since his 18–3 loss to Davis in the final of the 1989 World Snooker Championship. Of the other first day matches Mark King beat
Adrian Gunnell Adrian Gunnell (born 24 August 1972) is an English former professional snooker player from Telford. He has reached the last-16 in four world ranking events (three in Asia, in three different seasons, and at the 2008 Grand Prix), but has yet to ...
9–4, and Joe Perry led Judge 7–1 overnight with breaks of 125, 93, 75, 66 and 60. Perry took 26 minutes the next day to claim two straight frames and win 9–1.
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 ...
prevailed 9–7 over Anthony Hamilton in a match lasting more than 8 hours, and world number 35
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 ...
defeated
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. Milkins ...
9–7 with a match-winning break of 102. Mike Dunn took five out of six final frames to defeat
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 ...
9–5 and claim a place in the second round.
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, world number 27
Marco Fu Marco Fu Ka-chun, MH, JP (, born 8 January 1978) is a Hong Kong professional snooker player. He is a three-time ranking event winner, having won the 2007 Grand Prix, the 2013 Australian Goldfields Open and the 2016 Scottish Open. He ...
, withdrew from the tournament to represent
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
at the 2006 Asia Games in Qatar at his country's behest.
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 Cha ...
tied 4–4 with
Joe Delaney Joe Alton Delaney (; October 30, 1958 – June 29, 1983) was an American football running back who played two seasons in the National Football League (NFL). In his two seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs, Delaney set four franchise records ...
overnight and both players shared six frames before Swail won the last two for a 9–7 win.
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 ...
led Ian McCulloch 5–4 before McCulloch took two consecutive frames. Walden then achieved breaks of 68, 112, 45 and 70 to secure a 9–6 win and his second over McCulloch. In the game between
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 ...
and
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 ...
, McManus led 4–0 before coming back from Campbell's challenge to win 9–5. Of the other first round matches, Burnett compiled breaks of 110 and 104 in his 9–3 victory over
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 ...
, while Hull produced breaks of 104 and 120 in a 9–5 win against
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 ...
, and Scott MacKenzie whitewashed Michael Holt 9–0 after breaks of 65 and 109.


Round two

The winners of round one went through to face members of the top 16 in the second round staged from 6 to 10 December.
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 ...
compiled four
century break In snooker, a century break (also century, sometimes called a ton) is a of 100 points or more, compiled in one to the table. A century break requires potting at least 25 consecutive balls, and the ability to score centuries is regarded as a m ...
s and three half centuries that included a match-winning 124 to beat Selby 9–6. Although he achieved a 146 in the ninth frame of his match, Gray lost 5–9 to the
2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...
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 c ...
, while Perry defeated
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 Championsh ...
9–4. Bingham defeated
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 ...
9–8, a match in which Carter had a frame docked. Carter was tied at 6–6 when he spent the mid-session interval in his dressing room discussing
tactics Tactic(s) or Tactical may refer to: * Tactic (method), a conceptual action implemented as one or more specific tasks ** Military tactics, the disposition and maneuver of units on a particular sea or battlefield ** Chess tactics ** Political tact ...
with his coach
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 ...
. Carter was deemed to have returned to 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 ...
late by the referee Olivier Marteel and Bingham was awarded frame 13. Walden began his match against the 2001 tournament winner
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, ...
with breaks of 80 and 67 before O'Sullivan tied at 2–2 and both players concluded the first session 4–4. O'Sullivan led 7–4 but breaks of 102, 93, 85 and 79 put Walden into the lead before O'Sullivan forced a final frame decider, which he took with a 23rd season century break of 108 to win 9–8. Tied at 4–4 after his opening session Davis beat Burnett 9–5, while Hull was a surprise winner over Robertson winning five consecutive frames to claim a 9–4 victory.
Shaun Murphy Shaun Peter Murphy (born 10 August 1982) is an English professional snooker player who won the 2005 World Snooker Championship, 2005 World Championship. Nicknamed "The Magician", Murphy is noted for his straight Cue stick, cue action and his lo ...
, the 2005 world champion, fell 6–2 behind McManus at the interval and could not recover as McManus won 9–3. Mark Williams, a two-time world champion, progressed to round three by beating Greene 9–7. Another world champion,
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 ( ...
, emulated Gray's 146 clearance in a 9–4 victory over King, and Stephen Lee defeated Lawler 9–6. Breaks of 107, 86, 82 and 66 enabled
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 i ...
to overcome Swail 9–8 in the second session. Five-time UK 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 ...
led Harold 7–3 before the latter won four successive frames with two century breaks of 115 and 111 to equal the score at 7–7. Hendry's match-high breaks of 88 and 82 in the 14th and 15th frames earned him a 9–7 victory.
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 ...
, the
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, ...
, won the first six frames of his match against fellow Scot MacKenzie within one hour, compiling century breaks of 100, 107 and 112 to win 9–2. Ding, fatigued from having arrived in the United Kingdom on 8 December after winning three gold medals at the 2006 Qatar Asian Games, beat Day 9–7 in a tightly contested match. Tied at 4–4, both players exchanged frames with four in a row decided on the . Day missed a difficult shot into the from his position and Ding made a game-winning clearance of 57 to win. Fourth seed
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 ...
held a 7–1 advantage over his opponent Dunn and claimed frames nine and ten with breaks of 87 and 58 in 22 minutes to win 9–1 and progression to the third round.


Round three

The third round was held from 11 to 12 December. Breaks of 128, 121 and 105 enabled Higgins to lead Lee 7–1 in a match delayed by 20 minutes to enable players and officials to watch
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 ...
's widow Lyndsey receive the
BBC Sports Personality of the Year Helen Rollason Award The BBC Sports Personality of the Year Helen Rollason Award is an award given annually as part of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony each December. The award is given “for outstanding achievement in the face of adversity”, and BB ...
on his behalf. Higgins made another century break in the second session to beat Lee 9–2. Ebdon moved 6–2 ahead of Bingham despite missing the penultimate when it appeared he would achieve a
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 ...
but he won 9–4. O'Sullivan constructed a 5–3 lead over Maguire and used several mistakes from his opponent in the second session to win 9–3. Doherty lead Perry 5–1, but the latter responded in the second session to claim six of the next seven frames to win 9–5. Dott ended the first session of his match with Hull 7–1 with breaks of 90, 73 and 66. He won the first two frames of the following session to make the quarter-finals 9–1. Ding led the first session of his match against Stevens 5–3 from breaks of 111, 100 and 92 while his opponent compiled breaks of 82, 74 and 66. He won 9–5 and spoke of his relief to have won because his Asian Games schedule affected his stability and confidence. Davis defeated McManus 9–7; the match ended 20 minutes after midnight and the final frame lasted 46 minutes. In the final third round match, breaks of 103, 117 and 73 enabled Hendry to lead Williams 6–2. Williams improved his form to take three of the first four frames of the second session and be 6–5 behind. Hendry claimed three more frames with a match-winning break of 92 to qualify for the quarter-finals 9–6.


Quarter-finals

The quarter-finals were played on 13 and 14 December. Ebdon won four successive frames to lead Ding 4–0 and was 6–2 ahead after the first session. Ding won the evening session's first two frames with breaks of 110 and 82 and came from 40–0 behind in frame 11 with a 59 clearance. Ebdon won frame 12 after a shot battle with Ding and outscored his opponent 212–4 in the following two frames to win the match 9–5. Higgins came from 66–0 behind Perry to claim frame three with a 69 clearance and took the sixth with a 47 clearance after Perry missed a shot on the black ball. Perry accumulated breaks of 100 and 128 in the second session but Higgins won the match 9–3 with a 106 break in the 12th frame. Hendry won 9–1 against O'Sullivan, a match which O'Sullivan defaulted. Trailing 1–4 and 24–0 in front during frame six after the black ball and after missing a red to a corner , O'Sullivan declared the match over. He shook hands with Hendry and
referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...
Jan Verhaas Jan Verhaas (; born 5 October 1966) is a Dutch snooker and pool referee. He was born in Maassluis, South Holland, and now lives in Brielle. Career After working as a process operator for Shell Chemicals, Verhaas qualified as a class 1 snooke ...
. O'Sullivan left the Barbican Arena after wishing Hendry well in his
dressing room A changing-room, locker-room, (usually in a sports, theater, or staff context) or changeroom (regional use) is a room or area designated for changing one's clothes. Changing-rooms are provided in a semi-public situation to enable people to ch ...
. Tournament director Mike Ganley confirmed O'Sullivan had forfeited the match and O'Sullivan later apologised to Hendry and his fans in a statement. O'Sullivan was fined £20,800 and docked 900 ranking points by the WPBSA's disciplinary committee in May 2007. The last quarter-final saw Dott overcome Davis 9–6. He came from 3–2 behind to lead the first session 5–3 after breaks of 78, 83 and 65. Breaks of 52 and 61 enabled Dott to get within a frame of victory before Davis won two successive frames to make it 8–6. Dott's 116 break secured him a semi-final berth.


Semi-finals

Both the semi-finals were held on 15 and 16 December. Both Ebdon and Higgins were level at 4–4 after the first session that had seven breaks over 60, including 97, 76 and 132 from Ebdon. Higgins led 5–4 but he missed a tricky shot on a red ball and Ebdon cleared the table to force a black ball to again equal the score before going 6–5 ahead. In frame 14, Higgins missed a straightforward red ball while on a break of 49 and the frame was taken by Ebdon. He won a disjointed frame 15 to claim victory at 9–7 and enter his first UK Championship final since the 1995 tournament. Post-match, Ebdon considered the victory the most important of his career and praised the quality of the match, "This win means so much to me because I have got so much respect for John. He's a wonderful ambassador for the game. You have to play top class when you play John." Higgins said that considered the game's decisive point to have been when he was leading 5–4 and attributed his loss to a lack of concentration, "But take nothing away from Peter. He played very well all through the match and thoroughly deserved to win." The other semi-final was between Hendry and his fellow Scot Dott. Trailing 5–3 after the first session Dott won four frames in a row with breaks of 96, 92 and 85 to take the lead as he accumulated 203 unanswered points. Hendry compiled a 111 clearance and a break of 50 to go level at 7–7. Hendry claimed frame 16 with a score of 61–25 and a break of 93 in the next earned him a place in the final alongside Ebdon at 9–7. It was Hendry's record-breaking 10th appearance in the final of the UK Championship and his first since the 2005 China Open. Hendry said additional practice in the past two to three weeks improved his playing, "I'm so close to playing at my best – it's a pleasure to be competing again. Peter is playing fantastic snooker and is very hard to beat over a long match. But I'm just delighted to be in a final and have a chance of winning a tournament – I can't believe it."


Final

The best-of-19 frames final happened on 17 December. In the afternoon session Hendry took 1 hour and 31 minutes to lead 3–1 with breaks of 51 and 59, but his lead was narrowed by one frame after Ebdon missed a shot leading 66–0 and Hendry did not win frame five. Ebdon moved 4–3 in front with a break of 83, and a then season-high clearance of 135. Hendry ended the first session at 4–4 after Ebdon made a double shot error. The evening session's first four frames were won by Ebdon through consistent potting and him playing tight , as Hendry's long-shot potting accuracy lowered and made errors on simple shots, which appeared to affect his confidence. Nonetheless, Hendry took frame 13 on the and won the next with his only century break of the match, a 116 clearance, to be two frames behind Ebdon at 8–6. Hendry missed a straightforward red ball in the 15th frame and Ebdon won it with a break of 43 before following it up with a break of 70 in the next frame to win the match 10–6 and his first UK Championship title. It was his fifth career victory over Hendry in 19 meetings. Aged 36, Ebdon was the oldest UK Championship title winner since
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 ...
in
1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...
. He also won the seventh ranking title of his career and his first since the 2004 Irish Masters. Ebdon joined Davis, Griffiths,
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 ...
, Parrott, Hendry, Higgins, Williams and O'Sullivan as the ninth player to win both the UK Championship and the World Snooker Championship. He earned £77,000 prize money, and moved from tenth to fourth in the provisional world rankings. Post-match, a tearful Ebdon dedicated the win to his Dubai-based family and commented, "This just means so much. It's a tournament I have worked so hard for. I always knew it was going to be tough against Stephen. He played some good safety in the first session, then I found a bit of rhythm and then Stephen inexplicably started to miss balls." Hendry bemoaned his poor performance but praised Ebdon, "I picked the one day of the week when I didn't want to play like that. I had a great chance to go 4–1 up but from then on Peter was by far the better player and dominated the match. For some reason I couldn't pot a long ball – sometimes that just happens. Peter didn't play as well as he can either. We've both had better matches."


Main draw

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


Final

Scores in bold indicate winning frame scores and the winning competitor. Breaks over 50 are shown in brackets.


Qualifying

The qualifying took place between 14 and 19 November at
Pontins Pontins is a British company operating holiday parks in the UK, founded in 1946 by Fred Pontin. Since 2011, it has been owned by Britannia Hotels. Pontins specialises in offering half-board and self-catering holidays featuring entertainment ...
in
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 the ...
. Players in bold denote match winners.


Century breaks


Televised stage centuries

A total of 72 century breaks were achieved by 27 different players during the course of the 2006 UK Championship. * 146 David Gray * 146 Mark King * 135, 132, 125, 124, 124, 121, 110, 104
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 ...
* 133, 117, 116, 111, 103, 102
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 ...
* 133, 114
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 c ...
* 131
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 ...
* 130, 101 Ryan Day * 128, 125, 125, 100 Joe Perry * 128, 121, 108, 106, 102
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 ( ...
* 127, 110, 104
Mark Selby Mark Anthony Selby (born 19 June 1983) is an English professional snooker player, who is a four-time World Snooker Champion. Ranked world number one on multiple occasions, he has won a total of 21 ranking titles, placing him eighth on the ...
* 125, 110, 108, 107, 100
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, ...
* 120, 104
Robin Hull Robin Hull (born 16 August 1974) is a Finnish former professional snooker player. For some time, he was the sole Nordic countries, Nordic player on the game's Snooker world rankings, main tour. He is known as a solid -builder, having compiled ov ...
* 120
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 ...
* 119, 111, 111, 110, 100
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 (2005 ...
* 116
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 ...
* 115, 115, 111, 105, 102
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 ...
* 114, 103
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 ...
* 113, 112, 107, 100
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 ...
* 113, 105 Stephen Lee * 113
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 Cha ...
* 112, 102
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 ...
* 110, 104
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, reachin ...
* 109 Scott MacKenzie * 109
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. Milkins ...
* 107
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 i ...
* 105
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 ...
* 102, 100, 100
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 ...


Qualifying stage centuries

A total of 27 different players made a total of 40 century breaks in the course of the qualifying rounds of the event. * 137, 127, 111, 104, 103
Judd Trump Judd Trump (born 20 August 1989) is an English professional snooker player, a former world champion and former world number one. Widely regarded as one of the sport's most talented players, he is currently sixth on the list of all-time ranki ...
* 136, 131
Peter Lines Peter Lines (born 11 December 1969) is an English professional snooker player. He has reached the semi-finals of one ranking tournament, the 2018 Paul Hunter Classic. He reached his highest ranking, 42nd in the world, in 1999. He is the father ...
* 136
Mohammed Shehab Mohammed Shehab (born 1976) is a former professional snooker player from the United Arab Emirates. The winner of the Snooker Singles at the 2007 Asian Indoor Games, Shehab has enjoyed good form in the six-red variant format, most notably at the ...
* 130
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 ...
* 128, 107
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 ...
* 128
Passakorn Suwannawat Passakorn Suwannawat (born 1 May 1986, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand) is a former Thai professional snooker player. Career Early career Suwannawat first turned professional in the 2006–07 season by winning the 2006 ACBS Asian Under-21 Snooker Cha ...
* 127 Joe Jogia * 126
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 ...
* 122, 106
Liu Song Song, known as Liu Song (), Former Song (前宋) or Song of (the) Southern Dynasty (南朝宋) in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the first of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. ...
* 120
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 ...
* 117, 110
Adrian Gunnell Adrian Gunnell (born 24 August 1972) is an English former professional snooker player from Telford. He has reached the last-16 in four world ranking events (three in Asia, in three different seasons, and at the 2008 Grand Prix), but has yet to ...
* 117
Mark Davis Mark Davis may refer to: Entertainers *Mark Davis (talk show host), American radio talk show host * Mark Jonathan Davis (born 1965), American actor/singer and creator of Richard Cheese *Mark Davis, American bassist and founding member for the band ...
* 116, 114, 103
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, reachin ...
* 116, 112
Ian Preece Ian Preece (born 23 June 1982) is a Welsh former professional 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 b ...
* 115
Chris Norbury Christopher Norbury (born 14 August 1986) is an English former professional snooker player. He began his professional career by playing Challenge Tour in 2003, at the time the second-level professional tour. Norbury first entered Main Tour fo ...
* 114 Rory McLeod * 106
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 ...
* 105, 102 Scott MacKenzie * 105
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 directe ...
* 105
Dene O'Kane Dene O'Kane (born 24 February 1963) is a former professional snooker player from Auckland, New Zealand. Career O'Kane won the 1980 New Zealand Amateur Championship, and represented New Zealand at the 1982 IBSF World Snooker Championship, winn ...
* 104
Matthew Couch Matthew Couch (born 30 June 1974) is an English former professional snooker player. Career During a professional career lasting from 1992 to 2012, Couch had little success in ranking events, although he reached the quarter-finals of the UK Ch ...
* 103
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 ...
* 102, 101
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 ...
* 102
Robin Hull Robin Hull (born 16 August 1974) is a Finnish former professional snooker player. For some time, he was the sole Nordic countries, Nordic player on the game's Snooker world rankings, main tour. He is known as a solid -builder, having compiled ov ...
* 101
Tony Drago Tony Drago (born 22 September 1965) is a Maltese former professional snooker and pool player. Known for his speed around the table, during his snooker career he won two professional titles: the 1993 Strachan Challenge Event 3 and the 1996 G ...
* 101 David Gilbert * 100
James Leadbetter James Leadbetter (born 23 December 1980) is an English former professional snooker player. Career Leadbetter was born in 1980, and turned professional in 2003. His début season was without any success, and he dropped off the main tour at the ...


Notes


References

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2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...