1981 UK Championship

The 1981 UK Championship (officially the 1981 Coral UK Championship) was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place at the Guild Hall in Preston, England, between 22 November and 5 December 1981. This was the fifth edition of the UK Championship, the fourth staging of the competition in Preston, and the fourth consecutive UK Championship to be sponsored by Coral. The televised stages were shown on the BBC from 28 November through to the end of the championship.

Tournament summary

• Steve Davis retained the first of his major titles by defeating Terry Griffiths 16–3 in the final.
• Jimmy White, fresh from his success in the Langs Scottish Masters and Northern Ireland Classic, which took place earlier in the season, beat Clive Everton, John Virgo, Dennis Taylor and Ray Reardon, in reaching the semi-finals at his first attempt, but then was whitewashed 0–9 by the reigning World and UK Champion Steve Davis.
• Two other young players, Tony Knowles and Tony Meo, also enhanced their reputations: Knowles by beating Fred Davis and Doug Mountjoy in reaching the quarter-finals, and Meo by defeating Rex Williams, Cliff Thorburn and Alex Higgins in reaching the semi-finals.

Final

Final: Best of 31 frames. Referee: The Guild Hall, Preston, England, 4 and 5 December 1981.
Steve Davis	16–3	Terry Griffiths
First session: 28–60, 102–13 (87), 74–12, 76–24, 72–1 (65), 69–20, 75–45 (63) Second session: 84–37 (58), 116–1 (56), 73–62 (54), 0–127 (96), 111–8, 64–44, 57–32, 27–77 (77) Third session: 90–22, 113–9 (52), 81–26 (59), 54–37
87	Highest break	96
0	Century breaks	0
8	50+ breaks	2

Qualifying

Best of 17 frames

Winner	Score	Competitor
Group 1
Template:Flagicon Paul Medati	9–6	Template:Flagicon Eddie McLaughlin
Template:Flagicon Paul Medati	9–7	Template:Flagicon Jim Donnelly
Group 2
Template:Flagicon Mike Hallett	9–4	Template:Flagicon Vic Harris
Template:Flagicon Mike Hallett	9–6	Template:Flagicon Dennis Hughes
Group 3
Template:Flagicon Matt Gibson	9–6	Template:Flagicon Jack Fitzmaurice
Template:Flagicon Clive Everton	9–6	Template:Flagicon Matt Gibson
Group 4
Template:Flagicon Joe Johnson	9–6	Template:Flagicon Tommy Murphy
Template:Flagicon Mike Watterson	9–4	Template:Flagicon Bernard Bennett
Template:Flagicon Joe Johnson	9–3	Template:Flagicon Mike Watterson

Winner	Score	Competitor
Group 5
Template:Flagicon Pat Houlihan	9–1	Template:Flagicon Kingsley Kennerley
Template:Flagicon Pat Houlihan	9–4	Template:Flagicon Ian Black
Group 6
Template:Flagicon Geoff Foulds	9–7	Template:Flagicon Billy Kelly
Group 7
Template:Flagicon Eddie Sinclair	9–6	Template:Flagicon Mark Wildman
Template:Flagicon Eddie Sinclair	9–0	Template:Flagicon Sid Hood
Group 8
Template:Flagicon Rex Williams	9–3	Template:Flagicon Doug French
Template:Flagicon Colin Roscoe	9–7	Template:Flagicon Murdo MacLeod
Template:Flagicon Rex Williams	9–4	Template:Flagicon Colin Roscoe

Winner	Score	Competitor
Round of 32 Best of 17 frames.
Template:Flagicon Willie Thorne	9–6	Template:Flagicon Paul Medati
Template:Flagicon Mike Hallett	9–5	Template:Flagicon Patsy Fagan
Template:Flagicon Jimmy White	9–4	Template:Flagicon Clive Everton
Template:Flagicon Joe Johnson	9–5	Template:Flagicon Cliff Wilson
Template:Flagicon Pat Houlihan	9–4	Template:Flagicon Jim Meadowcroft
Template:Flagicon Tony Knowles	9–1	Template:Flagicon Geoff Foulds
Template:Flagicon Dave Martin	9–7	Template:Flagicon Eddie Sinclair
Template:Flagicon Rex Williams	9–4	Template:Flagicon John Dunning

Century breaks

• 131 Template:Ndash Terry Griffiths
• 126 Template:Ndash Willie Thorne
• 120, 105 Template:Ndash Steve Davis
• 120 Template:Ndash Alex Higgins
• 120 Template:Ndash Kirk Stevens
• 107 Template:Ndash Tony Meo
• 103 Template:Ndash Rex Williams
• 102 Template:Ndash Tony Knowles