2024 UK Championship


The 2024 UK Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 23 November to 1 December 2024 at the York Barbican in York, England. The 48th edition of the UK Championship, it was the ninth ranking event of the 202425 season and the first of the season's three Triple Crown events, preceding the 2025 Masters and the 2025 World Snooker Championship. Organised by the World Snooker Tour and sponsored by Victorian Plumbing, the event was broadcast by the BBC domestically, by Discovery+ and Eurosport in Europe, and by other broadcasters worldwide. The winner received £250,000 from a total prize fund of £1,205,000.
The top 16 players in the snooker world rankings were seeded through to the main stage of the competition. An additional 128 players competed in a four‑round qualifying tournament from 16 to 21 November at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester, with higher ranked players given byes to the later qualification rounds. The reigning World Women's Snooker Champion Bai Yulu won her first three qualifying matches, the first female player to win three matches at a professional ranking tournament; she lost to Jack Lisowski in the last qualifying round. The 16 successful qualifiers advanced to the main stage in York, where they were drawn at random against the 16 seeded players.
The defending champion was Ronnie O'Sullivan, who had defeated Ding Junhui 107 in the final of the 2023 event; he lost 46 to qualifier Barry Hawkins in the first round. Judd Trump won the tournament, defeating Hawkins 108 in the final to secure his second UK Championship title, having previously won the 2011 event. This was Trump's 30th ranking title and his fifth Triple Crown title. The tournament produced a total of 128 century breaks, 83 made in qualifying matches and 45 during the main stage. The highest was a maximum break compiled by Zhang Anda in his firstround match against Lei Peifan.

Format

The event took place from 23November to 1December at the York Barbican in York, England. The ninth ranking event of the 202425 season, following the 2024 International Championship and preceding the 2024 Snooker Shoot Out, the tournament was the 48th 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 United Kingdom 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. The first Triple Crown event of the season, it preceded the 2025 Masters and the 2025 World Snooker Championship.
The event used a format adopted since the 2022 edition, which is similar to the format of the World Championship. The top 16 players in the snooker world rankings were seeded through to the round of 32. An additional 128 players—comprising professionals ranked outside the top 16 and leading amateur players from the Q Tour and other amateur events—competed in a fourround qualifying tournament from 16 to 21November at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester, with higher ranked players given byes to the later rounds. The 16 successful qualifiers advanced to the round of 32, where they were drawn at random against the top 16 seeds.
All matches were played as the best of 11 up to the final, which was the best of 19 frames played over two. The defending champion was Ronnie O'Sullivan, who won his recordextending eighth UK Championship title in 2023, defeating China's Ding Junhui 10‍7 in the final. The 2021 winner Zhao Xintong, whose 20month ban for matchfixing offences expired on 1September 2024, was among the amateur players invited as a WPBSA qualifier after he won Q Tour Event 3 in October 2024.
The title sponsor for the event was Victorian Plumbing, with additional sponsorship from All British Casinos and LP Cues.

Broadcasters and viewership

The qualifying matches were broadcast by Discovery+ in Europe ; starting from 18November, the matches were additionally available worldwide on World Snooker Tour's Facebook and YouTube channels, with live commentary provided for one table. The fourth and final round of qualifiers, dubbed "Judgement Day", featured live commentary on all four tables, with roving coverage. The World Snooker Tour reported that the qualifiers had received almost three million views on Facebook and YouTube combined, nearly double the previous year's figures.
The main stage was broadcast domestically in the United Kingdom by the BBC, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website; by Eurosport and Discovery+ in Europe ; by, the Academy WeChat Channel, the Academy Douyin and Huya Live in China; by Now TV in Hong Kong; by Astro SuperSport in Malaysia and Brunei; by True Sports in Thailand; by Sportcast in Taiwan; and by Premier Sports in the Philippines. Coverage was available from Matchroom Sport in all other territories.

Prize fund

The breakdown of prize money for the event is as shown:
  • Winner: £250,000
  • Runner-up: £100,000
  • Semi-finalists: £50,000
  • Quarter-finalists: £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

Qualifying round one

In the first qualifying round, reigning World Women's Champion Bai Yulu recovered from 13 down to defeat Farakh Ajaib 64, making four over 50. Liam Davies missed the final of an attempted maximum break in the fourth of his 63 win over Ahmed Aly Elsayed. From 23 behind against Sunny Akani, the 2021 champion Zhao Xintong won four consecutive frames for a 63 victory. Zhao made a 146 break in the match, his highest on the professional tour. By beating Dean Young 63, Mohamed Shehab recorded his first win since regaining professional status in 2024, following a 17year absence from the tour. Former professional Iulian Boiko defeated Bulcsú Révész 63. Jimmy White, aged 62, defeated amateur player Paul Deaville 62, and reigning African champion Hatem Yassen completed a over Mink Nutcharut.

Qualifying round two

In the second qualifying round, Bai defeated Jamie Jones 64, becoming the first woman since Kelly Fisher in 1999 to win backtoback matches at a professional ranking event. Louis Heathcote whitewashed Shehab, and Artemijs Žižins defeated David Grace 63. Zhao defeated Jiang Jun 62 in a match that produced a break of at least 50 in every frame. The 1992 winner White lost 46 to Ross Muir, while 2003 champion Matthew Stevens defeated Thailand's Manasawin Phetmalaikul 64. Hong Kong's Marco Fu beat Iranian professional Amir Sarkhosh 61 while Antoni Kowalski defeated Anthony Hamilton 63. Graeme Dott lost 46 to Julien Leclercq, and He Guoqiang beat Robbie McGuigan 61.

Qualifying round three

In the third qualifying round, Jack Lisowski defeated Rory Thor 64. In his 63 defeat of Žižins, Stephen Maguire became the third player to record 100 century breaks in the UK Championship. Jak Jones defeated Ian Burns 62, and Stuart Bingham defeated amateur Oliver Sykes 63. Bingham commented: "I'm not quite the player I was in 2015, there are a few yips in there and my arm gets tight sometimes. But I have played some very good matches this season."
Bai recovered from 35 behind to defeat Scott Donaldson 65, making breaks over 50 in each of the last three frames. Her victory made her the first woman to win three matches in a professional ranking event. She commented: "I was very nervous and I didn't think I would win, but I did well. I have learned a lot." After defeating Oliver Lines 65, threetime UK Champion Neil Robertson commented: "My game is there, in a way it was good to have to dig deep tonight in a match where things were not going my way." After losing the first two frames to Noppon Saengkham, Zhao won six in a row for a 62 victory. Leclercq defeated Dominic Dale by the same score and commented afterwards: "It's all about experience for me and trying to improve on the tactical side." Zhou Yuelong won six consecutive frames to defeat Fu 63, and David Lilley beat Thepchaiya UnNooh by the same score. Barry Hawkins beat Alfie Burden 61, and Wu Yize defeated Ashley Carty 62.

Qualifying round four

In the fourth and final qualifying round, branded as "Judgement Day", Maguire faced Elliot Slessor. Maguire went 42 ahead, making a highest break of 134, but Slessor drew level at 55. Maguire won the 59minute after a long exchange on the and commented afterwards: "If I had lost that frame I don't know what I would have done—maybe given up. I was over the edge mentally." Bingham whitewashed Jimmy Robertson and said after the match: "I feel I am going in the right direction with my game." Jackson Page defeated Hossein Vafaei 62, commenting: "I have had some results recently and I am feeling good at the table." Jak Jones defeated Fan Zhengyi 63, compiling a highest break of 135. Bai lost 16 to Lisowski. After the match, she said: "I have gained a lot of experience of these occasions this week, it gives me more confidence. I can see some weaknesses in my game which I will work on." She stated that influencing girls to play snooker was one of her motivations to perform well. Lisowski commented: "Bai had an incredible run and that storyline was in the back of my head so I had to keep my concentration tonight." Wu defeated Lilley 63, while Ryan Day overcame Sanderson Lam 62. Hawkins beat Wang Yuchen 63, making a highest break of 111. Hawkins commented afterwards: "It's tough coming here to qualify but it feels great when you get through."File:Zhao Xintong PHC 2016-2.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85|alt=photo of Zhao Xintong|Playing in his first professional event after serving a 20month ban, 2021 winner Zhao Xintong qualified for the main stage.
Zhao reached the main stage with a 62 victory over Ricky Walden. After the match, Zhao commented on his return to the sport, saying: "I have really missed this.... I love snooker and I needed to come back." David Gilbert beat Leclercq 61, commenting afterwards: "I played terrible but kept nicking frames.... Hopefully York will rekindle something for me." Matthew Selt defeated Zhou 63, saying after the match: "I got a bit nervous towards the end so I'm delighted to get through." Lei Peifan defeated Ben Woollaston 62. Neil Robertson defeated Stevens 62, making breaks of 136 and 125. He commented: "The game has changed a lot in the last couple of years. It's less about thundering in long balls and scoring heavily, it's more about denying your opponent scoring opportunities." Stan Moody trailed He 14 but tied the scores at 44. However, He won the match in a deciding frame. Robert Milkins beat Xu Si 62, saying afterwards: "It has been a shocker of a season for me so far... If I can get to a quarter or semifinal I'll be happy." Michael Holt, who had recently regained his tour card, defeated Liu Hongyu 62. He commented: "I have battled all week, been a bit lucky at times but got there in the end."