2022 UK Championship


The 2022 UK Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 12 to 20 November 2022 at the York Barbican in York, England. The fifth ranking event and first Triple Crown event of the 2022–23 snooker season, the tournament was the 46th edition of the UK Championship, which was first held in 1977. Organised by the World Snooker Tour and sponsored by car retail company Cazoo, the event was broadcast domestically by the BBC and Eurosport. The winner received £250,000 from a total prize fund of £1,205,000.
The World Snooker Tour changed the format for the 2022 event, replacing the flat-128 draw that had been used from 2013 to 2021 with a format that closely resembled that of the World Snooker Championship. The top 16 players in the world rankings—as they stood after the 2022 Northern Ireland Open—were seeded through to the last-32 stage, where they were joined by 16 qualifiers from a 128-player qualifying tournament that took place from 5 to 10 November at Ponds Forge in Sheffield. Aged 60, Jimmy White became the oldest player to qualify for the tournament's final stages since 63-year-old Eddie Charlton in 1993.
Zhao Xintong was the defending champion, having defeated Luca Brecel 10–5 in the final of the 2021 event, but he lost to Sam Craigie in the first round. Mark Allen, runner-up in 2011 and 2018, reached his third UK Championship final. He faced three-time winner Ding Junhui, who reached his first ranking final in three years. Having trailed in every match he played in the tournament, Allen fell 1–6 behind in the final, but he won nine of the last ten to clinch a 10–7 victory. He became the second Northern Irish player to win the UK Championship, after Alex Higgins in 1983; his comeback from 1–6 behind saw him overcome the largest deficit in a UK Championship final since Higgins came from 0–7 behind to defeat Steve Davis 16–15 in that year. It was Allen's eighth ranking title and second Triple Crown title, following his win at the 2018 Masters. The event produced 126 century breaks, 74 in qualifying and 52 at the main stage. Cao Yupeng made the tournament's highest break, a 144 in his second-round qualifying match against Callum Beresford.

Format

The 2022 UK Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 12 to 20 November at the York Barbican in York, England. The fifth ranking event and first Triple Crown tournament of the 2022–23 snooker season, the tournament was the 46th edition of the UK Championship, which was first held in 1977 as the United Kingdom Professional Snooker Championship. For the tournament's first seven years, only UK residents or passport holders were eligible to compete. At the 1984 event, the UK Championship became a ranking tournament open to players of any nationality, which has remained the case since.
For the 2022 event, a format similar to the World Championship replaced the flat-128 draw that had been used for the preceding nine years from 2013 to 2021. The top 16 players in the snooker world rankings—as they stood after the 2022 Northern Ireland Open—were seeded through to the round of 32. An additional 128 players—comprising professionals ranked outside the top 16, leading amateur players from the WPBSA's Q Tour and other amateur events, and top-performing junior players from the UK—competed in a four-round qualifying tournament from 5 to 10 November at Ponds Forge in Sheffield, with higher ranked players given byes to the later rounds. The 16 successful qualifiers advanced to the round of 32 in York, where they were drawn at random against the top 16 seeds. The qualifying rounds were broadcast on Discovery+ as well as on the World Snooker Tour's Facebook and YouTube channels.
All matches before the final were played as the best of 11. The final was played as the best of 19 frames. Due to the revised format, the venue in York featured two tables at the outset, rather than the eight tables used in preceding years. The main stages of the event were broadcast in the UK by the BBC and Eurosport, and in Europe by Discovery+ and Eurosport. Other international broadcasters included Kuaishou, Huya Live, Youku, and CCTV in China; NowTV in Hong Kong; and DAZN in Canada, the United States, and Brazil. In territories where there was no other coverage, the event was broadcast by Matchroom Sport. The defending champion was China's Zhao Xintong, who won his maiden ranking title at the previous year's event, defeating Belgium's Luca Brecel 10–5 in the final.

Prize fund

The event featured a total prize fund of £1,205,000, up from £1,009,000 the previous year, with the winner receiving £250,000, up from £200,000 the previous year. The tournament was sponsored by British car retailer Cazoo. The breakdown of prize money for the event is shown below:
  • Winner: £250,000
  • Runner-up: £100,000
  • Semi-final: £50,000
  • Quarter-final: £25,000
  • Last 16: £15,000
  • Last 32: £10,000
  • Last 48: £7,500
  • Last 80: £5,000
  • Last 112: £2,500
  • Highest : £15,000
  • Total: £1,205,000

    Summary

Qualifying rounds

Qualifying took place from 5 to 10 November at Ponds Forge in Sheffield. Five-time UK champion Stephen Hendry withdrew from the tournament because the qualifying schedule conflicted with his obligations at the 2022 Champion of Champions, where he was working as a commentator and pundit for ITV. Although Hendry blamed the World Snooker Tour for refusing to rearrange his matches to accommodate his television commitments, his withdrawal was criticised by players including John Higgins, who stated that " shouldn't be taking up the space if he is going to pull out".

First qualification round

The 1992 winner Jimmy White whitewashed Victor Sarkis. Alfie Burden trailed 16-year-old Liam Davies 1–4, but won five consecutive frames for a 6–4 victory. Ng On-yee defeated Jenson Kendrick 6–4, becoming the first woman to win a match at a Triple Crown event since Reanne Evans defeated Robin Hull in the 2017 World Championship qualifiers. Marco Fu, who had recently reached the final of the 2022 Hong Kong Masters, made three consecutive century breaks as he defeated Bai Langning 6–2.

Second qualification round

Jimmy White secured a second consecutive whitewash as he defeated Mitchell Mann. Thepchaiya Un-Nooh defeated Martin O'Donnell in a, making breaks of 69, 67, 59, 126, 99, and 92. David Lilley defeated former semi-finalist David Grace 6–2. Andres Petrov defeated Jackson Page in a decider, while Fu defeated Oliver Lines 6–4, making two centuries in the match. Ashley Hugill defeated Scott Donaldson in a match that lasted six hours and 19 minutes, winning the 53-minute deciding frame at 1:30 am. Controversy arose in the sixth frame of Mark King's match against Oliver Brown when the referee called a against King for a. King disputed the referee's decision, calling it "ridiculous", while Brown said he was "100% sure" that his opponent had not committed a foul. King went on to win the match 6–3.

Third qualification round

Jimmy White trailed Stephen Maguire 1–3 at the mid-session interval, but recovered to win five of the next six frames for a 6–4 victory. Duane Jones defeated Anthony McGill 6–2, while Tom Ford came from 0–3 behind to beat Burden in a decider. Matthew Stevens, who won his only ranking title at the 2003 event, made breaks of 62, 67, 74, 96, and 109 as he defeated Fan Zhengyi 6–2. Zhou Yuelong, who had recently been runner-up at the 2022 Northern Ireland Open, made breaks of 70, 61, 101, and 100 as he defeated Michael White by the same score. Three-time winner Ding Junhui attempted a maximum break in the second frame of his match against Un-Nooh, but missed the final ; Ding went on to clinch a 6–2 victory. King came from 1–4 behind against Ben Woollaston to win the deciding frame on the final. Petrov defeated former world semi-finalist Gary Wilson 6–4 in a match that featured incidents between the players. In the fifth frame, Wilson tossed his cue on the floor after Petrov a frame-winning shot on the. Wilson played on in the sixth frame despite, and then complained to the referee when Petrov took a bathroom break after eventually winning the frame. The players argued on Twitter after the match. Two-time world finalist Ali Carter came from 1–3 behind against Peter Lines to win five consecutive frames for a 6–3 victory, making a highest break of 130. World number 18 Ricky Walden lost 4–6 to world number 82 Ian Burns.

Fourth qualification round

In the fourth and final qualifying round, billed as "Judgement Day", Jimmy White defeated Dominic Dale 6–1 to reach the last-32 stage of the tournament for the first time since 2010. He became the oldest player to qualify for the tournament's final stages since 63-year-old Eddie Charlton in 1993. Three-time champion Neil Robertson congratulated White on Twitter, calling his qualification at age 60 "one of the greatest achievements in our sport". Jamie Clarke took a 5–0 lead over Duane Jones, who then won three consecutive frames before Clarke clinched the match 6–3. Ford defeated Noppon Saengkham by the same score, making two centuries and three in the match. Xu Si defeated Tian Pengfei 6–4, winning the match on a. Stevens won the first four frames against 19-year-old Wu Yize, making breaks of 126, 63, 75, and 57, but Wu then won five consecutive frames for a 5–4 lead. However, Stevens made a 91 break in the tenth frame to force a decider, which he won with a 58 break.
Hossein Vafaei made breaks of 127 and 111 as he took a 3–1 lead over Robbie Williams at the mid-session interval; Williams reduced Vafaei's lead to one frame at 5–4, but Vafaei clinched a 6–4 victory in the tenth frame. Zhou made breaks of 78, 117, 84, and 72 as he defeated Jak Jones 6–3. Trailing 1–5 in his match against Lyu Haotian, Andy Hicks grew frustrated and smashed the open on a, going in the process. With and the reds spread over the table, Lyu cleared up to win the match 6–1. Jordan Brown advanced with a 6–3 defeat of Zak Surety, making four half-centuries in the match. The previous season's Welsh Open winner Joe Perry whitewashed Graeme Dott, making breaks of 86, 102, 134, and 77. David Gilbert advanced with a whitewash victory over King, while Ding secured his place in York with a 6–4 win over Robert Milkins. Liam Highfield came from 2–5 behind to defeat Carter in a deciding frame; Sam Craigie made breaks of 80, 104, 52, 129 and 79 in his 6–2 win over Burns; and Xiao Guodong advanced with a 6–3 win over Petrov. Matthew Selt secured a 6–4 victory over Anthony Hamilton, making a break of 140 in the match.