2009 UK Championship


The 2009 Pukka Pies UK Championship was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 5–13 December 2009 at the Telford International Centre in Telford, England.
This was the first time that the UK Championship was sponsored by Pukka Pies, and thus the winning player also received his weight in the sponsor's product. Ding Junhui won in the final 10–8 against John Higgins.

Controversy

A controversial incident occurred in frame 13 of the semi final match between John Higgins and Ronnie O'Sullivan. In trying to escape from a snooker after Higgins had left him in among the reds, O'Sullivan brushed one of the balls with his wrist while trying to play a colour. The foul was called by referee Jan Verhaas and acknowledged by O'Sullivan; however, when Higgins asked for the cue ball to be replaced, the referee refused because he had not called a miss- the foul could not be called as a miss by the letter of the law as a stroke had not actually been played- and he also did not have the option of a free ball. Additionally, O'Sullivan could not be put back in because in a situation where reds are still on the table, the miss rule does not apply when playing a colour and O'Sullivan would have to play for a red if the cue ball was replaced. Higgins was awarded 4 points for the foul but was required to play the next shot from where the cue ball finished. The incident was debated in the TV studio by former players Steve Davis and John Parrot who were covering the event for BBC, both of whom stated that they had never known of this situation having occurred before, and Verhaas was interviewed by Davis. The referee stated that he had applied the letter of the law but acknowledged that the law may need to be reviewed and that in the spirit of fair play he could have required O'Sullivan to play for a colour. Higgins took the frame and eventually won the match 9–8.

Prize fund

The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:
Winner: £100,000

Runner-up: £46,000

Semi-final: £23,250

Quarter-final: £16,450

Last 16: £12,050

Last 32: £8,750

Last 48: £5,500

Last 64: £2,300

Stage one highest break: £500

Stage two highest break: £5,000
Stage one maximum break: £1,000

Stage two maximum break: £25,000
Total: £625,000

Main draw

* Dott withdrew due to illness.

Final

Qualifying

These matches were held between 23 and 30 November 2009 at the Pontin's Centre, Prestatyn, Wales.

Century breaks

Televised stage centuries