Ryan Day (snooker player)

Last updated

Ryan Day
Ryan Day at Snooker German Masters (DerHexer) 2015-02-05 01.jpg
Born (1980-03-23) 23 March 1980 (age 44)
Pontycymer, Bridgend, Wales
Sport countryFlag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales
NicknameDynamite [1]
Professional1999–2001, 2002–present
Highest ranking 6 (2009/10)
Current ranking 29 (as of 8 December 2024)
Maximum breaks 4
Century breaks 469 (as of 11 December 2024)
Tournament wins
Ranking 4

Ryan Day (born 23 March 1980) is a Welsh professional snooker player. He is a prolific break-builder, having compiled over 450 century breaks during his career, including four maximum breaks. He is a three-time World Championship quarter-finalist, has been ranked at no. 6 in the world and has won four ranking tournaments.

Contents

Career

Early career

Day was born in Pontycymer, Bridgend. A top amateur, he reached the final of the IBSF Championship in China in November 1998 but lost on the final black. [2]

Day began his professional career by playing UK Tour in 1998, at the time the second-level professional tour. [3] He was named Young Player of Distinction of the season 2000/2001 by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA). He won the 2001 Benson & Hedges Championship. With this win, he qualified for the 2002 Masters, where he defeated Dave Harold, before losing 0–6 to Stephen Hendry. He also won the WPBSA Challenge Tour in the 2001/2002 season and was named WPBSA Newcomer of the Year in 2002. Due to problems with his liver in 2003, his results suffered badly.

In 2004, however, he qualified for the World Snooker Championship and he led John Higgins 9–7 in the first round, becoming the first player to score three centuries in his first Crucible match, but missed a pink in the 17th frame that would have left Higgins needing a snooker to stay in the tournament. Higgins went on to win the frame and the next two for the match. As some consolation, Higgins commented that Day was "going to be a top player for many years to come". [4]

2005–2011

Day reached the quarter-finals of his home tournament, the 2005 Welsh Open defeating Ali Carter and Steve Davis along the way. He finished this season ranked 33, but as Quinten Hann did not participate in any events, Day was always among the top 32 seeds, meaning one less qualifying match than he would otherwise have faced.

Back at the Crucible in 2006, he beat Joe Perry 10–3 in the first round and led Ronnie O'Sullivan 9–7 in the second round before losing 10–13. He narrowly missed reaching the top 16 of the rankings as a result.

The 2006/2007 season was the most successful of his career up till then. Day reached the quarter-finals of the 2006 Northern Ireland Trophy and was runner up in the 2007 Malta Cup, losing 4–9 to Shaun Murphy. That year's performance saw him ranked 16 in the world for the 2007/2008 season, one place higher than in the previous year. As a member of the Top 16, he automatically qualified for tournaments.

Day's 2007/2008 season started with an appearance in the final of the Shanghai Masters; Day led his practise partner Dominic Dale 6–2 after the first session, but eventually succumbed to a 6–10 defeat. After failing to progress past the last 16 in the next three tournaments, he reached the semi-finals of the China Open, beating Matthew Stevens, Ken Doherty and Mark Williams before he was beaten by Stephen Maguire 5–6, denying him a place in the final. Day made it through to the quarter-finals of the World Championship for the first time in his career by beating Irishman Michael Judge 10–6 and the defending champion John Higgins 13–9 in one of the best wins of his career, [5] before losing 7–13 to Stephen Hendry. His consistent performances took him up to 8th place in the rankings.

Day reached the final of the 2008 Grand Prix where he lost to John Higgins, defeating Ricky Walden, Mark Selby, Jamie Cope and Ali Carter. The year ended on a disappointing note when he lost in the first round at the UK Championship to Matthew Stevens. He again reached the World Championship quarter-finals in 2009, before losing 11–13 to Mark Allen. However, he continued to move up the rankings, climbing two places to number 6, the highest ranked player not to have won a ranking event.

A disappointing 2009–10 season in which he reached only one quarter-final (in the Welsh Open), culminated in an 810 first round defeat in the World Championship to Mark Davis. [6] This continued into the next season where he made a number of early exits which meant that at the first revision under the new ranking system he dropped out of the top 16, down to number 20.

2011/2012 season

Day qualified for five of the eight ranking tournaments during the 2011–12 season, but lost in the first round in four of them. [7] His best performance came at the end of the season in the biggest event on the tournament calendar, the World Championship. He came back from 3–7 down in his qualifying match against Gerard Greene to win 10–8, to set up a first round match with China's number 1, Ding Junhui. [8] Day produced another comeback, this time from trailing 6–9 to win the last four frames and advance to the second round. [9] There he beat fellow qualifier Cao Yupeng 13–7 and held a 5–2 lead in the early stages of his quarter-final match against compatriot Matthew Stevens. [7] However, he suffered a migraine at the start of the next session and went on to lose 11 consecutive frames to exit the tournament 5–13. [10] Day finished the season ranked world number 30. [11]

2012/2013 season

2012 Paul Hunter Classic Ryan Day PHC 2012-2.jpg
2012 Paul Hunter Classic

Day lost in qualifying for the opening ranking event of the 2012–13 season the Wuxi Classic 0–5 to Robert Milkins. [12] He was then beaten in the second round of the Australian Goldfields Open and the Shanghai Masters, 3–5 to Matthew Selt and 0–5 to John Higgins respectively. [12] Day was defeated 3–6 by Neil Robertson in the opening round of the International Championship, but then came perhaps the best result of his season at the UK Championship. [12] He beat Ding Junhui 6–4 in a high quality first round encounter, [13] before letting a 3–0 lead against world number two Mark Selby slip to lose 4–6. [14] Day played in nine of the ten minor-ranking Players Tour Championship events during the season with his best results being two quarter-final defeats to be ranked 32nd on the Order of Merit, just outside the top 26 who qualified for the Finals. [15] Day struggled in the second half of the season as he failed to qualify for four of the remaining five ranking events, losing 2–5 in the first round of the World Open to Mark Allen in the one he did reach. [12] He failed to qualify for the World Championship for the first time since 2006, narrowly losing to Ben Woollaston 9–10 in the fourth and final qualifying round. He finished the season ranked world number 31. [16]

2013/2014 season

2014 German Masters Ryan Day at Snooker German Masters (Martin Rulsch) 2014-02-01 10.jpg
2014 German Masters

Day was beaten in the second round once and first round three times in the opening four ranking events of the 2013–14 season, but then reached the quarter-finals for the first time in over a year at the International Championship. [17] Day won the first frame against Joe Perry but was thrashed 6–1. [18] He went a stage further at the German Masters and, in an attempt to play in his first ranking final since 2008, he came from 3–5 down against Ding Junhui to level the match, but lost the deciding frame. [19] A trio of second round losses and a first round defeat in the China Open followed. [17] At the World Championship, Stephen Maguire levelled the scores from 4–8 and 6–9 down in the first round, but Day won the final frame for a final score of 10–9, and advanced to the second round. [20] His season then ended when he lost 7–13 to Judd Trump, but he did increase his ranking by 10 places to world number 21, his highest finish for four years. [21]

2014/2015 season

2015 German Masters Ryan Day at Snooker German Masters (DerHexer) 2015-02-05 05.jpg
2015 German Masters

For the second season in a row Day qualified for every ranking event. A pair of last 16 defeats at the Wuxi Classic and Shanghai Masters proved to be his best results in the first half of the year. [22] At the Haining City Open he achieved his first official maximum break in his last 32 match against Cao Yupeng. [23] Day would go on to reach the quarter-finals, but lost 2–4 to Oliver Lines. After Day won the final two frames of his first round match against world number one Ding Junhui at the German Masters to eliminate him 5–4, he said that he was working on his consistency to get back into the highest echelons of the game. [24] He then beat Alfie Burden 5–2 to face Liang Wenbo in Day's only quarter-final appearance of the season and was narrowly beaten 5–4. [25] In Day's home event, he suffered a surprise 1–4 loss to amateur Oliver Brown in the second round of the Welsh Open. [26] Day was 3–1 ahead of Mark Allen in the first round of the World Championship, but then lost nine successive frames to be knocked out 10–3. [27]

2015/2016 season

Day lost 4–5 to Ding Junhui in the second round of the Shanghai Masters, but turned the tables at the same stage of the International Championship by beating him 6–5. [28] [29] Day was defeated 4–6 by David Gilbert in the following round. However, in his next event he whitewashed Mark Selby 4–0 in the quarter-finals of the Bulgarian Open and beat Sam Baird 4–2 to play in the final of an event carrying ranking points for the first time since 2008, but he was thrashed 4–0 by Mark Allen. [30] He lost 2–6 to Dechawat Poomjaeng in the second round of the UK Championship, but knocked out reigning world champion Stuart Bingham 5–3 to reach the quarter-finals of the German Masters. Day lost the final three frames against Kyren Wilson to be eliminated 4–5. [31] He made two centuries and won the deciding frame on the final black against John Higgins to make another quarter-final at the World Grand Prix. [32] He was defeated 2–4 by Bingham, losing the final frame from 56–0 points up, after Bingham made a 64 break. [33] After being defeated 3–10 by Higgins in the opening round of the World Championship, Day said he would be working on his fitness in the off season in an attempt to improve his concentration during matches. [34]

2016/2017 season

Day advanced to the quarter-final stage of the Shanghai Masters by overcoming Neil Robertson and Mei Xiwen, both 5–2, before losing 3–5 to Mark Selby. [35] He won the first four frames against Mark Allen in the third round of the UK Championship, but went on to lose 6–5. [36] His second quarter-final of the season came at the German Masters and he was defeated 2–5 by Martin Gould. [37] At the World Grand Prix, Day overcame Stuart Bingham, Michael White and Shaun Murphy all 4–2. In the semi-finals he was 3–4 down to Marco Fu, but recovered from needing four snookers in the eighth frame to level and went on to win 6–4. [38] In Day's first ranking event final since 2008 he was 9–3 behind Barry Hawkins and, though he pulled it back to 9–7, he was defeated 7–10. [39] Day lost in the final of the non-ranking Championship League 0–3 to John Higgins. [40] A 4–2 win over Neil Robertson saw Day play in the semi-finals of the Gibraltar Open and he was beaten 4–2 by Judd Trump after leading 2–0. [41] Day was a seeded player for the World Championship, but lost 4–10 Xiao Guodong in the first round and once again blamed his lack of concentration for the early exit. [42]

2017/2018 season

Day finally clinched his maiden ranking title in his fifth final appearance. The Welshman defeated Stephen Maguire 5–2 to claim the Riga Masters title. [43] The Welshman sensationally stormed to consecutive titles at the 2018 Gibraltar Open and the 2018 Romanian Masters. He defeated Cao Yupeng and Stuart Bingham in the respective finals. [44] [45] Day reached the semi-final in the UK Championship, this was his first appearance in the semi-finals of a Triple Crown event, but he lost 3–6 to Shaun Murphy in the semi-final. [46] Day also made a return to the Masters for the first time since 2010. He beat Ding Junhui 6–4 in the first round, [47] but lost 1–6 to John Higgins in the quarter final. [48]

2018/2019 season

In the Gibraltar Open, Day reached the final again by beating Lukas Kleckers, Noppon Saengkham, Elliot Slessor, David Grace, David Gilbert, and Lu Ning. But he was unable to defend the title as he lost 1–4 to Stuart Bingham in the final. [49] Day qualified for the Masters again this season. He knocked John Higgins out in the first round, winning by 6–5. [50] But he was defeated by Ronnie O'Sullivan in the next round, losing 3–6. [51]

2020/2021 season

Day secured his third ranking title by beating Mark Selby in the final of the Shoot Out. [52] In April 2021, he failed to qualify for the World Snooker Championship after losing 5–10 to Ricky Walden in the final qualifying round. [53]

Personal life

Day married his stepmother's sister, Lynsey, in the summer of 2008. [54] [55] The couple have two daughters, Francesca, born in 2006 and Lauren, in 2010. His younger brother Rhys has played football for Manchester City and the Welsh under-21 side. [55]

Performance and rankings timeline

Tournament 1997/
98
1998/
99
1999/
00
2000/
01
2001/
02
2002/
03
2003/
04
2004/
05
2005/
06
2006/
07
2007/
08
2008/
09
2009/
10
2010/
11
2011/
12
2012/
13
2013/
14
2014/
15
2015/
16
2016/
17
2017/
18
2018/
19
2019/
20
2020/
21
2021/
22
2022/
23
2023/
24
2024/
25
Ranking [56] [nb 1] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 3] 124 [nb 2] [nb 3] 69 45 33 17 16 8 6 12 28 30 31 21 20 23 19 16 18 37 28 28 15 18
Ranking tournaments
Championship League Tournament Not HeldNon-Ranking Event 2R 3R RR RR 2R
Xi'an Grand Prix Tournament Not Held 2R
Saudi Arabia Masters Tournament Not Held 4R
English Open Tournament Not Held 4R 1R QF 2R 2R LQ 3R 1R 1R
British Open AALQLQALQLQ 1R Tournament Not Held 1R W 2R 1R
Wuhan Open Tournament Not Held 2R 1R
Northern Ireland Open Tournament Not Held 1R 4R QF 1R 3R 1R LQLQ 1R
International Championship Tournament Not Held 1R QF 2R 3R 1R 2R 2R 1R Not Held 3R 2R
UK Championship AALQLQALQLQ 2R 1R 2R 1R 1R 1R 2R 1R 2R 1R 2R 2R 3R SF 1R 2R WD 1R 2R LQ 1R
Shoot Out Tournament Not HeldNon-Ranking Event 1R 1R A 2R W 1R 1R 3R 2R
Scottish Open [nb 4] AALQ 2R A 1R 2R Tournament Not HeldMRNot Held 2R 1R QF 2R 1R 2R 2R 1R 2R
German Masters [nb 5] ANRTournament Not Held 1R 1R LQ SF QF QF QF QF 1R LQ 1R QF LQ QF
Welsh Open AA 3R LQALQLQ QF 3R 1R 3R 1R QF 2R LQLQ 2R 2R 3R 2R 1R 1R 1R 3R 3R LQ 2R
World Open [nb 6] AALQLQA 2R LQ 1R 1R 2R 2R F 1R LQLQ 1R 2R Not Held 3R 2R 2R LQNot Held 1R
World Grand Prix Tournament Not HeldNR QF F 1R 1R DNQDNQDNQ 2R DNQ
Players Championship [nb 7] Tournament Not HeldDNQDNQDNQ 2R 1R 2R 1R QF DNQDNQ 1R DNQ QF DNQ
Tour Championship Tournament Not HeldDNQDNQDNQDNQ QF DNQ
World Championship LQLQLQLQLQLQ 1R LQ 2R 1R QF QF 1R 1R QF LQ 2R 1R 1R 1R 1R LQLQLQLQ 1R 2R
Non-ranking tournaments
Shanghai Masters Tournament Not HeldRanking Event QF ANot HeldAA
Champion of Champions Tournament Not HeldAAAA QF 1R AA QF QF AA
The Masters LQALQLQ 1R LQLQALQLQ 1R 1R QF AAAAAAA QF QF AAA 1R A
Championship League Tournament Not Held SF RR RR 2R RR RR 2R RR RR F RR RR RR 3R A RR RR RR
Former ranking tournaments
Malta Grand Prix Non-RankingLQNRTournament Not Held
Thailand Masters AALQLQANRNot HeldNRTournament Not Held
Irish Masters Non-Ranking EventWDLQLQNHNRTournament Not Held
Northern Ireland Trophy Tournament Not HeldNR QF 3R 3R Tournament Not held
Bahrain Championship Tournament Not Held 2R Tournament Not Held
Wuxi Classic [nb 8] Tournament Not HeldNon-Ranking EventLQ 1R 3R Tournament Not Held
Australian Goldfields Open Tournament Not Held 1R 2R 1R 1R ATournament Not Held
Shanghai Masters Tournament Not Held F QF QF 1R 1R 2R 2R 2R 2R QF 1R Non-RankingNot HeldNon-Ranking
Paul Hunter Classic [nb 9] Tournament Not HeldPro-am EventMinor-Ranking Event 2R AANRTournament Not Held
Indian Open Tournament Not Held 1R 1R NH 1R AATournament Not Held
China Open [nb 10] NRALQLQANot Held 2R LQLQ SF SF 2R 2R LQLQ 1R 2R 2R LQLQ 1R Tournament Not Held
Riga Masters [nb 11] Tournament Not HeldMR 1R W 1R LQTournament Not Held
China Championship Tournament Not HeldNR 2R 2R 2R Tournament Not Held
WST Pro Series Tournament Not Held 2R Tournament Not Held
Turkish Masters Tournament Not HeldLQNot Held
Gibraltar Open Tournament Not HeldMR SF W F 2R 1R 2R Not Held
WST Classic Tournament Not Held 1R Not Held
European Masters [nb 12] NHANot HeldALQLQ 1R LQ F NRTournament Not HeldLQ 1R QF LQ 2R QF 3R LQNH
Former non-ranking tournaments
Malta Cup [nb 12] Tournament Not HeldRanking Event RR Tournament Not HeldRanking EventNH
World Series Grand Final Tournament Not Held 2R Tournament Not Held
Masters Qualifying Event [nb 13] LQALQ QF W LQ 2R NH 3R QF AAATournament Not Held
Beijing International Challenge Tournament Not HeldA F Tournament Not Held
Wuxi Classic [nb 8] Tournament Not Held SF RR QF ARanking EventTournament Not Held
World Grand Prix Tournament Not Held 1R Ranking Event
Shoot Out Tournament Not Held 3R 3R 2R SF 1R QF Ranking Event
Romanian Masters Tournament Not Held W Tournament Not Held
Macau Masters Tournament Not Held RR Tournament Not Held
Six-red World Championship [nb 14] Tournament Not HeldA 3R ANHAA 2R 3R 3R 2R 2R RR Not HeldLQNot Held
Performance Table Legend
LQlost in the qualifying draw#Rlost in the early rounds of the tournament
(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)
QFlost in the quarter-finals
SFlost in the semi-finalsFlost in the finalWwon the tournament
DNQdid not qualify for the tournamentAdid not participate in the tournamentWDwithdrew from the tournament
NH / Not Heldmeans an event was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Eventmeans an event is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Eventmeans an event is/was a ranking event.
MR / Minor-Ranking Eventmeans an event is/was a minor-ranking event.
PA / Pro-am Eventmeans an event is/was a pro-am event.
  1. From the 2010/2011 season it shows the ranking at the beginning of the season
  2. 1 2 3 He was an amateur
  3. 1 2 New players don't have a ranking
  4. The event was called the Players Championship (2003/2004)
  5. The event was called the German Open (1997/1998)
  6. The event was called the Grand Prix (1997/1998–2000/2001 and 2004/2005–2009/2010) and the LG Cup (2001/2002–2003/2004)
  7. The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Final (2010/2011–2015/2016)
  8. 1 2 The event was called the Jiangsu Classic (2008/2009–2009/2010)
  9. The event was called the Grand Prix Fürth (2004/2005) and the Fürth German Open (2005/2006–2006/2007)
  10. The event was called the China International (1997/1998–1998/1999)
  11. The event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)
  12. 1 2 The event was called the Irish Open (1998/1999), the European Open (2001/2002–2003/2004) and the Malta Cup (2004/2005–2007/2008)
  13. The event was called the Benson & Hedges Championship (1993/1994-2002/2003)
  14. The event was called the Six-red Snooker International (2008/2009) and the Six-red World Grand Prix (2009/2010)

Career finals

Ranking finals: 9 (4 titles)

OutcomeNo.YearChampionshipOpponent in the finalScore
Runner-up1. 2007 Malta Cup Flag of England.svg Shaun Murphy 4–9
Runner-up2. 2007 Shanghai Masters Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Dominic Dale 6–10
Runner-up3. 2008 Grand Prix Flag of Scotland.svg John Higgins 7–9
Runner-up4. 2017 World Grand Prix Flag of England.svg Barry Hawkins 7–10
Winner1. 2017 Riga Masters Flag of Scotland.svg Stephen Maguire 5–2
Winner2. 2018 Gibraltar Open Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Cao Yupeng 4–0
Runner-up5. 2019 Gibraltar Open Flag of England.svg Stuart Bingham 1–4
Winner3. 2021 Snooker Shoot Out Flag of England.svg Mark Selby 1–0
Winner4. 2022 British Open Ulster Banner.svg Mark Allen 10–7

Minor-ranking finals: 1

OutcomeNo.YearChampionshipOpponent in the finalScore
Runner-up1. 2015 Bulgarian Open Ulster Banner.svg Mark Allen 0–4

Non-ranking finals: 6 (2 titles)

OutcomeNo.YearChampionshipOpponent in the finalScore
Winner1. 2001 Benson & Hedges Championship Flag of Scotland.svg Hugh Abernethy 9–5
Runner-up1.2001Challenge Tour - Event 2 Flag of Ireland.svg Leo Fernandez 3–6
Runner-up2.2002Challenge Tour - Event 4 Flag of England.svg David Gilbert 3–6
Runner-up3. 2010 Beijing International Challenge Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Tian Pengfei 3–9
Runner-up4. 2017 Championship League Flag of Scotland.svg John Higgins 0–3
Winner2. 2018 Romanian Masters Flag of England.svg Stuart Bingham 10–8

Pro-am finals: 9 (5 titles)

OutcomeNo.YearChampionshipOpponent in the finalScore
Winner1.1999TCC Open Snooker Championship Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Darren Morgan 6–4
Runner-up1.2000TCC Open Snooker Championship Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Darren Morgan 3–6
Winner2.2002 EASB Open Tour Event 1 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg James Reynolds5–4
Winner3.2003 EASB Open Tour Event 2 Flag of England.svg Mark Gray 5–3
Runner-up2.2006Pontins Pro-Am - Event 2 Flag of England.svg Judd Trump 1−4 [57]
Runner-up3.2006Pontins Pro-Am - Event 4 Flag of England.svg Ricky Walden 2−4 [58]
Runner-up4.2006Pontins Pro-Am - Event 6 Flag of England.svg Dave Harold 1−4 [59]
Winner4.2006 Pontins Autumn Open Flag of England.svg Jamie Cope 5–2
Winner5.2008 Austrian Open Flag of England.svg Jamie Cope 6–3

Team finals: 1 (1 title)

OutcomeNo.YearChampionshipTeamOpponent in the finalScore
Winner1.2018 Macau Masters Flag of England.svg Barry Hawkins
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Zhao Xintong
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Zhou Yuelong
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Mark Williams
Flag of England.svg Joe Perry
Flag of Hong Kong.svg Marco Fu
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Zhang Anda
5–1

Amateur finals: 2 (1 title)

OutcomeNo.YearChampionshipOpponent in the finalScore
Winner1.1998 Welsh Amateur Championship Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Ron Jones8–4
Runner-up1.1998 IBSF World Snooker Championship Flag of England.svg Luke Simmonds 10–11

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe O'Connor (snooker player)</span> English snooker player

Joe O'Connor is an English professional snooker player from Leicester. He was the 2018 English Amateur Champion and a ranking event finalist at the 2022 Scottish Open.

The 2021 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 17 April to 3 May 2021 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was the 45th consecutive year the World Snooker Championship was held at the Crucible Theatre and the 15th and final ranking event of the 2020–21 snooker season. It was organised by the World Snooker Tour. The event was sponsored by sports betting company Betfred and broadcast by the BBC, Eurosport and Matchroom Sport. It featured a total prize fund of £2,395,000 of which the winner received £500,000.

The 2023 Tour Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 27 March to 2 April 2023 at the Bonus Arena in Hull, England. Organised by the World Snooker Tour, it was the fifth edition of the Tour Championship, first held in 2019, and the 14th and penultimate ranking event of the 2022–23 snooker season, preceding the 2023 World Snooker Championship. The last of three events in the Players Series, following the 2023 World Grand Prix and the 2023 Players Championship, it comprised the top eight players on the one-year ranking list as it stood following the 2023 WST Classic. Broadcast by ITV Sport domestically and sponsored by sports betting company Duelbits, the event featured a prize fund of £380,000, of which the winner received £150,000.

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