The 1983 UK Championship (officially the 1983 Coral UK Championship) was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place at the Guild Hall in Preston, England, between 18 November and 4 December 1983.[1] This was the seventh edition of the UK Championship, the sixth staging of the competition in Preston, and the sixth UK Championship to be sponsored by Coral. The televised stages were shown on the BBC from 26 November through to the end of the championship.
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 18 November – 4 December 1983 |
| Venue | Preston Guild Hall |
| City | Preston |
| Country | England |
| Organisation | WPBSA |
| Format | Non-ranking event |
| Total prize fund | £60,000 |
| Winner's share | £12,000 |
| Highest break |  Tony Meo (139) |
| Final | |
| Champion |  Alex Higgins |
| Runner-up | Steve Davis |
| Score | 16–15 |
← 1982 1984 → | |
Alex Higgins staged a dramatic comeback, recovering from 0–7 down to beat Steve Davis 16–15 in the final,[2][3] to win his only UK Championship title.[1] The highest break of the tournament was a 139 made by Tony Meo.
Prize fund
The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:
- Winner: £12,000
- Runner-up £6,500
- Highest break: £1,000
- Total: £60,000
Main draw
Last 32 Best of 17 frames
| Round of 16 | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | |||||||||||
 Terry Griffiths | 9 | |||||||||||||
| Mike Hallett | 5 | |||||||||||||
| Terry Griffiths | 9 | |||||||||||||
| Joe Johnson | 2 | |||||||||||||
| Joe Johnson | 9 | |||||||||||||
| David Taylor | 3 | |||||||||||||
| Terry Griffiths | 4 | |||||||||||||
| Alex Higgins | 9 | |||||||||||||
| Alex Higgins | 9 | |||||||||||||
| Paul Medati | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Alex Higgins | 9 | |||||||||||||
| Tony Knowles | 5 | |||||||||||||
| Tony Knowles | 9 | |||||||||||||
| Doug Mountjoy | 5 | |||||||||||||
| Alex Higgins | 16 | |||||||||||||
| Steve Davis | 15 | |||||||||||||
| Jimmy White | 9 | |||||||||||||
| Dennis Taylor | 4 | |||||||||||||
| Jimmy White | 9 | |||||||||||||
| Ray Reardon | 4 | |||||||||||||
| Ray Reardon | 9 | |||||||||||||
| Cliff Wilson | 4 | |||||||||||||
| Jimmy White | 4 | |||||||||||||
| Steve Davis | 9 | |||||||||||||
| Tony Meo | 9 | |||||||||||||
| John Spencer | 5 | |||||||||||||
| Tony Meo | 4 | |||||||||||||
| Steve Davis | 9 | |||||||||||||
| Steve Davis | 9 | |||||||||||||
| Willie Thorne | 3 | |||||||||||||
Final
| Final: Best of 31 frames. Referee: Len Ganley The Guild Hall, Preston, England, 3 and 4 December 1983. | ||
| Alex Higgins Northern Ireland | 16–15 | Steve Davis England |
| First session: 29–107 (78), 31–86 (84), 62–82 (82), 43–56, 25–84 (54), 14–68 (64), 12–76 (67) Second session: 109–18, 69–41, 110–12 (76), 46–68, 60–35, 76–18 (70), 73–0, 67–21 Third session: 70–29, 0–71, 21–73, 70–57, 38–79 (52), 94–0, 106–9 (62) Fourth session: 73–21, 60–72, 87–34, 86–1 (86), 32–71, 14–58, 22–64, 88–24, 77–0 | ||
| 86 | Highest break | 84 |
| 0 | Century breaks | 0 |
| 4 | 50+ breaks | 7 |
Century breaks
- 139 – Tony Meo
- 119 – Joe Johnson
- 119 – Paul Medati
- 113 – Tony Knowles
- 108 – Steve Davis
- 108 – Jimmy White
- 101 – Ray Reardon