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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.
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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.