UK Championship (snooker)
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Venue | Barbican Centre |
| Location | York |
| Country | England |
| Established | 1977 |
| Organisation(s) | World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association |
| Format | Ranking event |
| Total prize fund | 740,000 |
| Recent edition | 2016 |
| Current champion(s) |
 Mark Selby
|
The UK Championship, known as the Betway UK Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a professional men's ranking snooker tournament. It is the second biggest-ranking tournament, after the World Championship and is one of the Triple Crown events. Mark Selby is the reigning champion.
The UK Championship was first held in 1977 in Tower Circus, Blackpool as the United Kingdom Professional Snooker Championship, an event open only to British residents and passport holders. Patsy Fagan won the inaugural tournament by defeating Doug Mountjoy by 12 frames to 9 in the final and won the first prize of £2000. The following year the event moved to the Guild Hall, Preston, where it remained until 1997.
The rules were changed in 1984 when the tournament was granted ranking status and all professionals were allowed to enter. Since then, it has carried more ranking points than any tournament other than the World Championship.
The tournament has seen many memorable finals. In 1977 and 1979, it provided Patsy Fagan and John Virgo with their first and only major tournament wins respectively. In 1980, it was Steve Davis's first of his 73 professional tournament wins. In 1981, the final between Davis and Terry Griffiths set the stage for four more final battles between Davis and Griffiths that were to dominate the rest of the season before their unexpected losses in the first round of the 1982 World Championship.
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