1985 UK Championship

1985 Coral UK Championship
Tournament information
Dates15 November – 1 December 1985 (1985-11-15 – 1985-12-01)
VenuePreston Guild Hall
CityPreston
CountryEngland
OrganisationWPBSA
FormatRanking 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)
Score16–14
1984
1986

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.

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 straight blue 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.

  1. ^ Turner, Chris. "UK Championship". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 1 March 2011.
  2. ^ "Davis fights back to retain UK title". The Glasgow Herald. 2 December 1985. p. 23.
  3. ^ Pye, Steven (3 December 2015). "The cruelty of snooker: Willie Thorne, Gary Lineker and the 'unmissable' blues". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Snooker Database Results was invoked but never defined (see the help page).