1997 UK Championship

1997 Liverpool Victoria UK Championship

Tournament information
Dates	12–30 November 1997 (1997-11-12 – 1997-11-30)
Venue	Preston Guild Hall
City	Preston
Country	England
Organisation	WPBSA
Format	Ranking event
Total prize fund	£440,000
Winner's share	£75,000
Highest break	Matthew Stevens (WAL) (143)
Final
Champion	Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG)
Runner-up	Stephen Hendry (SCO)
Score	10–6
← 1996 1998 →

The 1997 UK Championship (officially the 1997 Liverpool Victoria UK Championship) was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place at the Guild Hall in Preston, England. The event started on 12 November 1997 and the televised stages were shown on BBC between 22 and 30 November 1997. This was the last UK championship to be held in Preston, where the event was held since 1978. The following year's competition was held in Bournemouth.

Ronnie O'Sullivan defeated Stephen Hendry 10–6 in the final, ending Hendry's run of three successive UK championship wins. O'Sullivan had been the last player other than Hendry to win the event, as a 17-year-old in 1993.^[1] The highest TV break of the competition was 137 made by Stephen Lee and it was worth £5,000.^{[citation needed]}

Prize fund

The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:

Main draw

^[2]

Top half

	Round 1 (Last 64) Best of 17 frames					Round 2 (Last 32) Best of 17 frames					Round 3 (Last 16) Best of 17 frames					Quarter-finals Best of 17 frames					Semi-final Best of 17 frames
	1	Stephen Hendry	9
	86	John Read	2
						1	Stephen Hendry	9
						82	Sean Storey	7
	27	Martin Clark	5
	82	Sean Storey	9
											1	Stephen Hendry	9
											14	Anthony Hamilton	8
	14	Anthony Hamilton	9
	131	Troy Shaw	2
						14	Anthony Hamilton	9
						38	Jamie Burnett	3
	31	Mick Price	6
	38	Jamie Burnett	9
																1	Stephen Hendry	9
																10	Alan McManus	5
	21	Jimmy White	9
	48	Paul Davies	2
						21	Jimmy White	7
						10	Alan McManus	9
	10	Alan McManus	9
	60	Tony Jones	6
											10	Alan McManus	9
											42	Jason Prince	5
	18	Dave Harold	6
	42	Jason Prince	9
						42	Jason Prince	9
						5	Peter Ebdon	5
	5	Peter Ebdon	9
	152	David Gray	6
																					1	Stephen Hendry	9
																					53	Matthew Stevens	5
	8	Nigel Bond	6
	104	Quinten Hann	9
						104	Quinten Hann	6
						116	Martin Dziewialtowski	9
	22	Joe Swail	5
	116	Martin Dziewialtowski	9
											116	Martin Dziewialtowski	9
											51	Dean Reynolds	7
	9	Alain Robidoux	3
	59	Shokat Ali	9
						59	Shokat Ali	6
						51	Dean Reynolds	9
	28	Brian Morgan	7
	51	Dean Reynolds	9
																116	Martin Dziewialtowski	1
																53	Matthew Stevens	9
	26	Rod Lawler	7
	53	Matthew Stevens	9
						53	Matthew Stevens	9
						11	Tony Drago	8
	11	Tony Drago	9
	76	Ian McCulloch	7
											53	Matthew Stevens	9
											4	Mark Williams	1
	24	Steve James	5
	34	Dennis Taylor	9
						34	Dennis Taylor	3
						4	Mark Williams	9
	4	Mark Williams	9
	45	Jonathan Birch	6

Bottom half

	Round 1 (Last 64) Best of 17 frames					Round 2 (Last 32) Best of 17 frames					Round 3 (Last 16) Best of 17 frames					Quarter-finals Best of 17 frames					Semi-final Best of 17 frames
	3	Ken Doherty	9
	41	Karl Broughton	3
						3	Ken Doherty	4
						30	Neal Foulds	9
	30	Neal Foulds	9
	78	Karl Burrows	6
											30	Neal Foulds	2
											16	Stephen Lee	9
	16	Stephen Lee	9
	50	Mark Bennett	5
						16	Stephen Lee	9
						25	Chris Small	4
	25	Chris Small	9
	43	Paul Hunter	8
																16	Stephen Lee	9
																20	Mark King	2
	23	Fergal O'Brien	2
	80	Bradley Jones	9
						80	Bradley Jones	6
						15	Darren Morgan	9
	15	Darren Morgan	9
	54	Dominic Dale	2
											15	Darren Morgan	5
											20	Mark King	9
	20	Mark King	9
	90	Peter Lines	4
						20	Mark King	9
						6	John Parrott	6
	6	John Parrott	9
	69	Paul Wykes	1
																					16	Stephen Lee	4
																					7	Ronnie O'Sullivan	9
	7	Ronnie O'Sullivan	9
	97	Marcus Campbell	6
						7	Ronnie O'Sullivan	9
						29	Terry Murphy	5
	29	Terry Murphy	9
	64	Chris Scanlon	8
											7	Ronnie O'Sullivan	9
											17	Gary Wilkinson	4
	12	James Wattana	9
	58	Wayne Jones	6
						12	James Wattana	8
						17	Gary Wilkinson	9
	17	Gary Wilkinson	9
	36	Willie Thorne	7
																7	Ronnie O'Sullivan	9
																62	Gerard Greene	6
	19	Andy Hicks	9
	105	Lee Richardson	8
						19	Andy Hicks	8
						62	Gerard Greene	9
	13	Steve Davis	2
	62	Gerard Greene	9
											62	Gerard Greene	9
											85	Gary Ponting	6
	32	Billy Snaddon	6
	35	Dene O'Kane	9
						35	Dene O'Kane	5
						85	Gary Ponting	9
	2	John Higgins	4
	85	Gary Ponting	9

Final

Final: Best of 19 frames. Referee: John Williams The Guild Hall, Preston, England, 30 November 1997.
Stephen Hendry (1)  Scotland	6–10	Ronnie O'Sullivan (7)  England
First session: 103–29 (89), 75–37, 13–78 (78), 10–115 (78), 63–44 (57), 88–16 (67), 28–67, 73–21 (68), 33–98 (98) Second session: 23–75, 0–89 (89), 0–72, 0–79 (54), 0–82, 80–1, 17–70 (70)
89	Highest break	98
0	Century breaks	0
4	50+ breaks	6

Qualifying

^[3]

1st Round Best of 11 frames

Century breaks

References