Horse Racing, greyhounds and snooker specialist with thirty years experience of writing about sport across multiple platforms. A QPR and Snooker fan
UK Championship History
The first UK Snooker Championship took place in 1977 at the Tower Circus in Blackpool and was won by Irishman Patsy Fagan who defeated Doug Monutjoy 12-9 in the Final.
The UK Championship's early history was dominated by Steve Davis who won the event six times in eight years between 1980 and 1987. Davis' arch rival the mercurial Alex Higgins beat Davis 16-15 in an epic final in 1983 but also was on the receiving end of heavy defeats from 'The Nugget' in 1980 and 1984. Davis' last victory in the UK was in 1987 but he made it to the final again eighteen years later in 2005 when losing out to Ding Junhui 10-6.
Stephen Hendry made the final of the UK an amazing ten times in his career, winning five and losing five. Hendry's era spanned nineteen years, ranging from a defeat to Doug Mountjoy in the final in 1988 through to losing to Peter Ebdon at the final hurdle in 2006.
Ronnie O'Sullivan has won the UK Championship more times than any other player with seven victories in 1993, 1997, 2001, 2007, 2014, 2017 and 2018. O'Sullivan also lost in the final to Mark Selby in 2016 but with seven wins from eight final appearances his rivals will be hoping that O'Sullivan doesn't make it to another final in 2023.
UK Championship Multiple Winners:
- Ronnie O'Sullivan (7 wins)
- Steve Davis (6 wins)
- Stephen Hendry (5 wins)
- Neil Robertson (3 wins)
- John Higgins (3 wins)
- Ding Junhui (3 wins)
- Mark Williams (2 wins)
- Doug Mountjoy (2 wins)
- Mark Selby (2 wins)
UK Championship 2023: Draw and results
Ronnie O'Sullivan won a record breaking eighth UK Championship when defeating Ding Junhui in the 2023 final.
Final - Best of nineteen frames
Ronnie O'Sullivan 10 Ding Junhui 7
Semi Finals - Best of eleven frames
Ding Junhui 6 Judd Trump 4
Ronnie O'Sullivan 6 Hossein Vafaei 2
Quarter Finals - Best of eleven frames
Ding Junhui 6 Mark Williams 5
Judd Trump 6 Mark Selby 3
Ronnie O'Sullivan 6 Zhou Yuelong 5
Hossein Vafaei 6 Zhang Anda 4
Round 2 - Best of eleven frames
Ding Junhui 6 Tom Ford 3
Mark Williams 6 Jamie Clarke 4
Mark Selby 6 Barry Hawkins 5
Judd Trump 6 Jamie Jones 0
Ronnie O'Sullivan v Robert Milkins
John Higgins v Zhou Yuelong
Hossein Vafaei v Matt Selt
Zhang Anda v Luca Brecel
Round 1 - Best of eleven frames
Mark Allen 5 Ding Junhui 6
Tom Ford 6 Noppon Saengkham 5
Mark Williams 6 Fan Zhengyi 4
Kyren Wilson 5 Jamie Clarke 6
Mark Selby 6 Mark Joyce 0
Barry Hawkins 6 Ben Woolaston 4
Jack Lisowski 4 Jamie Jones 6
Judd Trump 6 Pang Junxu 1
Ronnie O'Sullivan 6 Anthony McGill 2
Robert Milkins v Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
John Higgins 6 Joe O'Connor 3
Neil Robertson v Zhou Yeulong
Shaun Murphy 4 Hossein Vafaei 6
Ali Carter 3 Matt Selt 6
Zhang Anda 6 Elliot Slessor 5
Luca Brecel 6 v Yuan Sijun 4
UK Championship: Format changes from 2022
2022 saw a change in the way the UK Championship is played with the top sixteen seeds automatically making it through to the televised stage at The Barbican in York.
Previously the UK Championship had been a flat 128 player draw and this format had seen a number of shocks and top players losing in the early rounds. This was underlined by last year's tournament being the first to involve two players who were seeded outside the top sixteen.
World Snooker Tour's chairman Steve Dawson explained the changes: "This format works perfectly for the World Championship so it is also ideal for our second biggest ranking event, the UK Championship. This guarantees a star-studded line-up for the final stages, while the qualifying event itself also creates drama and great storylines as 128 players battle for 16 coveted spots at the fabulous York Barbican venue."
The prize money for the UK Championship was also been increased from £1,009,000 to £1,205,000, with the first prize increasing from £200,00 to £250,000
Why not check out all of OLBG's current snooker tips to help you with your bets for the UK Championship.
UK Championship Previous Ten Winners
Below are details of the last ten winners and beaten finalists as well as the final score:
| Year | Winner | Runner Up | Final Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Ronnie O'Sullivan | Ding Junhui | 10-7 |
| 2022 | Mark Allen | Ding Junhui | 10-7 |
| 2021 | Zhao Xintong | Luca Brecel | 10-5 |
| 2020 | Neil Robertson | Judd Trump | 10-9 |
| 2019 | Ding Junhui | Stephen Maguire | 10-6 |
| 2018 | Ronnie O'Sullivan | Mark Allen | 10-6 |
| 2017 | Ronnie O'Sullivan | Shaun Murphy | 10-5 |
| 2016 | Mark Selby | Ronnie O'Sullivan | 10-7 |
| 2015 | Neil Robertson | Liang Wenbo | 10-5 |
| 2014 | Ronnie O'Sullivan | Judd Trump | 10-9 |
| 2013 | Neil Robertson | Mark Selby | 10-7 |
2022 UK Championship Results
Final
Mark Allen 10 Ding Junhui 7
Semi-Finals
Mark Allen 6 Jack Lisowski 5
Ding Junhui 6 Tom Ford 3
Quarter-Finals
Mark Allen 6 Sam Craigie 4
Jack Lisowski 6 Shaun Murphy 1
Tom Ford 6 Joe Perry 4
Ding Junhui 6 Ronnie O'Sullivan 0
Round 2
Mark Allen 6 Kyren Wilson 3
Joe Perry 6 Stuart Bingham 3
Jack Lisowski 6 Hossein Vafaei 2
Shaun Murphy 6 Judd Trump 5
Ding Junhui 6 Jamie Clarke 1
Sam Craigie 6 Ryan Day 4
Tom Ford 6 Luca Brecel 3
Ronnie O'Sullivan 6 Zhou Yuelong 0
Round 1
Mark Allen 6 Jordan Brown 4
Hossein Vafael 6 Mark Selby 4
Shaun Murphy 6 David Gilbert 5
Judd Trump 6 Xiao Guodong 5
Jack Lisowski 6 Xu Si 1
Jamie Clarke 6 Mark Williams 3
Stuart Bingham 6 Liam Highfield 2
Zhou Yuelong 6 Yan Bingtao 5
Ronnie O'Sullivan 6 Matthew Stevens 2
Ding Junhui 6 Barry Hawkins 3
Tom Ford 6 John Higgins 4
Luca Brecel 6 Lyu Haotian 4
Joe Perry 6 Neil Robertson 2
Kyren Wilson 6 Matthew Selt 3
Ryan Day 6 Jimmy White 2
Sam Craigie 6 Zhao Xintong 2
UK Championships Final Scores
What will be the correct score in the UK Championship final?
Most snooker fans will have had the occasional bet on the correct score of a match and the final of an event as big as the UK Championship is likely to attract plenty of punts on what the final score will be.
The final has been played over nineteen frames since 1993 so we have 30 years of finals to compare. The heaviest defeats recorded in that period were the 10-1 victories of Ronnie O'Sullivan over Ken Doherty in 2001 and by Stephen Maguire over David Gray in 2006.
| Final Score | Number of occurences |
|---|---|
| 10-0 | 0 |
| 10-1 | 2 |
| 10-2 | 1 |
| 10-3 | 1 |
| 10-4 | 1 |
| 10-5 | 4 |
| 10-6 | 8 |
| 10-7 | 4 |
| 10-8 | 4 |
| 10-9 | 6 |
Just under a third of the 30 finals have finished 10-6 so anyone considering a correct score bet on the UK Championship final should definitely have a close look at the odds on that scoreline for the final.
Eight of the last ten finals were won by at least three clear frames but 2020's epic Robertson v Trump match became the sixth occasion when the event went down to a final frame decider.
If you need more information for your snooker bets why not head over to the Best Snooker Tipsters page to see which of the top OLBG tipsters currently have tips on snooker. The higlighted tipsters have shown a recent profit for their snooker tips.
Contributor Information
We are fortunate to have two snooker obsessed staff members at OLBG in Tipster Competition manager Darren Brett and our Editor-In-Chief Steve Madgwick, working together with Dan Tracey our data man, we are proud to provide this UK Championship Snooker Preview, Trends and Analysis article and all major snooker events throughout the year.
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