Players from across the UK and Europe travelled to Manchester for the first event of the 2023/24 season, the UK Open.
The event saw 12 new players and was the first event of the UKCL to run on Scoreholio software with tablets.
The standard of play throughout the day was high and with statistical analysis this was clear to see.
The format was 4 round Swissholio, which is a round robin format where players play other players with similar records throughout the rounds, after seeding it was then followed by a double elimination bracket.
Daniel Lilley was the only play to come through the four round undefeated with wins over Clayfield, Sanderson, Vaughan and had to post a 9.35 ppr in a 16 round match against debutant Jon Stynes.
In the bracket Geoff Vaughan defeated Hiser and Schindler, both 21-8 but was then knocked out in the last 4 of winners bracket by Jacob Babich.
Babich beat Simon Ballard 21-0 and then came through a tough match against Tony Gaven 21-19 before reaching the winners final bracket after that win over Vaughan.
Lilley beat Danny Saunt 21-10, Graham Davies 21-11 and debutant Liam McGrath 21-19 who put up a valiant effort.
Lilley and Babich met in the winners final and Jacob sent Daniel to the losers bracket where he would face Vaughan again. Daniel beat Geoff 21-15 to re-visit Babich in the final with Lilley having to "Double dip" him. It was not to be.
Congratulations to Jacob Babich, our 2023/24 UK Open Champion
Thank you to all the players that participated, we will see you in December for Qualifier One.
Some notable stats from the weekends play
