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 21, 2012
