The first of the ‘Triple Crown’ events on the snooker calendar gets underway on Monday when the UK Championship begins and it does so with 128 players all dreaming of one of the three biggest titles in the sport when the tournament starts inside the bio-secure behind closed doors setting at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes.
When times were a lot more normal Ding Junhui won this title for the third time last year and he is back to defend his crown but as we’ve seen over the last few months a seriously strong field will be out to deny him.
Recent Winners
2019 – Ding Junhui
2018 – Ronnie O’Sullivan
2017 – Ronnie O’Sullivan
2016 – Mark Selby
2015 – Neil Robertson
2014 – Ronnie O’Sullivan
2013 – Neil Robertson
2012 – Mark Selby
2011 – Judd Trump
2010 – John Higgins
The Format
Unlike the old days the entirety of this tournament from the first round right up until the final is the best of 11 frames. The first round of the event is actually on TV this year with Eurosport showing it. The main TV stages beginning on the first Saturday with the day before seeing no action to allow the TV rig to be set up. The final is the second Sunday of the event with the champion being crowned over two sessions and the best of 19 frames. The draw seeds player ranked 1 facing 128 in the first round, 2 against 127 and so on, so the big names will be expected to make the latter stages.
Top Quarter
As he is the defending champion Ding Junhui gets the honour of being the number one seed and as a result he is the top dog in the first quarter. If he is going to make it through the semi-final he’ll have to overcome the challenge of three other members of the top 16. They are the recent Champion of Champions winner Mark Allen, John Higgins and the extremely talented Jack Lisowski who will be eyeing up a first ranking title success here.
There are a number of talented players who aren’t in the top 16, some of whom will be looking for big weeks as this is the last tournament before the cut off for The Masters. Among those chasing a spot in that are Scott Donaldson, Gary Wilson and Zhou Yuelong while other household names in this section include Jimmy White, Ryan Day, Xiao Guodong, Anthony Hamilton and Luca Brecel. The Northern Ireland Open semi-finalist David Grace is also here.
Second Quarter
Neil Robertson is the top seed in the second quarter over these two weeks but he is another big name who might have his work cut out to make it through to the semi-final. One reason for that is he is on a collision course to face Mark Selby in the quarter final. The other two members of the top 16 looking to progress from this quarter are Yan Bingtao and Dave Gilbert who could really do with a confidence boosting tournament.
There are a few players in contention to qualify for The Masters in this section but they need big weeks to get there. Barry Hawkins is one of those with Anthony McGill the other. Other standout names in this quarter include Zhao Xintong, Lyu Haotian, Yuan Sijun, Hossein Vafaei and the Shootout champion Michael Holt. There is a good chance for a couple of these to go deep given the form of the bigger seeds in this quarter.
Third Quarter
The newly crowned Northern Ireland Open champion for the third time Judd Trump is the headline act in the third quarter of the draw this week and once again he is slated to meet his nemesis Kyren Wilson in the quarter final like he did in the World Championship. Two other players from the top 16 will be out to spoil their party with them being former world champions Mark Williams and Stuart Bingham who could do with a lift in form.
This is also a big quarter for Ali Carter and Graeme Dott who with a big tournament can make it through to The Masters but they will need to make it through a few rounds to have any chance of that becoming a reality. Other familiar names in this part of the draw include Dominic Dale, Liang Wenbo, Ben Woollaston, Ricky Walden, Mark King, Andrew Higginson, Kurt Maflin and Jamie Clarke. This is a competitive looking section if anything happens to Trump.
Bottom Quarter
The world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan will look to add the UK Championship title to his excellent 2020 and he’ll try and do it from the bottom quarter of the draw where his main challenger is slated to be Shaun Murphy. Once again there are a couple of other members of the top 16 who will be out to deny them a meeting in the last eight. In this quarter they are Stephen Maguire and Theochaiya Un-Nooh who needs a couple of wins to hold off the chasing pack for a spot at The Masters.
Two of those players are Joe Perry and Tom Ford and with big weeks they could yet make their way to Alexandra Palace or wherever the elite tournament ends up being staged. Former champion Matthew Stevens is one of the other household names in this section while others include Martin Gould, Joe O’Connor, Jimmy Robertson, Noppon Saengkham, Indian Open winner Matthew Selt and the former world champion Ken Doherty.
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Outright Betting
I’ll go with a couple of main bets this week and they both come in the top half of the draw as I don’t really want to get involved in the half with both Ronnie O’Sullivan and Judd Trump in it. The first main bet comes in the form of the former finalist Mark Allen who is ready to win another Triple Crown event after claiming the Champion of Champions title recently. Allen has been playing well for a while and the extended format in this tournament should allow the scoring power he has been displaying to come to the fore and really stand out. Ding is the main seed in the Allen quarter but he’s out of form and hit and miss at best when he is in it. John Higgins could be a trickier test but I still don’t think that is an impossible one. Allen is in good spirits and can go deep here.
In the second quarter I like the look of Yan Bingtao who was a semi-finalist in this tournament last year and has already made two ranking event quarter finals this season, including the Northern Ireland Open last week. He will have been disappointed to lose to David Grace in the last eight there but to be fair to the Chinese ace he didn’t do much wrong as Grace scored very well. I think the longer format will bring the best out of Yan’s game as we saw both here last year and in the Players Championship where he made the final. This section could open right up if Mark Selby has an off day so Bingtao appeals at 40/1.
Quarter Betting
I will take a couple of players to come through the tougher two quarters in the hope that something goes wrong with Judd Trump and Ronnie O’Sullivan. Ali Carter came out of his quarter in the Northern Ireland Open last week and given that he is drinking in the last chance saloon in terms of making it through to The Masters I’ll pay to see if he can come out of this section at 20/1. There isn’t a huge amount stopping Carter from making the last 16 and that is where he could meet Trump but he isn’t a forlorn hope in that sort of match. If he doesn’t have to play him the section will be wide open for him. His run last week should have primed him up for a strong run here so he’s my pick in this section.
In the bottom quarter I’m happy to take O’Sullivan on with Martin Gould, a player who has already made a ranking event final this season. By the time the latter stages of this tournament will have come around O’Sullivan will be in his third week of spending most of his time in the bubble and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he is affected by that. Even if he isn’t Gould is playing well enough to beat O’Sullivan and if he can take care of him there is nothing from stopping him having a very big run here. Gould is scoring excellently and if he can get a nice head of steam going early in this tournament he might take some stopping. He feels overpriced at 16/1 with Ronnie an uneasy favourite.
To Reach the Quarter Finals
The sponsors Betway have priced up a market for players to reach the quarter final which means they only have to make the last eight rather than win the quarter so in essence we are betting on them to win four matches and there are a couple of players which catch my eye in that regard. The first of those is Luca Brecel who went well enough in the Northern Ireland event last week until he ran into the eventual champion Judd Trump. He will need to get past Ding Junhui if he is going to make the quarter final but I don’t think that is beyond him. The other top 16 player in his section is Jack Lisowski who has lost all his consistency at present. Brecel looks to be clicking into gear to me and while consistency can be an issue for him, the 6/1 on him is a big price.
Another big price is Graeme Dott who has the woefully out of form Stuart Bingham and a Kyren Wilson who should be suited by this test but has been a little out of sorts in recent tournaments. It wouldn’t be the biggest surprise in the world if the way he exited the Champion of Champions is still having a negative impact on him. Dott won’t worry about that and given that he needs to go deep here to push for The Masters he has all the motivation he needs to come through a few rounds. Dott is a much better player over the longer distances so I’ll pay to see what he’s got up his sleeve here too.
Tips
Back M.Allen to win UK Championship (e/w) for a 1.5/10 stake at 21.00 with William Hill (1/2 1-2)
Back him here:
Back Y.Bingtao to win UK Championship (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 41.00 with 888sport (1/2 1-2)
Back A.Carter to win 3rd Quarter for a 1/10 stake at 21.00 with 888sport
Back them here:
Back M.Gould to win 4th Quarter for a 1/10 stake at 17.00 with Bet365
Back L.Brecel to reach quarter final for a 1/10 stake at 7.00 with Betway
Back G.Dott to reach quarter final for a 1/10 stake at 8.00 with Betway
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