Buzz gathers over UK Snooker Championship at York Barbican (From York Press)

Buzz gathers over UK Snooker Championship at York Barbican

11:52am Friday 21st September 2012 in Sport

YORK’S UK Snooker Championship will boast a prize fund of £625,000 this year, World Snooker chiefs have confirmed.

The organisation also revealed the tournament, which takes place at York Barbican from December 1 to 9 and will see world number two Judd Trump defend his crown, will continue to be sponsored by bookmaker williamhill.com for the next two years.

The online firm backed the world ranking tournament, the second biggest in the game, for the first time last year.

World Snooker Chairman Barry Hearn said: “There is a fantastic buzz about snooker at the moment, exemplified when young sensation Judd Trump won the title in York with an incredible display of potting.

“William Hill recognise that this sport is going places and they want to be involved, and we welcome them back with open arms to sponsor this outstanding tournament. They were clearly delighted with the amount of exposure they got for their brand from the event last year. The williamhill.com UK Championship is one of our biggest world ranking events and is watched by many millions of people worldwide.

“We look forward to working with the team from William Hill again with the target to deliver another exceptional event.”

Tickets for the tournament are on sale, for details call 0844 854 2757 or visit www.worldsnooker.com/tickets