Tournament information | |
---|---|
Established | 1934 |
Organisation(s) | World Billiards |
Recent edition | 2019 |
Current champion | ![]() |
The UK Open Billiards Championship, formerly known as the UK Professional English Billiards Championship, is an English billiards tournament, first contested in 1934. Joe Davis won the inaugural title with a 18,745–18,309 defeat of Tom Newman.[1][2]
For some years after 1934, the UK Championship was regarded as the premier event of the billiards season in the UK, in the absence of any contests for the world championships.[3] Walter Lindrum had won the World Professional Championship in 1933, and insisted that the competition should be held in Australia for his defence. The Billiards Association and Control Council agreed to this, and Davis travelled to Australia for the 1934 Championship, where he was disappointed by the lack of planning for the tournament, and found it hard to raise the money for his return to the UK. Lindrum retained the world championship in 1934, and it was not contested again until 1952.[4][3]
Davis defeated Newman in each annual UK championship final up to 1939. The tournament was not held from 1940 to 1945, during World War II.[3] Davis also took the first post-war title, with a walkover over John Barrie. The Championship was staged three more times before being in abeyance from 1952 to 1978.[5] After a further hiatus from 2002 to 2014, World Billiards reinstituted the tournament as an open event in 2015.[5][2] From 1987, it has sometimes been played as a "short format" event, for example in January 1988 the matches before the final were the best-of-seven games of 150-up, and the final was the best-of-thirteen games of 150-up.[6]
David Causier won the 2019 title, with a 632–315 victory over Mark Hirst in the final.[5] The competition was cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic,[7] and, as of April 2023 has not been held since.[5]
Finals
Year | Champion | Runner-up | Score in the final | Venue | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1934 | ![]() |
![]() |
18,745–18,309 | Thurston's Hall, London | [8] |
1935 | ![]() |
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21,733–19,910 | Thurston's Hall, London | [9] |
1936 | ![]() |
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21,710–19,791 | Thurston's Hall, London | [10] |
1937 | ![]() |
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22,601–18,321 | Thurston's Hall, London | [11] |
1938 | ![]() |
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20,933–19,542 | Thurston's Hall, London | [12] |
1939 | ![]() |
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21,601–18,383 | Thurston's Hall, London | [13] |
1940–1945 | Not held | [3] | |||
1946 | ![]() |
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walkover | ||
1947 | Not held | ||||
1948 | ![]() |
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7,002–6,428 | [14] | |
1949 | Not held | ||||
1950 | ![]() |
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9,046–5,069 | Burroughes Hall, London | [15] |
1951 | ![]() |
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8,120–6,011 | [16] | |
1952–1978 | Not held | [5] | |||
1979 | ![]() |
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2,952–2,116 | Northern Snooker Centre, Leeds | [17] |
1980 | ![]() |
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2,518–2,423 | Northern Snooker Centre, Leeds | [18] |
1981 | ![]() |
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1,592–1,112 | Winter Gardens, Margate | [19] |
1982 | Not held | ||||
1983 | ![]() |
![]() |
1,500–1,032 | Victoria Snooker Centre, Southend | [20] |
1984–1986 | Not held | ||||
1987 | ![]() |
![]() |
3–1[a] | Romiley Forum, Stockport | [21] |
Jan 1988 | ![]() |
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7–3[a] | Marton Hotel, Middlesbrough | [22][23] |
Nov 1988 | ![]() |
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7–0[a] | ||
1990 | ![]() |
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1,478–1,058 | ||
1991 | ![]() |
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1,794–1,538 | Radion Plaza, Sheffield | [24] |
1992 | ![]() |
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4–1[a] | Aldershot | [25] |
1993 | ![]() |
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4–0[a] | Radion Plaza, Sheffield | [26] |
1994 | ![]() |
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1,073-332 | Plymouth Pavilions | [27] |
1995 | ![]() |
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1,240–1,114 | ||
1996 | ![]() |
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1,690–1,277 | ||
Mar 1997 | ![]() |
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2,476–580 | ||
Nov 1997 | ![]() |
![]() |
698–293 | ||
1998 | ![]() |
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2,204–807 | ||
1999 | ![]() |
![]() |
1,382–1,293 | ||
2000 | ![]() |
![]() |
5–1[a] | ||
2001 | ![]() |
![]() |
5–4[a] | ||
2002–2014 | Not held | ||||
2015 | ![]() |
![]() |
409–351 | Northern Snooker Centre, Leeds | [2] |
2016 | ![]() |
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913-427 | Northern Snooker Centre, Leeds | [28] |
2017 | ![]() |
![]() |
946-915 | Northern Snooker Centre, Leeds | [29] |
2018 | ![]() |
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796–667 | Northern Snooker Centre, Leeds | [30] |
2019 | ![]() |
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632–315 | Northern Snooker Centre, Leeds | [31] |
Notes
References
Citations
- ^ "United Kingdom professional championship of English billiards". The Billiard Player. Billiards Association and Control Council. June 1934. p. 15.
- ^ a b c "2015 LITEtask UK Open". World Billiards. Archived from the original on 5 January 2021. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
- ^ a b c d Everton 1985, pp. 110–113.
- ^ Everton 2012, pp. 105–107.
- ^ a b c d e f "UK Championship History". World Billiards. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
- ^ Everton 2012, p. 174.
- ^ "Statement – COVID-19". World Billiards. Archived from the original on 5 January 2021. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
- ^ "Billiards: United Kingdom Championship". The Guardian. 30 April 1934. p. 4.
- ^ "Davis retains title". Evening Despatch. 8 April 1935. p. 12.
- ^ "To-day's sports diary". Daily Herald. 6 June 1936. p. 18.
- ^ "Davis champion again". The Guardian. 3 May 1937. p. 3.
- ^ "Davis still champion". Daily Herald. 28 February 1938. p. 16.
- ^ "J. Davis defeats Newman". The Guardian. 15 May 1939. p. 6.
- ^ "Billiards". Derby Evening Telegraph. 8 May 1948. p. 4.
- ^ "Barrie again does well". The Guardian. 23 February 1950. p. 3.
- ^ "Double for Fred Davis". Birmingham Gazette. 14 May 1951. p. 3.
- ^ "Thirty years on". The Guardian. 9 January 1979. p. 19.
- ^ "Karnehm wins UK billiards". Snooker Scene. March 1980. p. 13.
- ^ "Rex Williams: UK champion again". Snooker Scene. March 1981. pp. 18–19.
- ^ Smith, Terry (February 1983). "A layman looks at billiards". Snooker Scene. p. 24.
- ^ "Dagley's revenge earns UK title". The Hinckley Times. 30 January 1987. p. 43.
- ^ Everton, Clive (20 January 1988). "A big break awaits rediscovery". The Guardian. p. 19.
- ^ Smith, Terry (22 January 1988). "Finalists told to speed up". The Daily Telegraph. p. 30.
- ^ "Round-up: Billiards". The Daily Telegraph. 11 March 1991. p. 41.
- ^ "Foldvari finds winning show". The Daily Telegraph. 16 March 1992. p. 41.
- ^ Yates, Phil (3 February 1993). "Robbie stuns world's best". Birmingham Evening Mail. p. 19.
- ^ "UK Billiards final at Plymouth". Herald Express. 28 March 1994. p. 34.
- ^ "Litetask UK Open". World Billiards. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
- ^ "Litetask 2017 UK Open". World Billiards. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
- ^ "2018 UK Open". World Billiards. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
- ^ "2019 UK Open". World Billiards. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
Bibliography