In the semi-finals Ding beat Joe Perry 9–4 and Davis defeated seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry 9–6.

[3] Held in October, the Grand Prix was won by John Higgins who defeated his rival Ronnie O'Sullivan nine frames to two (9–2) in the final.

[1] The 2005 UK Championship was sponsored by builders' merchant and home improvement retailer Travis Perkins,[1] and was broadcast by the BBC and Eurosport.

[5] In this round Ian McCulloch lost 9–7 to Jamie Burnett in spite of the score tied at 4–4 at the first session's conclusion and him compiling breaks of 64, 71, 118, 52, 65 and 63.

[8] World number 18 Barry Pinches lost his match against Dominic Dale with a heavy 9–3 defeat,[9] while Ali Carter beat Jamie Cope by the same scoreline, and Marco Fu won 9–6 over Michael Judge.

[10] Gerard Greene received a walkover to the next round after his opponent the world number 22 Quinten Hann failed to appear for the match and withdrew from the tournament for undisclosed reasons.

[11][12] Breaks of 84, 83, 74, 62 and 61 gave Ding a 5–3 advantage over Anthony Hamilton,[12] and he won four successive frames in the game's second session to take a 9–3 win and progress to the second round.

[13] World amateur champion Allen claimed a 9–6 victory over 2004 UK Championship runner-up David Gray and Joe Swail won seven frames in a row en route to defeating Andy Hicks 9–3.

[14] After 1991 world champion John Parrott was defeated 9–5 by Mark Davis he admitted that winning another ranking event in his career was not possible.

[16] World number 37 Stuart Bingham, the winner of the Masters Qualifying Event in November, took a 9–4 victory against Robert Milkins with successive breaks of 95, 77 and 88,[15] while Dave Harold lost 9–7 to Nigel Bond.

[17] A break of 133 helped James Wattana beat Drew Henry 9–4,[3][18] and Mark King emerged a 9–4 winner over Ryan Day.

[22] World number 4 and Pot Black and Northern Ireland Trophy champion Matthew Stevens was the second highest ranked player to lose in the round when he lost 9–3 over Bingham as the match's second session lasted more than an hour.

[26] Shaun Murphy, the surprise world champion, beat Bond 9–7 despite taking painkillers before and during the match to ease pain from prior dental surgery that saw four of his teeth removed and affected his vision.

[31] Of the other seeded players in round two, Graeme Dott was edged out by Mark Davis 9–8, Joe Perry overcame Hawkins 9–7 and Alan McManus lost 9–4 to Carter.

Going 5–3 and then 7–4 ahead Maguire appeared set for a comfortable victory but Davis came back with safety play and a total clearance of 145.

[41] But Davis prevented Doherty from taking the game to a final frame decider when he executed a double shot to pot the black ball into the middle pocket and win 9–7.

[45] After the match Ding spoke of his happiness over the win as it ensured he would rise into the top 40 in the provisional world snooker rankings after the tournament's while Robertson praised his opponent's white ball control.

[47] Bingham appeared to progress to his first career ranking tournament semi-final at 8–7 but Perry forced a final frame decider with a 100 century break.

[48] Perry won the half an hour final frame,[48] outscoring Bingham 79–14 after potting a long-range red ball off the baulk cushion.

[45][46] In the semi-finals Davis reached his 100th career final, and aged 48 became the oldest finalist in a ranking tournament since Rex Williams in the 1986 Grand Prix with a 9–6 win over Hendry.

"[49] The other semi-final match had Ding defeat Perry 9–4 to become the first non-British or Irish player to compete in the final of the UK Championship in its 29-year history.

[51] Ding said afterwards that he did not feel up to acceptable standard upon entering the competition because of his form in the qualifying rounds but spoke of his belief that he could win.

[56] The victory earned Ding £70,000 in prize money;[57] although he moved from 62nd to 31st in the provisional world rankings,[57][58] it did not permit him to play in the Masters as Ian McCulloch was awarded a wild card and Shaun Murphy was seeded for all of the season's events.

[59] Nonetheless, Jon Wilde of the Evening Chronicle wrote that Ding had during the match "produced some fantastic break-building and tactical awareness that was beyond his 18 years.

When play resumed Davis made a break of 72 to lower his deficit but Ding immediately re-established a four-frame advantage in frame 14.

[56] After the match Ding spoke through an interpreter to thank the audience for their support, "This is the second-most important ranking tournament, so it is a great pleasure to win it.

"[54] He also said that he felt additional pressure than in the China Open but spoke of his hope that more Chinese players would venture to England to play snooker.