The 1981 UK Championship (officially the 1981 Coral UK Championship) was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place at the Guild Hall in Preston, England, between 22 November and 5 December 1981. This was the fifth edition of the UK Championship, the fourth staging of the competition in Preston, and the fourth consecutive UK Championship to be sponsored by Coral. The televised stages were shown on the BBC from 28 November through to the end of the championship.
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 22 November – 5 December 1981 |
| Venue | Preston Guild Hall |
| City | Preston |
| Country | England |
| Organisation | WPBSA |
| Format | Non-ranking event |
| Total prize fund | £40,000 |
| Winner's share | £10,000 |
| Highest break |  Terry Griffiths (131) |
| Final | |
| Champion |  Steve Davis |
| Runner-up | Terry Griffiths |
| Score | 16–3 |
← 1980 1982 → | |
Tournament summary edit
- Steve Davis retained the first of his major titles by defeating Terry Griffiths 16–3 in the final.
- Jimmy White, fresh from his success in the Langs Scottish Masters and Northern Ireland Classic, which took place earlier in the season, beat Clive Everton, John Virgo, Dennis Taylor and Ray Reardon, in reaching the semi-finals at his first attempt, but then was whitewashed 0–9 by the reigning World and UK Champion Steve Davis.
- Two other young players, Tony Knowles and Tony Meo, also enhanced their reputations: Knowles by beating Fred Davis and Doug Mountjoy in reaching the quarter-finals, and Meo by defeating Rex Williams, Cliff Thorburn and Alex Higgins in reaching the semi-finals.
Main draw edit
| Last 24 Best of 17 frames | Last 16 Best of 17 frames | Quarter-finals Best of 17 frames | Semi-finals Best of 17 frames | Final Best of 31 frames | |||||||||||||||||||
| Steve Davis | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Willie Thorne | 9 | Willie Thorne | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Steve Davis | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ray Edmonds | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
 Bill Werbeniuk | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bill Werbeniuk | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kirk Stevens | 9 | Kirk Stevens | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Steve Davis | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mike Hallett | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jimmy White | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
 Dennis Taylor | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jimmy White | 9 | Jimmy White | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Jimmy White | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| John Virgo | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ray Reardon | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ray Reardon | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Joe Johnson | 9 | Joe Johnson | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Steve Davis | 16 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| John Spencer | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Terry Griffiths | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Terry Griffiths | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Graham Miles | 9 | Graham Miles | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Terry Griffiths | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pat Houlihan | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tony Knowles | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Doug Mountjoy | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tony Knowles | 9 | Tony Knowles | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Terry Griffiths | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fred Davis | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tony Meo | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| David Taylor | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alex Higgins | 9 | Alex Higgins | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Alex Higgins | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dave Martin | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tony Meo | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cliff Thorburn | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tony Meo | 9 | Tony Meo | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Rex Williams | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Final edit
| Final: Best of 31 frames. Referee: The Guild Hall, Preston, England, 4 and 5 December 1981. | ||
| Steve Davis England
|
16–3 | Terry Griffiths Wales
|
| First session: 28–60, 102–13 (87), 74–12, 76–24, 72–1 (65), 69–20, 75–45 (63) Second session: 84–37 (58), 116–1 (56), 73–62 (54), 0–127 (96), 111–8, 64–44, 57–32, 27–77 (77) Third session: 90–22, 113–9 (52), 81–26 (59), 54–37 | ||
| 87 | Highest break | 96 |
| 0 | Century breaks | 0 |
| 8 | 50+ breaks | 2 |
Qualifying edit
[2] Best of 17 frames
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Century breaks edit
- 131 – Terry Griffiths
- 126 – Willie Thorne
- 120, 105 – Steve Davis
- 120 – Alex Higgins
- 120 – Kirk Stevens
- 107 – Tony Meo
- 103 – Rex Williams
- 102 – Tony Knowles
References edit
- ^ "UK Championship". Snooker Scene. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
- ^ "1981 UK Championship Results". Snooker Database. Archived from the original on 7 October 2011. Retrieved 13 October 2010.