1985 UK Championship
Snooker tournament
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The 1985 UK Championship (officially the 1985 Coral UK Championship) was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 15 November and 1 December 1985 at the Guild Hall in Preston, England.[1] The last-16 televised stages were shown on the BBC from 23 November through to the end of the championship. The event was sponsored by sports betting company Coral.
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 15 November – 1 December 1985 |
| Venue | Preston Guild Hall |
| City | Preston |
| Country | England |
| Organisation | WPBSA |
| Format | Ranking event |
| Total prize fund | £120,000 |
| Winner's share | £24,000 |
| Highest break |  Willie Thorne (ENG) (140) |
| Final | |
| Champion | Steve Davis (ENG) |
| Runner-up | Willie Thorne (ENG) |
| Score | 16–14 |
← 1984 1986 → | |
Steve Davis won his fourth UK Championship title by defeating Willie Thorne 16–14 in the final. Thorne had led 12–6 and 13–8, but the match turned after Thorne missed a straightforward blue off its spot which would have given him a 14–8 lead. Davis subsequently won the frame and seven of the next eight to clinch the title.[2][3] Stephen Hendry made his debut in the tournament, aged sixteen, but lost his first qualifying round match 2–9 to Omprakesh Agrawal.[4]
The highest break of the tournament was a 140 made by Willie Thorne during the non-televised stages; the highest break of the televised stages was a 135 made by Neal Foulds.
The final attracted an average of 10.8 million viewers on BBC1, peaking at 13.6 million.[5]
Prize fund
The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:
- Winner £24,000
- Runner-up £14,000
- Total £120,000
Main draw
Final
| Final: Best of 31 frames. Referee: Jim Thorpe The Guild Hall, Preston, England, 30 November and 1 December 1985. | ||
| Steve Davis England |
16–14 | Willie Thorne England |
| First session: 76–25, 23–112 (112), 84–47, 0–90, 34–98 (70), 6–83 (69), 78–1 Second session: 85–4, 0–122 (121), 121–5 (104), 11–95 (87), 30–101 (66), 71–67 (Thorne 67), 39–75 (63) Third session: 59–88, 56–69 (Davis 56, Thorne 68), 0–135 (115), 30–75 (61), 80–0 (76), 89–25 (64), 0–98 Fourth session: 68–59, 63–1 (63), 70–13, 71–10, 69–41, 12–96 (96), 129–1 (86), 64–19, 70–19 | ||
| 104 | Highest break | 121 |
| 1 | Century breaks | 3 |
| 6 | 50+ breaks | 12 |
Century breaks
- 140, 121, 115, 112, 112, 104, 102 – Willie Thorne
- 137, 101 – Alex Higgins
- 136, 130, 105 – Neal Foulds
- 135 – Dennis Taylor
- 134, 103 – Peter Francisco
- 130 – Mario Morra
- 128, 115 – Cliff Thorburn
- 128, 111, 109 – Terry Griffiths
- 127, 122, 115, 106, 104, 102 – Steve Davis
- 122 – Steve Newbury
- 119, 108, 104, 103 – John Virgo
- 110 – Omprakesh Agrawal
- 109 – John Spencer
- 109 – Kirk Stevens
- 107, 107, 101, 100 – Jimmy White
- 106 – John Campbell
- 105 – Joe Johnson
- 101 – Ray Edmonds
- 101 – Warren King