UK Open Billiards Championship

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UK Open Billiards Championship
Tournament information
Established1934
Organisation(s)World Billiards
Recent edition2019
Current champion David Causier (ENG)

The UK Open Billiards Championship, formerly known as the UK Professional English Billiards Championship, is an English billiards tournament, first contested in 1934. Joe Davis won the inaugural title with a 18,745–18,309 defeat of Tom Newman.[1][2]

For some years after 1934, the UK Championship was regarded as the premier event of the billiards season in the UK, in the absence of any contests for the world championships.[3] Walter Lindrum had won the World Professional Championship in 1933, and insisted that the competition should be held in Australia for his defence. The Billiards Association and Control Council agreed to this, and Davis travelled to Australia for the 1934 Championship, where he was disappointed by the lack of planning for the tournament, and found it hard to raise the money for his return to the UK. Lindrum retained the world championship in 1934, and it was not contested again until 1952.[4]: 105–107 [3]

Davis defeated Newman in each annual UK championship final up to 1939. The tournament was not held from 1940 to 1945, during World War II.[3] Davis also took the first post-war title, with a walkover over John Barrie. The Championship was staged three more times before being in abeyance from 1952 to 1978.[5] After a further hiatus from 2002 to 2014, World Billiards reinstituted the tournament as an open event in 2015.[5][2] From 1987, it has sometimes been played as a "short format" event, for example in January 1988 the matches before the final were the best-of-seven games of 150-up, and the final was the best-of-thirteen games of 150-up.[4]: 174 

David Causier won the 2019 title, with a 632–315 victory over Mark Hurst in the final.[5] The competition was not held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[6]

Finals[]

Year Champion Runner-up Score in the final[5] Notes
1934  Joe Davis (ENG)  Tom Newman (ENG) 18,745–18,309
1935  Joe Davis (ENG)  Tom Newman (ENG) 21,733–19,910
1936  Joe Davis (ENG)  Tom Newman (ENG) 21,710–19,791
1937  Joe Davis (ENG)  Tom Newman (ENG) 22,601–18,321
1938  Joe Davis (ENG)  Tom Newman (ENG) 20,933–19,542
1939  Joe Davis (ENG)  Tom Newman (ENG) 21,601–18,383
1940–1945 Not held
1946  Joe Davis (ENG)  John Barrie (ENG) walkover
1947 Not held
1948  Sidney Smith (ENG)  John Barrie (ENG) 7,002–6,428
1949 Not held
1950  John Barrie (ENG)  Kingsley Kennerley (ENG) 9,046–5,069
1951  Fred Davis (ENG)  Kingsley Kennerley (ENG) 8,120–6,011
1952–1978 Not held
1979  Rex Williams (ENG)  John Barrie (ENG) 2,952–2,116
1980  Jack Karnehm (ENG)  Rex Williams (ENG) 2,518–2,423
1981  Rex Williams (ENG)  Jack Karnehm (ENG) 1,592–1,112
1982 Not held
1983  Mark Wildman (ENG)  Fred Davis (ENG) 1,500–1,032
1984–1986 Not held
1987  Norman Dagley (ENG)  Ray Edmonds (ENG) 3–1[a]
Jan 1988  Ian Williamson (ENG)  Robby Foldvari (AUS) 7–3[a]
Nov 1988  Mike Russell (ENG)  Bob Close (ENG) 7–0[a]
1990  Mike Russell (ENG)  John Murphy (ENG) 1,478–1,058
1991  Mike Russell (ENG)  Geet Sethi (IND) 1,794–1,538
1992  Robby Foldvari (AUS)  Subhash Agarwal (IND) 4–1[a]
1993  Robby Foldvari (AUS)  Geet Sethi (IND) 4–0[a]
1994  Mike Russell (ENG)  Peter Gilchrist (ENG) 1,073-332
1995  Subhash Agarwal (IND)  Peter Gilchrist (ENG) 1,240–1,114
1996  Mike Russell (ENG)  David Causier (ENG) 1,690–1,277
Mar 1997  Mike Russell (ENG)  Sonic Multani (IND) 2,476–580
Nov 1997  Geet Sethi (IND)  Roxton Chapman (ENG) 698–293
1998  Mike Russell (ENG)  Geet Sethi (IND) 2,204–807
1999  Roxton Chapman (ENG)  Roxton Chapman (ENG) 1,382–1,293
2000  David Causier (ENG)  Robby Foldvari (AUS) 5–1[a]
2001  David Causier (ENG)  Peter Gilchrist (ENG) 5–4[a]
2002–2014 Not held
2015  Roxton Chapman (ENG)  David Causier (ENG) 409–351
2016  Robert Hall (ENG)  Roxton Chapman (ENG) 913-427
2017  Mike Russell (ENG)  David Causier (ENG) 946-915
2018  Peter Gilchrist (ENG)  Robert Hall (ENG) 796–667
2019  David Causier (ENG)  Mark Hurst (ENG) 632–315

Notes[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Short-format games

References[]

  1. ^ "United Kingdom professional championship of English billiards". The Billiard Player. Billiards Association and Control Council. June 1934. p. 15.
  2. ^ a b "2015 LITEtask UK Open". World Billiards. Archived from the original on 5 January 2021. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  3. ^ a b c Everton, Clive (1985). Snooker: The Records. Enfield: Guinness Superlatives Ltd. pp. 110–113. ISBN 0851124488.
  4. ^ a b Everton, Clive (2012). A History of Billiards. Malmesbury: englishbilliards.org. ISBN 978-0-9564054-5-6.
  5. ^ a b c d "UK Championship History". World Billiards. Archived from the original on 5 January 2021. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  6. ^ "Statement – COVID-19". World Billiards. Archived from the original on 5 January 2021. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
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