Rugby Union Autumn
Internationals
enter. Since then, it has carried more
ranking points than any tournament
other than the World Championship.
SUNDAY 12 – SUNDAY 19
ATP World Tour Finals, London
SATURDAY 11 FRIDAY 24 – SUNDAY 26
England v Argentina
Ireland v South Africa
Scotland v Samoa
Wales v Australia Davis Cup Final
SATURDAY 18
England v Australia
Ireland v Fiji
Scotland v New Zealand
Wales v Georgia
SATURDAY 25
England v Samoa
Ireland v Argentina
Scotland v Australia
Wales v New Zealand
Nerja Rugby
Nerja Rugby home fixtures are played at
the Enrique López Cuenca sports
stadium at El Zocco, Nerja. (Next to the
Municipal swimming pool). All home
games kick off at 12:00.
SUNDAY 26
Nerja v URA Almeria
WEDNESDAY 29 – SUNDAY 10
DECEMBER
UK Championships, York Barbican
The UK Championship was first held in
1977 in Tower Circus, Blackpool as the
United Kingdom Professional Snooker
Championship, an event open only to
British residents and passport holders.
Patsy Fagan won the inaugural
tournament by defeating Doug Mountjoy
by 12 frames to 9 in the final and won
the first prize of £2000. The following
year the event moved to the Guild Hall,
Preston, where it remained until 1998.
The rules were changed in 1984 when the
tournament was granted ranking status
and all professionals were allowed to
47
The tournament has seen many
memorable finals. In 1977 and 1979, it
provided Patsy Fagan and John Virgo
with their first and only major
tournament wins respectively. In 1980, it
was Steve Davis’s first of his 73
professional tournament wins. In 1981,
the final between Davis and Terry
Griffiths set the stage for four more final
battles between Davis and Griffiths that
were to dominate the rest of the season
before their unexpected losses in the first
round of the 1982 World Championship.
In 1983, Alex Higgins beat Davis 16–15. In
1985, Willie Thorne led Davis 13–10 at
the start of the evening session, only to
miss a simple blue off its spot and lose
16–14. In 1988, Doug Mountjoy, widely
viewed as just making up the numbers
against the rising Stephen Hendry,
produced a stunning display of character
and ability to win 16–12 and become the
second-oldest ever winner of a ranking
event.
Continued overleaf