UK Championship History

(Rex Williams defeated John Barrie in the 1979 UK Championship final. Left to right – Willie Smith, Jim Williamson, Williams, Barrie)

The history of the UK Championship dates back to 1934 with the legendary Joe Davis winning six times prior to the war. Originally a professional event, it continued in the 1940’s and 50’s with Joe capturing the title once more in 1946, and emulated by his brother Fred in 1951.

After a gap of 27 years, the UK Professional Championship was resurrected in 1979. Jim Williamson was instrumental in this revival of the event and hosted it at his club, the Northern Snooker Centre. The NSC remains a frequent venue for Billiards to this day. Rex Williams was the first player to have his name etched on the new trophy. Willie Smith, one of giants of the game in the pre-war era who won the 1920 and 1923 World Championships and had a highest break of 2743, was Guest of Honour.

Robby Foldvari of Australia became the first overseas player to win the championship in 1992, and following David Causier’s second title in 2002 there was no contest for 12 years.

The championship was revived as a WBL event on an open basis in 2015 with a record 63 entries, where Roxton Chapman returned after several years away to lift the trophy for the second time. The event remains a popular fixture on the WBL calendar.

(The field for the 2015 UK Open in Leeds)

UK Open Roll Of Honour:

Year

Venue

Winner / Runner-Up

High Break

1934

–

Joe Davis beat Tom Newman 18,745-18,309

–

1935

–

Joe Davis beat Tom Newman 21,733-19,910

–

1936

–

Joe Davis beat Tom Newman 21,710-19,791

–

1937

–

Joe Davis beat Tom Newman 22,601-18,321

–

1938

–

Joe Davis beat Tom Newman 20,933-19,542

–

1939

–

Joe Davis beat Tom Newman 21,601-18,383

–

1940-45

–

Not Played

–

1946

–

Joe Davis w/o John Barrie

–

1947

–

Not Played

–

1948

–

Sidney Smith beat John Barrie 7,002-6,428

–

1949

–

Not Played

–

1950

–

John Barrie beat Kingsley Kennerley 9,046-5,069

–

1951

–

Fred Davis beat Kingsley Kennerley 8,120-6,011

–

1952-78

–

Not Played

–

1979

Leeds

Rex Williams beat John Barrie 2,952-2,116

–

1980

–

Jack Karnehm beat Rex Williams 2,518-2,423

–

1981

–

Rex Williams beat Jack Karnehm 1,592-1,112

–

1982

–

Not Played

–

1983

–

Mark Wildman beat Fred Davis 1,500-1,032

–

1984-86

–

Not Played

–

1987

–

Norman Dagley beat Ray Edmonds 3-1

–

1988 (Jan)

–

Ian Williamson beat Robby Foldvari 7-3

–

1988 (Nov)

–

Mike Russell beat Bob Close 7-0

–

1990

–

Mike Russell beat John Murphy 1,478-1,058

–

1991

–

Mike Russell beat Geet Sethi 1,794-1,538

–

1992

–

Robby Foldvari beat Subhash Agarwal 4-1

–

1993

–

Robby Foldvari beat Geet Sethi 4-0

–

1994

–

Mike Russell beat Peter Gilchrist 1,073-332

–

1995

–

Subhash Agarwal beat Peter Gilchrist 1,240-1,114

–

1996

–

Mike Russell beat David Causier 1,690-1,277

–

1997 (Mar)

–

Mike Russell beat Sonic Multani 2,476-580

–

1997 (Nov)

–

Geet Sethi beat Roxton Chapman 698-293

–

1998

–

Mike Russell beat Geet Sethi 2,204-807

–

1999

–

Roxton Chapman beat David Causier 1,382-1,293

–

2000

–

David Causier beat Robby Foldvari 5-1

–

2001

–

David Causier beat Peter Gilchrist 5-4

–

2002-14

–

Not Played

–

2015

Leeds

Roxton Chapman beat David Causier 409-351

385 – David Causier

2016

Leeds

Robert Hall beat Roxton Chapman 913-427

295 – Roxton Chapman

2017

Leeds

Mike Russell beat David Causier 946-915

479 – David Causier

2018

Leeds

Peter Gilchrist beat Robert Hall 796-667

440 – Peter Gilchrist

2019

Leeds

David Causier beat Mark Hirst 632-315

450 – David Causier