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Royal Liver Assurance UK Open

Guild Hall, Preston, England (Nov 17-Dec 3, 1995)

Preview

The UK Open kicks off on November 17th. It's the second most prestigious of the ranking events, only overshadowed by the world championship itself. The 64 players who are to battle it out for the �380,000 purse have already been chosen. �70,000 is awarded to the winner of the tournament.

The top 32 in the world rankings are automatically qualified for the first round. The other 32 had to go through qualifying in Blackpool. They will each meet one of the top ranked in the first round.

A few interesting players have made it through qualifying. The single rookie left is Paul Hunter. He won a great number of matches in Blackpool this summer and is certainly one to look out for in the future. He will be up against Alan McManus in the first round. Matthew Stevens, a second-season professional from Wales has already made a mark of himself in latter stages of ranking events this year. He made it to the third round of the Skoda Grand Prix where he was beaten by Steve Davis. He also made it to the last stage of the Thailand Classic. Steve James will be his opponent in the first round.

The field includes six former world champions: Stephen Hendry (1990, 1992-94, 95), John Parrott (1991), Steve Davis (1981, 1983-84, 1987-89), Dennis Taylor (1985) and Terry Griffiths (1979).

Stephen Hendry is the defending champion. He beat Ken Doherty 10-5 in last year's cracking final. He made an incredible seven centuries in the final, which is a record in a professional match. He also became the first player ever to make five centuries in seven frames. And his twelve tons in the championship is a record for the number of tons by one player in a tournament. Hendry also won the tournament in 1989 and 1990.

Other returning champions are: Ronnie O'Sullivan (1993), Jimmy White (1992), John Parrott (1991), Doug Mountjoy (1978, 1988), Steve Davis (1980-81, 1984-87) and Terry Griffiths (1982).

A list of all the previous finals is also available.

Darren Guest, a 24-year-old from England made a total clearance of 143 in the fourth qualifying round. He was knocked out in the next round though. He will be hoping to take home the prize for the highest break in non-televised matches.

The Draw

Stephen Hendry    SCO  (1) vs Jamie Burnett   SCO  (73)
Anthony Hamilton      (31) vs Stuart Pettman      (123)
Terry Griffiths   WAL (15) vs Dylan Leary         (124)
Gary Wilkinson        (23) vs Jason Prince    NIR  (55)
Ken Doherty       IRE  (9) vs Drew Henry      SCO  (35)
Jason Ferguson        (29) vs Karl Broughton       (78)
Darren Morgan     WAL  (8) vs Dave Finbow          (47)
Dennis Taylor     NIR (32) vs Jimmy Michie         (68)
--
Jimmy White            (7) vs Matt Wilson         (134)
Brian Morgan          (27) vs Stuart Reardon      (131)
John Higgins      SCO (11) vs Mark King            (52)
Alain Robidoux    CAN (20) vs Karl Payne           (80)
Tony Drago        MLT (14) vs Tony Jones           (43)
Joe Swail         NIR (19) vs Mark J Williams WAL  (39)
John Parrott           (4) vs Jamie Woodman        (96) 
Willie Thorne         (25) vs Tony Meo             (75)
--
Ronnie O'Sullivan      (3) vs Steve Meakin          (?)
Mick Price            (21) vs Paul Davies     WAL  (66)
David Roe             (16) vs Chris Small     SCO  (62)
Martin Clark          (22) vs Mark Flowerdew       (54)
Dave Harold           (13) vs Mark Bennett    WAL  (42)
Andy Hicks            (17) vs Gerard Greene       (110)
James Wattana     THA  (5) vs Darryn Walker        (91)
Dene O'Kane       NZL (18) vs Mark J-Allen         (49)
--
Alan McManus      SCO  (6) vs Paul Hunter           (-)
Dean Reynolds         (30) vs Wayne Jones     WAL  (57)
Nigel Bond            (12) vs Surinder Gill        (98)
Tony Knowles          (24) vs Jon Birch            (63)
Peter Ebdon           (10) vs Barry Pinches       (132)
Steve James           (26) vs Matthew Stevens WAL (236)
Steve Davis            (2) vs Stephen Lee          (37)
Neal Foulds           (28) vs Doug Mountjoy   WAL  (36)

Players are English unless stated.
1995/96 World Ranking in brackets. ('-' = rookie)

Last Modified: April 20, 2012