2011 UK Championship
 |
_poster.jpg) | |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 3–11 December 2011 |
| Venue | Barbican Centre |
| City | York |
| Country | England |
| Organisation | WPBSA |
| Format | Ranking event |
| Total prize fund | £625,000 |
| Winner's share | £100,000 |
| Highest break |  Stephen Maguire (144) |
| Final | |
| Champion |  Judd Trump |
| Runner-up |  Mark Allen |
| Score | 10–8 |
← 2010 2012 → | |
The 2011 williamhill.com UK Championship was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 3–11 December 2011 at the Barbican Centre in York, England. This was the first time that William Hill sponsored the event.[1]
John Higgins was the defending champion, but he lost in the second round 4–6 against Stephen Maguire.[2]
Judd Trump won his second ranking title by defeating Mark Allen 10–8 in the final.[3]
Prize fund
The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:[4]
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Controversy
The format of the 2011 UK Championship was changed from previous editions. All rounds up to the semi-finals were played over the best of 11 frames instead of the best of 17 frames. The semi-finals and the final were played over the best of 17 and best of 19 frames respectively. The changes allowed for every match in the early rounds to be played in front of television cameras and avoided the need to use two extra tables.[5] However, the changes angered some players including John Higgins,[6] and Mark Williams, while Mark Allen called for Barry Hearn to resign as head of World Snooker, after Hearn had promised not to alter the championship when he had become the chairman in 2010.[7] During the same interview Allen aimed a four lettered expletive at Hearn.[8] Allen was later charged by World Snooker for bringing the game into disrepute.[9] Hearn, following the original comments by Allen, called him a "silly little boy",[10] to which Allen responded by gagging himself at a press conference.[11] Allen and Hearn later sat down and had a discussion, which resolved their differences,[12] while Allen was fined £250 for swearing in a press conference.[13]
Main draw
Final
Final: Best of 19 frames. Referee:  Eirian Williams.Barbican Centre, York, England, 11 December 2011.[17][18] | ||
| Judd Trump (8) England
|
10–8 | Mark Allen (12) Northern Ireland
|
| Afternoon: 92–4 (70), 23–58 (56), 0–149 (141), 48–69, 86–49 (52), 62–30, 75–33 (75), 73–31 (61) Evening: 109–7 (109), 78–46 (78), 82–14 (74), 0–139 (139), 0–133 (129), 76–1 (76), 8–125 (125), 35–75, 32–95 (95), 91–0 (91) | ||
| 109 | Highest break | 141 |
| 1 | Century breaks | 4 |
| 9 | 50+ breaks | 6 |
Qualifying
These matches were held between 5 and 9 November 2011 at the South West Snooker Academy, Gloucester, England.[19][20][21]
- Preliminary round
Best of 11 frames
| Daniel Wells |
6–0 |  Kacper Filipiak
|
 Lucky Vatnani |
4–6 |  Robin Hull
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- Round 1–4
Century breaks
Televised stage centuries
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Qualifying stage centuries
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References
- ^ "williamhill.com To Sponsor UK". World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived from the original on 2 December 2011. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
- ^ "UK Championship: Defending champ John Higgins bows out in York". Daily Record. Retrieved 20 September 2012.
- ^ Fazackerley, Karen. "UK Snooker Championship: Judd Trump beats Mark Allen to win title". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 December 2011.
- ^ "Prize Money". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
- ^ "New Format For UK Championship". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
- ^ "UK Snooker Championship: John Higgins unhappy with format". BBC Sport. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
- ^ "UK Snooker Championship: Allen says Hearn should resign". BBC Sport. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
- ^ "Mark Allen blasts Snooker chairman Barry Hearn over format changes". London: The Daily Telegraph. 5 December 2011. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
- ^ "UK Snooker Championship: Mark Allen faces charge over swearing". BBC Sport. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
- ^ "Barry Hearn hits back at 'silly' Mark Allen's UK Championship criticism". BBC Sport. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
- ^ "Allen stages 'silent protest' after Hearn jibe". Eurosport UK. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
- ^ "Barry Hearn & Mark Allen hold positive talks over differences". BBC Sport. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
- ^ "Mark Allen fined £250 for press conference swearing". BBC Sport. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
- ^ "UK Championship draw". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
- ^ "UK Championship Results". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
- ^ "UK Snooker Championship final: Trump v Allen frame scores". BBC Sport. 11 December 2011. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
- ^ a b "williamhill.com UK Championship (2011)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 12 October 2011.
- ^ "williamhill.com UK Championship: Final - Match 31: Judd Trump v Mark Allen". worldsnookerdata.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived from the original on 2013-03-09. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
- ^ "UK Championship Qualifiers Draw and Format" (PDF). worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Retrieved 12 October 2011.
- ^ "UK Championship Qualifiers Results". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Retrieved 7 November 2011.
- ^ "williamhill.com UK Championship Qualifiers (2011)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 12 October 2011.
- ^ "Century breaks". worldsnookerdata.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived from the original on 2011-12-11. Retrieved 11 December 2011.
- ^ "Qualifying century breaks". worldsnookerdata.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived from the original on 10 November 2011. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
External links
- Official website
- UK Championship Qualifiers 2011: Picture Perfect at Pro Snooker Blog