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Snooker historian Chris Turner looks back at a true Alex Higgins classic final as he overturned a 7-0 deficit to beat Steve Davis.

29 November 1973 SPENCER TAKES NORWICH UNION TITLE.

The first Norwich Union Open, at London's Piccadilly Hotel, was won by John Spencer, who beat John Pulman 9-7 in the final.

29 November 1980 DAVIS CLAIMS FIRST MAJOR TITLE

A 16-6 victory over Alex Higgins in the final of the UK Championship at Preston Guild Hall gave Steve Davis his first major title as a professional.

29 November 1987 YET AGAIN IT'S STEVE'S UK!

Steve Davis won the UK Championship for the fourth year in a row and the sixth time in eight years. In the final at Preston Guild Hall he beat Jimmy White 16-14.

29 November 1992 WHITE TURNS THE TABLES ON JP

The same two players contested the UK Championship final at Preston Guild Hall as the previous year. This time, however, it was Jimmy White who took the title beating defending champion, John Parrott, 16-9.

29 November 1992 MOSLEY CLAIMS WORLD AMATEUR TITLE

The IBSF World Amateur Championship, held in Malta, was won by England's Neil Mosley. In the final he defeated Leonardo Andam of the Philippines, 11-2.

29 November 1998 FIRST UK TITLE FOR JOHN HIGGINS

John Higgins beat Matthew Stevens 10-6 at Bournemouth International Centre to win the UK Championship for the first time.

29 November 2008 PAUL MEDATI DIES

Paul Medati died from cancer at the age of 65. He was a professional from 1981 to 1995 with a best ranking of 58.

30 November 1986 FIFTH UK TITLE FOR DAVIS

Steve Davis clinched his third successive UK Championship and his fifth in all when he beat Neal Foulds 16-7 in the final at Preston Guild Hall.

30 November 1997 RONNIE ENDS HENDRY'S UK RUN

Ronnie O'Sullivan ended Stephen Hendry's run of three successive UK titles when he beat the Scot 10-6 in the 1997 final, the last to be held at Preston Guild Hall.

30 November 2003 STEVENS WINS A RANKING TITLE AT LAST

At the Barbican Centre in York, Stephen Hendry appeared in the UK Championship final for the ninth time, equalling the record of Steve Davis, but it was Matthew Stevens who at last claimed his first ranking title with a 10-8 victory.

1 December 1978 DOUG WINS UK TITLE

The second UK Championship was won by Doug Mountjoy who beat Silver Fox' David Taylor 15-9 in the final. This was also the first time the championship was held a Preston Guild Hall which was to become the event's home for the next 20 years.

1 December 1979 VIRGO'S FINEST HOUR

John Virgo won his only major title, beating Terry Griffiths 14-13 in the UK Championship final at Preston.

1 December 1985 UK TITLE SLIPS AWAY FOR THORNE

This was the one that got away for Willie Thorne: leading the final of the UK Championship 13-8 he famously missed a simple blue to the middle pocket. A shaken Thorne - who still talks about the miss - won just one more frame in the match as defending champion Steve Davis clinically went about his business to win the match 16-14 and pick up his fourth title.

1 December 1991 PARROTT COMPLETES WORLD AND UK DOUBLE

John Parrott added the UK Championship to the world title he had won back in May, beating Jimmy White 16-13 in the final at Preston Guild Hall.

1 December 1996 UK HAT TRICK FOR HENDRY

It was the third successive UK Championship title for Stephen Hendry as he beat John Higgins 19-9 at Preston.

1 December 2001 - THIRD EUROPEAN OPEN FOR HENDRY

At the Mediterranean Centre in Valletta, Malta, Stephen Hendry claimed the European Open title for the third time. In the final he had a 9-2 victory over Joe Perry who was appearing in his first major final.

2 December 1980 CLASSIC WIN FOR DAVIS

The second Classic was won by Steve Davis with a 4-1 victory over Dennis Taylor at Blighty's in Bolton.

2 December 1984 DAVIS GETS HIS REVENGE ON HIGGINS

For the third time in five years Steve Davis and Alex Higgins met in the final of the UK Championship at Preston. Steve beat Alex in 1980 but The Hurricane had achieved the narrowest of victories in 1983 (see December 3). Now, Steve reclaimed the title with a 16-8 win.

2 December 1990 HENDRY MAKES IT FIVE TITLES IN A ROW

Stephen Hendry set a new record by winning his fifth successive ranking title. Having won the world title the previous season he had started this campaign with victories in the Grand Prix, Asian Open and Dubai Classic before retaining the UK Championship. Just as in 1989, his victim in the final at Preston Guild Hall was Steve Davis, who he defeated 16-15 on this occasion.

2 December 2007 RONNIE'S FOURTH

At the Aberdeen Exhibition & Conference Centre, Ronnie O'Sullivan clinched the Premier League title for the fourth successive year, and seventh time in total, with a 7-4 victory in the final over John Higgins.

3 December 1977 FAGAN IS FIRST UK CHAMPION

At Blackpool's Tower Circus the very first UK Championship was won by Patsy Fagan. He beat Doug Mountjoy 12-9 in the final after most of the big names of the time had perished in earlier rounds.

3 December 1983 ALEX GETS UK TITLE AT LAST

Appearing in the UK Championship final for the third time in four years, Alex Higgins (pictured) finally claimed the title beating Steve Davis in one of the game's classic finals. Steve had won the opening session 7-0 but Alex stormed back with seven of the next eight to trail only 7-8 over night. He managed to level at 11-11 going into the final evening and from then on it was nip and tuck with Davis edging ahead 15-14 only for Alex to claim the last two for a famous 16-15 victory.

3 December 1989 HENDRY'S FIRST UK TITLE

Stephen Hendry won the first of his five UK Championships when he won the Stormseal-sponsored event at Preston Guild Hall, beating Steve Davis 16-12 in the final.

3 December 1995 FOURTH UK TITLE FOR STEPHEN HENDRY

Defending champion, Stephen Hendry won the UK Championship at Preston for the fourth time with a 10-3 victory over Peter Ebdon. In the final Stephen compiled the first 146 break ever seen on television.

3 December 1997 MARCO FU'S DEBUT

Marco Fu made his pro debut in the second qualifying round of the Embassy World Championship at the Hazel Grove Club in Stockport. He beat John P. Gallagher 5-3 and went on to win through eight further rounds before eventually losing.

3 December 2000 HIGGINS TRIUMPHS IN UK FINAL

The 2000 UK Championships was won by John Higgins. He regained the title he had won in 1998, with a 10-4 victory over defending champion, Mark Williams, at Bournemouth International Centre.

3 December 2004 DENE O'KANE WINS WORLD SENIORS & REANNE TAKES LADIES' TITLE

At the IBSF World Championships in Veldhoven, Holland, Dene O'Kane won the first Seniors Championship beating Eugene Hughes 5-2. The Ladies title went to Reanne Evans who beat Wendy Jans 5-1 in the final.

3 December 2006 RONNIE COMPLETES PREMIER LEAGUE HAT TRICK

For the third successive year, Ronnie O'Sullivan took the Betfred Premier League title beating Jimmy White 7-0 in the play-off final at Wythenshawe Forum. Remarkably, Ronnie had won all three of those finals without conceding a frame.

4 December 1982 THIRD TIME LUCKY FOR TERRY

Appearing in the final of the UK Championship for the third time in four years, Terry Griffiths finally landed the title. After losing in the deciding frame to John Virgo in 1979 and heavily to Steve Davis in 1981, he beat Alex Higgins 16-15 to claim the trophy at Preston Guild Hall.

4 December 1994 PARROTT SPOILS THE PARTY IN MALTA

In the inaugural Malta Grand Prix at the Jerma Palace Hotel in Valetta, John Parrott upset all the locals by defeating their favourite Tony Drago 7-6 in a close final.

4 December 2004 NOW ALLEN IS IBSF WORLD CHAMPION AS WELL

Reigning European champion, Mark Allen added the IBSF World Championship title when he beat Australia's former champion, Steve Mifsud, 11-6 in Veldhoven, Holland.

4 December 2005 6-0! RONNIE DOES IT AGAIN

Ronnie O'Sullivan clinched his fifth Betfred Premier League title with a 6-0 defeat of Stephen Hendry in the final at the MICC in Manchester. It was the second year running that he had achieved a 6-0 whitewash in the final.

5 December 1981 DAVIS RETAINS UK TITLE

At Preston Guild Hall, Steve Davis won the UK Championship for the second year running, beating Terry Griffiths 16-3 in a one-sided final.

6 December 1998 HENDRY WINS MALTA GRAND PRIX

Stephen Hendry collected one of the few titles to have previously eluded him when he defeated defending champion, Ken Doherty, 7-6 in the final of the Malta Grand Prix at the New Dolmen Hotel in Bugibba.

7 December 2007 RONNIE MAKES IT FIVE IN A ROW

At Potter's Resort, Hopton-on-Sea, Ronnie O'Sullivan beat Mark Selby 7-2 in the final to win the Premier League for the fifth year running and the eighth time in total.

Read more from Chris Turner's snooker archive at www.snookerarchive.co.uk

Chris Turner / Eurosport