1996 UK Championship

{{Infobox individual snooker tournament

|tournament_name=1996 UK Championship

|dates={{Start and end dates|1996|11|15|1996|12|1|df=y}}

|venue=Preston Guild Hall

|location=Preston

|country=England

|organisation=WPBSA

|format=Ranking event

|Total prize fund=

|winners_share=£70,000

|highest_break={{flagathlete|Ken Doherty|IRL}}
{{flagathlete|Andy Hicks|ENG}} (141)

|winner={{flagathlete|Stephen Hendry|SCO}}

|runner_up={{flagathlete|John Higgins|SCO}}

|score=10–9

|previous=1995

|next=1997}}

The 1996 UK Championship was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place at the Guild Hall in Preston, England. The event started on 15 November 1996 and the televised stages were shown on BBC between 23 November and 1 December 1996.

Stephen Hendry won his third UK Championship in a row and fifth overall by defeating John Higgins 10–9 in the final. Hendry led 8–4, fell behind 8–9 after Higgins won 5 frames in a row, and then breaks of 82 and 77 in the last two frames was enough for Hendry to get the victory.{{cite web |last=Turner |first=Chris |title=UK Championship |url=http://www.cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/uk.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120216160153/http://www.cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/uk.html|archivedate=16 February 2012 |work=cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk |publisher=Chris Turner's Snooker Archive |accessdate=1 March 2011}} Ken Doherty made the highest break of the tournament with 141.

Tony Drago made the fastest century break in a ranking event with a time of 3 minutes 31 seconds.{{cite web|last=Turner|first=Chris|title=Various Snooker Records|url=http://www.cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Records.html|work=cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk|publisher=Chris Turner's Snooker Archive|accessdate=28 April 2014|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130210111343/http://www.cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Records.html|archivedate=10 February 2013}}

Prize fund

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

Winner £70,000
Runner-up £37,000
Highest break £5,000

Main draw

{{cite web|title=UK Championship 1996|url=http://www.snooker.org/TRN/9697/uk_res.shtml|publisher=Snooker.org|accessdate=17 October 2010}}{{cite web|title=UK Championship|url=http://www.snookerscene.co.uk/page.php?id=34|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130124071813/http://www.snookerscene.co.uk/page.php?id=34|archivedate=24 January 2013|publisher=Snooker Scene|accessdate=5 February 2013}}

=Top half=

{{#invoke:RoundN|main|columns=5

|team-width = 200

|bold_winner=high

|short_brackets=yes

|RD1 = Round 1 (Last 64)
Best of 17 frames

|RD2 = Round 2 (Last 32)
Best of 17 frames

|RD3 = Round 3 (Last 16)
Best of 17 frames

|RD4 = Quarter-finals
Best of 17 frames

|RD5 =Semi-finals
Best of 17 frames

|3rdplace=no

||{{flagicon|Scotland}} Stephen Hendry|9|{{flagicon|Wales}} Dominic Dale|6

||{{flagicon|England}} Neal Foulds|3|{{flagicon|England}} Robert Milkins|9

||{{flagicon|England}} Dave Harold|6|{{flagicon|England}} David Gray|9

||{{flagicon|England}} Anthony Hamilton|9|{{flagicon|Australia}} Quinten Hann|3

||{{flagicon|England}} Willie Thorne|0|{{flagicon|England}} Paul Hunter|9

||{{flagicon|Thailand}} James Wattana|9|{{flagicon|England}} Jon Birch|3

||{{flagicon|England}} Mick Price|9|{{flagicon|England}} Eddie Manning|6

||{{flagicon|England}} Ronnie O'Sullivan|7|{{flagicon|Northern Ireland}} Terry Murphy|9

||{{flagicon|Scotland}} Alan McManus|9|{{flagicon|Wales}} Ian Sargeant|6

||{{flagicon|England}} Gary Wilkinson|9|{{flagicon|England}} Brian Morgan|2

||{{flagicon|Wales}} Darren Morgan|6|{{flagicon|Scotland}} Billy Snaddon|9

||{{flagicon|England}} Rod Lawler|9|{{flagicon|England}} Darren Clarke|5

||{{flagicon|New Zealand}} Dene O'Kane|8|{{flagicon|England}} Joe Johnson|9

||{{flagicon|England}} Jimmy White|7|{{flagicon|Thailand}} Tai Pichit|9

||{{flagicon|England}} Martin Clark|9|{{flagicon|England}} Tony Jones|6

||{{flagicon|England}} John Parrott|9|{{flagicon|Thailand}} {{nowrap|Noppadon Noppachorn}}|4

||{{flagicon|Scotland}} Stephen Hendry|9|{{flagicon|England}} Robert Milkins|5

||{{flagicon|England}} David Gray|8|{{flagicon|England}} Anthony Hamilton|9

||{{flagicon|England}} Paul Hunter|9|{{flagicon|Thailand}} James Wattana|5

||{{flagicon|England}} Mick Price|6|{{flagicon|Northern Ireland}} Terry Murphy|9

||{{flagicon|Scotland}} Alan McManus|9|{{flagicon|England}} Gary Wilkinson|7

||{{flagicon|Scotland}} Billy Snaddon|9|{{flagicon|England}} Rod Lawler|7

||{{flagicon|England}} Joe Johnson|9|{{flagicon|Thailand}} Tai Pichit|6

||{{flagicon|England}} Martin Clark|8|{{flagicon|England}} John Parrott|9

||{{flagicon|Scotland}} Stephen Hendry|9|{{flagicon|England}} Anthony Hamilton|1

||{{flagicon|England}} Paul Hunter|9|{{flagicon|Northern Ireland}} Terry Murphy|7

||{{flagicon|Scotland}} Alan McManus|9|{{flagicon|Scotland}} Billy Snaddon|5

||{{flagicon|England}} Joe Johnson|6|{{flagicon|England}} John Parrott|9

||{{flagicon|Scotland}} Stephen Hendry|9|{{flagicon|England}} Paul Hunter|5

||{{flagicon|Scotland}} Alan McManus|9|{{flagicon|England}} John Parrott|8

||{{flagicon|Scotland}} Stephen Hendry|9|{{flagicon|Scotland}} Alan McManus|1

}}

=Bottom half=

{{#invoke:RoundN|main|columns=5

|team-width = 200

|bold_winner=high

|short_brackets=yes

|RD1 = Round 1 (Last 64)
Best of 17 frames

|RD2 = Round 2 (Last 32)
Best of 17 frames

|RD3 = Round 3 (Last 16)
Best of 17 frames

|RD4 = Quarter-finals
Best of 17 frames

|RD5 =Semi-finals
Best of 17 frames

|3rdplace=no

||{{flagicon|England}} Peter Ebdon|8|{{flagicon|England}} Karl Broughton|9

||{{flagicon|Scotland}} Chris Small|9|{{flagicon|England}} David Roe|4

||{{flagicon|Canada}} Alain Robidoux|9|{{flagicon|England}} Jason Weston|7

||{{flagicon|England}} Stephen Lee|9|{{flagicon|Northern Ireland}} Jason Prince|3

||{{flagicon|England}} Jason Ferguson|4|{{flagicon|Pakistan}} Shokat Ali|9

||{{flagicon|England}} Steve Davis|9|{{flagicon|Scotland}} Jamie Burnett|5

||{{flagicon|Northern Ireland}} Dennis Taylor|9|{{flagicon|England}} Peter Lines|5

||{{flagicon|Ireland}} Ken Doherty|9|{{flagicon|England}} Nick Pearce|2

||{{flagicon|England}} Nigel Bond|9|{{flagicon|England}} Paul Wykes|0

||{{flagicon|Northern Ireland}} Joe Swail|9|{{flagicon|England}} Mark King|8

||{{flagicon|Wales}} Mark Williams|9|{{flagicon|Wales}} Tony Chappel|3

||{{flagicon|England}} David Finbow|5|{{flagicon|India}} Yasin Merchant|9

||{{flagicon|England}} Andy Hicks|9|{{flagicon|England}} Nick Terry|4

||{{flagicon|Malta}} Tony Drago|9|{{flagicon|Scotland}} Alan Burnett|4

||{{flagicon|England}} Steve James|6|{{flagicon|Scotland}} Marcus Campbell|9

||{{flagicon|Scotland}} John Higgins|9|{{flagicon|Wales}} Steve Newbury|8

||{{flagicon|England}} Karl Broughton|9|{{flagicon|Scotland}} Chris Small|6

||{{flagicon|Canada}} Alain Robidoux|9|{{flagicon|England}} Stephen Lee|6

||{{flagicon|Pakistan}} Shokat Ali|7|{{flagicon|England}} Steve Davis|9

||{{flagicon|Northern Ireland}} Dennis Taylor|4|{{flagicon|Ireland}} Ken Doherty|9

||{{flagicon|England}} Nigel Bond|9|{{flagicon|Northern Ireland}} Joe Swail|6

||{{flagicon|Wales}} Mark Williams|9|{{flagicon|India}} Yasin Merchant|3

||{{flagicon|England}} Andy Hicks|5|{{flagicon|Malta}} Tony Drago|9

||{{flagicon|Scotland}} Marcus Campbell|5|{{flagicon|Scotland}} John Higgins|9

||{{flagicon|England}} Karl Broughton|8|{{flagicon|Canada}} Alain Robidoux|9

||{{flagicon|England}} Steve Davis|5|{{flagicon|Ireland}} Ken Doherty|9

||{{flagicon|England}} Nigel Bond|4|{{flagicon|Wales}} Mark Williams|9

||{{flagicon|Malta}} Tony Drago|8|{{flagicon|Scotland}} John Higgins|9

||{{flagicon|Canada}} Alain Robidoux|3|{{flagicon|Ireland}} Ken Doherty|9

||{{flagicon|Wales}} Mark Williams|6|{{flagicon|Scotland}} John Higgins|9

||{{flagicon|Ireland}} Ken Doherty|3|{{flagicon|Scotland}} John Higgins|9

}}

Final

class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%; margin: 1em auto 1em auto;"

colspan="3" align="center" bgcolor="#ffd700" | Final: Best of 19 frames. Referee: Len Ganley
The Guild Hall, Preston, England, 1 December 1996.

width="230" align="right" | Stephen Hendry
{{SCO}}

| width="100" align="center" | 10–9

| width="230" | John Higgins
{{SCO}}

colspan="3" align="center" style="font-size: 100%" | First session: 32–72 (69), 78–32, 105–14 (74), 16–65 (64), 80–28, 108–8 (102), 115–14 (115), 36–70, 4–93
Second session: 73–4 (73), 61–33, 108–0 (108), 59–66, 39–68, 32–96, 29–62 (54), 12–62, 82–0 (82), 77–0 (77)

align="right" |115

| align="center" | Highest break

| 69

align="right" | 3

| align="center" | Century breaks

| 0

align="right" | 7

| align="center" | 50+ breaks

| 3

Century breaks

141, 140 {{ndash}} Ken Doherty
141, 133, 122, 106, 106, 104 {{ndash}} Andy Hicks
140, 115, 108, 108, 104, 103, 102 {{ndash}} Stephen Hendry
138 {{ndash}} Darren Clarke
136, 118, 105, 100, 100 {{ndash}} Paul Hunter
135, 132, 109 {{ndash}} James Wattana
135, 109 {{ndash}} John Higgins
135, 106 {{ndash}} Jason Weston
132, 113 {{ndash}} Nigel Bond
131 {{ndash}} Shokat Ali
130 {{ndash}} Tony Chappel
130 {{ndash}} Steve Newbury
124, 119, 106, 104 {{ndash}} Mark Williams
122, 103 {{ndash}} Tony Drago
122, 102 {{ndash}} Marcus Campbell
116 {{ndash}} Karl Broughton
115 {{ndash}} Tai Pichit
111, 100 {{ndash}} Anthony Hamilton
110 {{ndash}} Peter Ebdon
110 {{ndash}} Ronnie O'Sullivan
109, 107 {{ndash}} David Gray
109, 101 {{ndash}} John Parrott
109 {{ndash}} Stephen Lee
108 {{ndash}} Jonathan Birch
105 {{ndash}} Joe Johnson
104 {{ndash}} Gary Wilkinson
102, 102, 100 {{ndash}} Terry Murphy
102 {{ndash}} Tony Jones
102 {{ndash}} Billy Snaddon
101 {{ndash}} Quinten Hann

References

Category:UK Championship (snooker)

UK Championship