The UK Championship is one of professional snooker's three Triple Crown events, alongside The Masters and the World Snooker Championship. First held in 1977 — the same year the World Championship moved to the Crucible — the UK Championship has grown into one of the most prestigious and prestigious tournaments on the calendar, with a prize fund of £1,173,000 in 2025. Unlike The Masters, the UK Championship is open to all players on the World Snooker Tour, making it a true open ranking event as well as a Triple Crown title.
The tournament has been held at the York Barbican in York for a number of years, providing one of the most distinctive venues in professional snooker. With its consistently large fields, high-stakes format, and regular production of memorable matches, the UK Championship is considered by many players as the second most important event of the snooker year, sitting only behind the World Championship in prestige.
York Barbican
The York Barbican is a purpose-built entertainment and conference venue in the historic city of York. Opened in 1991, the main auditorium holds up to 1,900 people in its concert configuration and provides an excellent atmosphere for snooker. The venue's central location in one of England's most visited cities brings a strong crowd each year, and its layout — with steeply raked seating that ensures every audience member has a clear sightline to the table — makes it a favourite with both players and spectators.
York itself adds to the event's character. Players and media have access to one of Britain's finest medieval cities during the tournament fortnight, and the UK Championship has become firmly associated with the city's unique atmosphere during the late-autumn period.
Tournament Format
The UK Championship is one of the largest tournaments in snooker by field size. All professional tour players are eligible to enter, resulting in a field that typically reaches 128 players or more in the qualifying rounds. Qualifying matches are played at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield before the main event begins at the York Barbican.
The number of frames per round increases as the tournament progresses:
- Qualifying Rounds: Best of 7 frames
- Last 64: Best of 7 frames
- Last 32: Best of 7 frames
- Last 16: Best of 9 frames
- Quarter-Finals: Best of 9 frames
- Semi-Finals: Best of 11 frames
- Final: Best of 19 frames
The main venue stages include the last 32 through to the final. The final is traditionally a showpiece occasion broadcast live in its entirety on BBC Two.
Prize Money
The 2025 UK Championship carried a total prize fund of £1,173,000. The breakdown was as follows:
| Round | Prize |
|---|---|
| Winner | £200,000 |
| Runner-up | £80,000 |
| Semi-finalists (x2) | £40,000 each |
| Quarter-finalists (x4) | £20,000 each |
| Last 16 (x8) | £12,000 each |
| Last 32 (x16) | £7,000 each |
| Last 64 (x32) | £4,000 each |
| Total | £1,173,000 |
What Channel is the UK Championship On?
The UK Championship receives full live television coverage on free-to-air and subscription channels in the UK:
- BBC Two — Live coverage from the last 32 stage through to the final, broadcast free to air. The BBC typically covers the latter sessions of each day's play, with extended coverage for the semi-finals and final.
- TNT Sports — Comprehensive subscription coverage across all rounds on TNT Sports channels and the discovery+ streaming platform, including the early stages of the main event.
- BBC iPlayer — Free streaming of all BBC Two UK Championship coverage via the iPlayer app and website, available to UK viewers with a valid TV Licence.
Past Champions (2015–2025)
| Year | Champion | Runner-up | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Zhao Xintong | Neil Robertson | 10–3 |
| 2024 | Ronnie O'Sullivan | Ding Junhui | 10–5 |
| 2023 | Ronnie O'Sullivan | Mark Williams | 10–2 |
| 2022 | Zhao Xintong | Luca Brecel | 10–6 |
| 2021 | Ronnie O'Sullivan | Mark Selby | 10–4 |
| 2020 | Judd Trump | Neil Robertson | 10–3 |
| 2019 | Ronnie O'Sullivan | Mark Selby | 10–5 |
| 2018 | Mark Allen | Kyren Wilson | 10–7 |
| 2017 | Ronnie O'Sullivan | Barry Hawkins | 10–1 |
| 2016 | Judd Trump | Ricky Walden | 10–3 |
| 2015 | Ronnie O'Sullivan | Marco Fu | 10–7 |
Records
- Most UK Championship titles: Ronnie O'Sullivan holds the record with 7 UK Championship titles in the modern era — a remarkable achievement in a tournament open to the full tour. His victories include multiple consecutive wins and titles spread across more than two decades of professional snooker.
- Most dominant UK final performance: Ronnie O'Sullivan's 10–1 victory over Barry Hawkins in the 2017 final remains one of the most emphatic UK Championship finals in the modern era.
- Triple Crown at the UK: Winning the UK Championship alongside The Masters and the World Championship constitutes the Triple Crown — one of snooker's most sought-after achievements. Only a handful of players have completed all three in their career.
- Largest prize fund: The 2025 edition's £1,173,000 total prize fund represents the tournament's highest-ever prize pool, reflecting the growth of the World Snooker Tour and investment from WST and its broadcast partners.