2023 UK Championship

2023 MrQ UK Championship
Tournament information
Dates25 November – 3 December 2023 (2023-11-25 – 2023-12-03)
VenueYork Barbican
CityYork
CountryEngland
OrganisationWorld Snooker Tour
FormatRanking event
Total prize fund£1,205,000
Winner's share£250,000
Highest break Xu Si (CHN) (147)
Final
Champion Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG)
Runner-up Ding Junhui (CHN)
Score10–7
2022
2024

The 2023 UK Championship (officially the 2023 MrQ UK Championship) was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 25 November to 3 December 2023 at the York Barbican in York, England. The 47th edition of the UK Championship, first held in 1977, it was the eighth ranking event of the 2023–24 snooker season, following the International Championship and preceding the Snooker Shoot Out. It was also the season's first Triple Crown event, preceding the Masters and the World Championship. Organised by the World Snooker Tour and sponsored by online casino MrQ, the event was broadcast by the BBC domestically, by Discovery+ and Eurosport in Europe, and by other broadcasters worldwide. The winner received £250,000 from a total prize fund of £1,205,000.

The event featured the top 16 players in the world rankings along with 16 qualifiers who came through a 128-player four-round qualifying tournament held from 18 to 23 November at the Morningside Arena in Leicester. Mark Allen was the defending champion, having defeated Ding Junhui 10‍–‍7 in the final of the 2022 event, but he lost 5‍–‍6 to Ding in the first round. After becoming the first player to win 100 matches at the tournament when he defeated Zhou Yuelong in the quarter-finals, Ronnie O'Sullivan progressed to the final, where he defeated Ding 10‍–‍7 to win a record-extending eighth UK Championship, his 22nd Triple Crown title and 40th ranking title. Aged 47 years and 363 days, he became the oldest winner in the tournament's history, surpassing Doug Mountjoy, who had been 46 years and 172 days old when he won the title at the 1988 event. O'Sullivan also holds the record as the tournament's youngest winner—set 30 years earlier at the 1993 event—which gives him the distinction of simultaneously being the youngest and oldest UK Champion.

The main stage of the tournament produced a total of 63 century breaks, with a further 80 centuries made during qualifying. The highest was a maximum break by Xu Si in his second-round qualifying match against Ma Hailong. Judd Trump made his 950th century break in professional competition and recorded his 1,000th professional victory during the event. Ding and Mark Williams scored a record total of 195 points in frame eight of their quarter-final match, breaking the previous professional record of 192 points set by Peter Lines and Dominic Dale during the 2012 Wuxi Classic qualifiers.