# 1978 UK Championship

The 1978 UK Championship (officially the 1978 Coral UK Championship) was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place between 22 November and 1 December 1978 at the Guild Hall in Preston, England.
The 1978 tournament was the first of twenty UK Championship competitions to be played in Preston's Guildhall. For the first time, the event was sponsored by Coral who continued to sponsor the UK Championship until 1985.
The most dramatic match came in the qualifying rounds when Terry Griffiths, a newly turned professional, was beaten 8–9 by Rex Williams after leading 8–2. The main stage of the championship also provided plenty of surprises. Patsy Fagan, the defending UK champion, went out 7–9 in the first round to David Taylor who, after a decade in the professional ranks, reached his first major final by beating Alex Higgins 9–5 in the semi-finals. In the other half of the draw, Roy Andrewartha beat John Spencer 9–8 and Willie Thorne beat Ray Reardon 9–6 only to collapse 1–9 against Graham Miles, whose 139 break set a tournament record. In the semi-finals it was Miles' turn to collapse 1–9 to Doug Mountjoy who, keeping his best until last, clinched his final victory over Taylor with a break of 120. The BBC televised the final on their Grandstand programme with Ted Lowe commentating the match.

## Main draw

| Round of 16 | Round of 16 | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| Patsy Fagan | 7 | | | | |
| David Taylor | 9 | | | | |
| David Taylor | 9 | David Taylor | 9 | | |
| | | John Virgo | 2 | | |
| John Pulman | 3 | John Virgo | 2 | | |
| John Virgo | 9 | | | | |
| John Virgo | 9 | | | David Taylor | 9 |
| | | | | Alex Higgins | 5 |
| Fred Davis | 9 | | | Alex Higgins | 5 |
| John Dunning | 2 | | | | |
| John Dunning | 2 | Fred Davis | 4 | | |
| | | Alex Higgins | 9 | | |
| Alex Higgins | 9 | Alex Higgins | 9 | | |
| Jim Meadowcroft | 6 | | | | | | |
| Jim Meadowcroft | 6 | | | | | David Taylor | 9 |
| | | | | | | Doug Mountjoy | 15 |
| Dennis Taylor | 4 | | | | | Doug Mountjoy | 15 |
| Doug Mountjoy | 9 | | | | | | |
| Doug Mountjoy | 9 | Doug Mountjoy | 9 | | | | |
| | | Roy Andrewartha | 4 | | | | |
| John Spencer | 8 | Roy Andrewartha | 4 | | | | |
| Roy Andrewartha | 9 | | | | | | |
| Roy Andrewartha | 9 | | | Doug Mountjoy | 9 | | |
| | | | | Graham Miles | 1 |
| Graham Miles | 9 | | | Graham Miles | 1 |
| Rex Williams | 8 | | | | |
| Rex Williams | 8 | Graham Miles | 9 | | |
| | | Willie Thorne | 1 | | |
| Ray Reardon | 6 | Willie Thorne | 1 | | |
| Willie Thorne | 9 | | | | |

## Final

Final: Best of 29 frames. Referee: The Guild Hall, Preston, England, 30 November and 1 December 1978. :
| Doug Mountjoy Wales | 15–9 | David Taylor England |
| First session: 32–61, 76–16, 115–18, 29–75, 47–65 (60), 55–44, 65–33, 62–32, 19–84, 7–74 (55), 46–74, 35–81, 80–34 (68), 74–29 (58), 64–22, 88–33 (50), 57–66 (52), 65–35, 84–51, 58–39, 26–83, 112–33, 90–26 (63), 120–1 (120) |||
| 120 | Highest break | 60 |
| 1 | Century breaks | 0 |
| 6 | 50+ breaks | 2 |

## Qualifying

Last 24 Best of 17 frames

## Century breaks

* 139 – Graham Miles
* 120, 118 – Doug Mountjoy
* 101 – John Dunning