The second biggest ranking event of the snooker season begins on Tuesday when 128 players descend on York for the UK Championship at the Barbican Centre. This is one of the ‘Triple Crown’ events and one that every player wants to have on their CV so even allowing for the busy recent schedule this should be a high quality week.
Recent Winners
2016 – Mark Selby
2015 – Neil Robertson
2014 – Ronnie O’Sullivan
2013 – Neil Robertson
2012 – Mark Selby
2011 – Judd Trump
2010 – John Higgins
2009 – Ding Junhui
2008 – Shaun Murphy
2007 – Ronnie O’Sullivan
The Format
Apart from the final every match in the tournament is the best of 11 frames. The TV stages begins on Saturday from the second round onwards with the first round beginning on Tuesday and going through until Thursday. There is no play on the opening Friday of the event to set up the TV rig. The final will be played over two sessions and the best of 19 frames to determine the champion.
Top Quarter
Mark Selby is the defending champion and as such he is the number one seed this week. He is joined in the draw by fellow top 16 seeds Mark Williams, Neil Robertson and Marco Fi which could make this an interesting section.
The lower ranked players are not bad either. They include Ryan Day, Peter Ebdon, Dave Gilbert and last week’s semi-finalist Lu Haotian. Li Hang and Robert Milking have the potential to be dangerous floaters in the draw too.
Second Quarter
This is the section that is headed by John Higgins who arrives here as the fourth seed. The other players in the top 16 in this section are Luca Brecel, Shaun Murphy and Kyren Wilson so this looks another competitive quarter.
That is especially the case when you factor in that the Northern Ireland Open runner-up Yan Bingtao and men who lost in the quarter final of that tournament in Tian Pengfei and Li Yuan are also in the quarter. Ben Woollaston, Mark King, Ricky Walden and Alan McManus will be looking to take their chances from here too.
Third Quarter
Former champion Judd Trump heads the seedings in this quarter of the draw but Mark Allen could be considered as the leading man when it comes to the form book. Ali Carter and Liang Wenbo make up the other top 16 members here.
Zhou Yuelong, Mark Davis, Joe Perry, Jack Lisowski, Stephen Maguire and Graeme Dott have all shown form recently and could be dangerous from inside this quarter with Kurt Maflin capable of causing upsets too.
Bottom Quarter
In terms of the seeding point of view it is Ding Junhui who is the highest rated player in this quarter but all eyes will really be on Ronnie O’Sullivan to see if he can escape the quarter. Barry Hawkins on Anthony McGill are the other top 16 members here.
Michael White rates as a leading danger from those not in the top 16 here. Michael Holt, Martin Gould, Xiao Guodong and Tom Ford are also big dangers to the big names while Zhang Anda, Hossein Vafaei and Matthew Stevens will be looking to show their class.
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Outright Betting
Neil Robertson needs a big week this week if he is going to push himself into The Masters. It seems unthinkable that he would not be there but heading into the tournament he will not make it as it stands. Selby rates as a big danger in his quarter of that there is no doubt but I’m hoping the needs must nature of the event for the Australian inspires him to win a third UK title at the venue he nailed his first two in.
I’ve backed Mark Allen for a few tournaments recently and finally got a place out of him in the International Championship and I’m hoping the same format brings out the best in him again this week. We can excuse his early exit last week as he was under all sorts of pressure on home soil. I expect a much stronger performance out of him here and with the form he has shown this season he is more than capable of taking this one down.
Quarter Betting
A star was born last week in Yan Bingtao and he is in a wide open looking second quarter. Even if it wasn’t wide open we have to take the Chinese youngster seriously after that effort. He is a proper player and having made the semi-final of the International Championship we know that this format doesn’t hurt him. I expect him to have got the bug for winning from last week and he can escape this quarter at a big price.
Ronnie O’Sullivan might be in the bottom quarter but he has a few obstacles to cover to make it to the quarter final in the form of Michael White and Barry Hawkins. Anthony McGill doesn’t have that. He has Ding in his half of the quarter but Ding looks totally out of sorts at the minute. If McGill gets past Ding it would be a surprise if he doesn’t make it to the quarter final so at 20/1 I’ll take my chances on him winning the fourth section.
Tips
Back N.Robertson to win UK Championship (e/w) for a 1.5/10 stake at 21.00 with Bet365 (1/2 1-2)
Back him here:
Back M.Allen to win UK Championship (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 34.00 with Betbright (1/2 1-2)
Back him here:
Back Y.Bingtao to win 2nd Quarter (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 11.00 with Paddy Power
Back him here:
Back A.McGill to win 4th Quarter (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 21.00 with Ladbrokes
Back him here:
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