1997 UK Championship

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.

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 →

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:

Winner: £75,000 Runner-up: £39,000 Semi-final: £19,750 Quarter-final: £10,800 Last 16: £5,500 Last 32: £3,450 Last 64: £2,900 Last 96: £1,400

Stage one highest break: £1,500 Stage two highest break: £5,000 Total: £440,000

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
	31	Mick Price	6
	38	Jamie Burnett	9
						38	Jamie Burnett	3
						14	Anthony Hamilton	9
	14	Anthony Hamilton	9
	131	Troy Shaw	2
																1	Stephen Hendry	9
																10	Alan McManus	5
	10	Alan McManus	9
	60	Tony Jones	6
						10	Alan McManus	9
						21	Jimmy White	7
	21	Jimmy White	9
	48	Paul Davies	2
											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
	28	Brian Morgan	7
	51	Dean Reynolds	9
						51	Dean Reynolds	9
						59	Shokat Ali	6
	9	Alain Robidoux	3
	59	Shokat Ali	9
																116	Martin Dziewialtowski	1
																53	Matthew Stevens	9
	11	Tony Drago	9
	76	Ian McCulloch	7
						11	Tony Drago	8
						53	Matthew Stevens	9
	26	Rod Lawler	7
	53	Matthew Stevens	9
											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
	25	Chris Small	9
	43	Paul Hunter	8
						25	Chris Small	4
						16	Stephen Lee	9
	16	Stephen Lee	9
	50	Mark Bennett	5
																16	Stephen Lee	9
																20	Mark King	2
	15	Darren Morgan	9
	54	Dominic Dale	2
						15	Darren Morgan	9
						80	Bradley Jones	6
	23	Fergal O'Brien	2
	80	Bradley Jones	9
											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
	17	Gary Wilkinson	9
	36	Willie Thorne	7
						17	Gary Wilkinson	9
						12	James Wattana	8
	12	James Wattana	9
	58	Wayne Jones	6
																7	Ronnie O'Sullivan	9
																62	Gerard Greene	6
	13	Steve Davis	2
	62	Gerard Greene	9
						62	Gerard Greene	9
						19	Andy Hicks	8
	19	Andy Hicks	9
	105	Lee Richardson	8
											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

Player Score Player Michael Judge (56) 3–6 John Read (86) Euan Henderson (44) 1–6 Sean Storey (82) Jamie Burnett (38) 6–1 Craig MacGillivray (159) David Finbow (39) 4–6 Troy Shaw (131) Tony Jones (60) 6–3 John Lardner (130) Paul Davies (48) 6–4 Steve Judd (92) Jason Prince (42) 6–4 Matthew Couch (94) Graeme Dott (33) 5–6 David Gray (152) Joe Johnson (52) 3–6 Quinten Hann (104) Anthony Davies (61) 3–6 Martin Dziewialtowski (116) Dean Reynolds (51) 6–3 Stephen O'Connor (106) Shokat Ali (59) 6–4 Karl Payne (77) Jason Ferguson (37) 5–6 Ian McCulloch (76) Matthew Stevens (53) 6–3 Jamie Woodman (71) Dennis Taylor (34) 6–2 Wayne Brown (99) Jonathan Birch (45) 6–0 Mark Gray (150)

Player Score Player Karl Broughton (41) 6–2 Lee Walker (79) David Roe (49) 4–6 Karl Burrows (78) Paul Hunter (43) 6–3 Nick Walker (67) Mark Bennett (50) 6–4 Darren Clarke (84) Dominic Dale (54) 6–5 Alfie Burden (122) Drew Henry (40) 5–6 Bradley Jones (80) Jimmy Michie (55) 5–6 Peter Lines (90) Mark Davis (47) 5–6 Paul Wykes (69) Tony Chappel (46) 5–6 Marcus Campbell (97) Chris Scanlon (64) 6–4 Joe Perry (123) Willie Thorne (36) 6–2 Peter McCullagh (162) Wayne Jones (58) 6–4 Leigh Griffin (143) Gerard Greene (62) 6–5 Ian Brumby (101) Stefan Mazrocis (65) 5–6 Lee Richardson (105) Dene O'Kane (35) 6–2 Stuart Pettman (87) Nick Pearce (57) 4–6 Gary Ponting (85)

Century breaks

• 143, 121, 120, 105, 100 – Matthew Stevens
• 138, 129, 119, 115 – Anthony Hamilton
• 137, 121, 119, 115 – Stephen Lee
• 136 – Jamie Burnett
• 134, 115 – Peter Ebdon
• 131 – David Gray
• 130, 126, 113, 107 – Alan McManus
• 130, 100, 100 – Quinten Hann
• 130 – Dean Reynolds
• 124, 113, 105 – Ronnie O'Sullivan
• 124 – Mark Bennett
• 122 – Peter Lines
• 119, 116, 110, 108 – Darren Morgan
• 119 – Andy Hicks
• 116, 114 – Bradley Jones
• 116 – Stuart Pettman
• 115 – Mark Williams
• 113, 100 – Ian McCulloch
• 112, 111 – Karl Burrows
• 108, 106, 105, 101 – Martin Dziewialtowski
• 108 – Tony Chappel
• 107 – Rod Lawler
• 106 – Drew Henry
• 105 – Stephen Hendry
• 104 – Jason Prince
• 103 – Shokat Ali
• 103 – Stephen O'Connor
• 102 – John Higgins
• 102 – Gary Wilkinson
• 100 – Mick Price
• 100 – Marcus Campbell
• 100 – Dene O'Kane