For the longest time in snooker, the UK Championship was the second most coveted ranking event on the circuit. Not only in terms of prestige, but also prize money. Nowadays, there are a number of international events that overshadow the UK to the point where some don’t consider it much of a ‘major’ anymore. One of the chief suggestions to shining the light back on the UKC is by reverting to the old format, but would this be a successful approach?
In 1993, Ronnie O’Sullivan became the youngest player to win a ranking event at age 17 – a record that still stands to this day (but was almost broken by Yan Bingtao in the 2017 Northern Ireland Open). This was also the year where the format was altered so that the final was contested over a best-of-19 (first to 10). Prior to 1993, the final of the UKC would be battled over a significantly longer best-of-31 (first to 16).
The other element of the UKC that made it a different challenge to other events was that all matches (with the exception of the final) from last 64 through to semi-finals, were contested over an enduring best-of-17 (first to 9). Similar to the World Championship but unlike other tournaments, competitors had to go through multiple rounds of matches which could be considered as finals by today’s standards.
Since 2011, the format was tweaked once more so that best-of-17 matches were axed from the competition until the semi-finals. It was instead changed to best-of-11 (first to 6), which brought a lot of backlash to Barry Hearn when he proposed the movement. The reasoning for this was to allow more televised snooker in the early rounds. However, from 2014, the semi-final was the last to lose its best-of-17 nature as it was also lowered to a best-of-11 format.
And this is how things have been for the UKC for the past number of years. While some are used to the current format as it stands, there are those who consider it to be ‘just another event’ carried only by its history. It’s difficult to dispute this argument considering almost every tournament on the tour consist of multiple rounds of short-form matches, concluding with a best-of-17/19 final. Rinse and repeat for the following weeks.
So would changing back to the old format restore the UKC to its former glory? Well, it would certainly help things. Currently, the only tournament that results in a longer final than a best-of-19 are the Shanghai Masters and Tour Championship (that is, if WST go back to best-of-25 this season). Bringing the final back to a multi-day session of snooker would perhaps provide more classics down the line such as Higgins/Davis in 1983, where Higgins lagged 7-0 behind; or Hendry/Davis in 1990 that included one of the bravest blues you could ever see.
However, it shouldn’t just be the final that goes back to the old ways. The rest of the tournament should follow suit so that the UKC can stand out as the gruelling event it once was. Obviously, it would be tricky logistically considering the UKC is surrounded by the NI and Scottish Open, so there would need to be some shifting in the calendar to allow the UK to take up the extra time it would require if it were to go back to this format.
It may not be TV friendly, but it would certainly result in some incredible matches particularly in the earlier stages where players are truly tested. And it would also give more reason to look forward to the UKC, even if they can’t match the prize money of events which offer more. The flat draw argument is something else which is often mentioned, but that’s a discussion for another time.
What do you think of the UK Championship? Are you content with how it currently operates, or would you like to see some changes so that it was considered more of a Triple Crown?
Like this Short? Click here to read: History of the UK Championship
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