Soltalk November 2018 | Page 40

From previous page THURSDAY 15 – SUNDAY 18 DP World Championship, Dubai TUESDAY 27 – DECEMBER 9 UK Championship, York 2018 will see the return of the Betway UK Championship to its home of the York Barbican. It is considered the second biggest ranking event, after the World Championship, and those two tournaments make up snooker’s Triple Crown along with the Masters. The UK Championship was first staged in 1977 and has been won by virtually all of snooker’s great names. Since 2011 it has been staged in York, and attracts huge crowds throughout. In 2017, Ronnie O’Sullivan won the title for the sixth time by beating Shaun Murphy 10-5 in the final. The DP World Tour Championship, Dubai is the climax of the European Tour Race to Dubai. It is contested on the Earth course at the Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The title sponsor is DP World, a shipping company based in Dubai. The tournament was first held in 2009 when the Order of Merit was replaced by the Race to Dubai. It is contested by the leading 60 players in the Race to Dubai at the start of the tournament. It is the replacement for the Volvo Masters, which was a similar event. Originally the tournament was to have a record prize fund of $10,000,000, of which the winner’s share would be $1,666,660, however in September 2009 it was announced that there would be a 25% reduction in both the overall prize fund and the winners cheque. The prize fund was increased to $8,000,000 in 2012. 38 The tournament also determines the Race to Dubai Bonus Pool, which goes to the top golfers on the Race to Dubai after the tournament. It was originally set at $10,000,000 but reduced to $7,500,000 paid to the top 15 players with the Race to Dubai winner getting $1.5 million. The 2018 Race to Dubai Bonus Pool will be divided amongst the leading ten players on the Race to Dubai Rankings as calculated at the conclusion of the 2017 DP World Tour Championship, Dubai. The total prize pool will be $5 million with the 1st placed golfer receiving $1.25 million down to the 10th place golfer receiving $250,000.