The 1980 UK Championship (officially the 1980 Coral UK Championship) was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place at the Guild Hall in Preston, England, between 16 and 29 November 1980. This was the fourth edition of the UK Championship and the third staging of the competition in Preston. The event was sponsored by Coral for the third consecutive year. The televised stages were shown on the BBC from 22 to 29 November â the BBC's television coverage had been extended to eight days after the success of other competitions such as the World Championship. They covered from the quarter-finals which matches were played on a one table stage of two sessions a day and would remain that way until it became a ranking event in 1984.
Steve Davis defeated Alex Higgins 16âÂÂ6 in the final to win his first major title, after making his first major quarter-final in the previous year's championship. Davis whitewashed Terry Griffiths 9âÂÂ0 in the semi-finals on his way to the final. The highest break of the tournament was a 134 made by Higgins.
Preliminary round Best of 17 frames
Kingsley Kennerley W/O Jackie Rea
Sid Hood 9âÂÂ3 Chris Ross
Mike Hallett 9âÂÂ8 Bernard Bennett
Last 32 Best of 17 frames
Mike Hallett 9âÂÂ8 Ray Edmonds
Eddie Sinclair 9âÂÂ1 Kingsley Kennerley
Joe Johnson 9âÂÂ6 John Dunning
Jim Meadowcroft 9âÂÂ1 David Greaves
Mark Wildman 9âÂÂ8 Cliff Wilson
Roy Andrewartha 9âÂÂ8 Tony Knowles
Rex Williams 9âÂÂ1 John Barrie