The 2023 UK Championship was played at the Barbican in York, England, from 25 November to 3 December 2023. Mark Allen was the defending champion.

This tournament is played under a tiered system and of the four Grove players, only Ding had to qualify, which he did by beating Daniel Wells (6-4) and Robbie Williams (6-3).

Neil Robertson fell at the first hurdle, losing to Zhou Yuelong by 6-2.
Luca Brecel went one round further, but lost to Zhang Anda, by 6-4, in the round of 16.
Mark Selby reached the quarter-finals where he lost by 6-3 to Judd Trump.

“Qualifier” Ding Junhui though performed brilliantly and reached the final. He beat the defending Champion, Mark Allen, by 6-5 in the round of 32. He then got the better of Tom Ford in the round of 16 (6-3). In the quarter-finals, he met Mark Williams. The match went to a deciding frame and Ding emerged as the winner. During that match, they set a new record. Indeed, in frame 8, they scored 195 points between them as Williams won it by 101-94. The previous record was 192. Next up for Ding was Judd Trump, the man of the season so far. Trump had already won three events this season but came second best against Ding who beat him by 6-4 in the semi-finals.

Ronnie O’Sullivan was waiting for Ding in the Final and they served the fans a great match played in excellent spirit. Ronnie won it by 10-7, securing his 8th UK Championship title, 30 years after his first.

The two are close friends and Ronnie was full of praise for Ding after the match:

“It was an honour to play Ding. He’s such a classy player and such a classy guy. To share the table with him in that venue and in that final was an honour. I know there will have been so many people in China watching that final supporting Ding and supporting me as well. We’ve put on a good show.

Ding was extremely gracious as always. He declared:

“It was a very good week. I knew it was going to be very tough tonight. I missed a couple of shots to win frames in the first session. I tried to get more points and fight to win a frame then get another and see what happens. To be 4-4 was not too bad but he played better tonight.

“I have really taken the crowd here to heart. Thanks for the support every game. I love playing here.”

source of the quotes: WST report on the final.

All detailed results are on snooker.org