We’re approaching the last month of 2023, so let’s take a look at some of the key snooker events that will be taking place in December.
Judd Trump’s 22-match unbeaten streak finally ended during November, with the Englishman beaten by Stephen Maguire at the International Championship.
That tournament was eventually won by Zhang Anda, who collected a whopping £175,000 champion’s cheque by capturing his maiden ranking title in Tianjin.
Trump was later denied glory in the Champion of Champions following a 10-3 defeat to Mark Allen in the final.
In December, there will be a few more pieces of silverware up for grabs – including one of the most prestigious snooker titles at the very start of the month.
UK Championship
November 25 – December 3
The 2023 UK Championship is ongoing this week, with the winner to be crowned on Sunday at the Barbican Centre in York.
Bookies favourite Trump is already through to the quarter-finals of the Triple Crown tournament alongside fellow former UK champions Mark Selby, Mark Williams, and Ding Junhui.
Seven-time UK champion Ronnie O’Sullivan and reigning world champion Luca Brecel will be hoping to join them in the last eight when November’s month of snooker concludes on Thursday.
This year’s UK champion will earn £250,000 in prize month, and there are a couple of additional subplots developing.
The top 16 in the world rankings list after Sunday’s final will gain an invite to the Masters in January, while O’Sullivan is also attempting to fend off challenges to his world number one ranking from Trump and Brecel.
Snooker Shoot Out
December 6-9
The Snooker Shoot Out has a new December slot on the calendar, and the divisive competition additionally moves to Swansea for the first time.
Fans either love or hate this tournament, which is a ranking event despite the fact it incorporates different rules from the traditional game.
With matches lasting only one ten-minute frame, it does at least provide a good opportunity to see some of the less familiar names on the tour.
Its somewhat lottery nature has lent itself to plenty of unheralded champions, including last season’s winner Chris Wakelin.
Scottish Open
December 11-17
Shortly after will be the Scottish Open, which returns to Edinburgh and will represent the last ranking event of the 2023 calendar year.
Gary Wilson is the reigning champion and is one of 16 seeds who have had their first-round matches held over to the venue stages.
A preliminary phase, which saw most of the round-of-128 encounters completed, was already held in Leicester recently.
The Scottish Open provides the last opportunity to qualify for the World Grand Prix, a tournament in January for the top 32 players on the one-year ranking list.
What other snooker events are on in December?
The last helping of action on the main tour for this year will be the German Masters qualifiers from December 18-22.
A couple of invitation events will be staged in Macau either side of Christmas Day, including the one involving the controversial Macau Five.
In Thailand, meanwhile, the World Abilitysport Games will see WDBS represented in events taking place from December 5-7.
Elsewhere, the amateur Q Tour campaign continues with Q Tour Event 5 taking place at the Castle Snooker Club in Brighton from December 15-17.
There are several other amateur events happening during December, with Snooker Hub offering a great resource to find local competitions across the UK.
If you know of any more tournaments being staged around the world in December, let us know in the comment section below.
Featured photo credit: WST
You do have the seniors version of the 900 taking place on the 29th of December, at Epsom Racecourse. Six players – Dennis Taylor, Jimmy White, Joe Johnson, Stephen Hendry, Tony Knowles and Ken Doherty – compete in a one day event. It will be the first time the UK TV channel Five has broadcast live snooker.