The first round of the UK Championship continues inside the Barbican Centre in York on Monday as another eight players take to the baize to get their campaign underway in the opening Triple Crown event of the season.
Big money is on offer throughout this tournament so there is pressure on everyone but with big names exiting all over the place the draw is opening up to create even more tension which should ensure a dramatic day of action.
Afternoon Session
Ronnie O’Sullivan vs Matthew Stevens
Two former champions meet on the main table on Monday afternoon when the world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan begins his quest for a third title on the season when he meets the 2003 winner Matthew Stevens in a good looking contest.
O’Sullivan has taken down the Hong Kong Masters title and the Champion of Champions crown over the last six weeks or so and will be hoping to add to his Triple Crown tally this week. Stevens has done well to come through the qualifying competition and the £10,000 will have sorted his ranking out nicely and pushed him closer towards the World Grand Prix so he can play this match with an air of freedom which could make him dangerous. O’Sullivan loves these big events in the better arranged arenas so you would imagine he’ll be near his best here and it is hard to oppose him but Stevens is good enough to keep him honest so I’ll leave this one alone.
Yan Bingtao vs Zhou Yuelong
Two Chinese players will meet over on table two in a match which could have implications later in the season with places at The Masters at the forefront of the minds of both Yan Bingtao and Zhou Yuelong, who are both in contention to qualify for Alexandra Palace.
Bingtao is currently the last man into the field in January and is looking to hold off a charge from many players, one of whom is Yuelong who needs to reach the final here to force his way in. Yuelong recently made the last four in Northern Ireland so he’s in good touch and is in better touch than his compatriot Bingtao whose season really hasn’t got going yet. He has lost a couple of deciding frames though so there is enough to suggest that he isn’t playing quite as badly as his results would have us believe. I’m expecting a tight match here and while Yuelong is probably a worthy favourite, Bingtao can quickly get inspired by these big events and I wouldn’t be surprised if he comes through. I’ll leave this one alone.
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Evening Session
Mark Williams vs Jamie Clarke
The main table will be occupied by another former winner of this tournament on Monday evening when Mark Williams gets his quest for yet another UK title underway. He takes on his fellow Welsh player Jamie Clarke.
Such is the ranking of Clarke, he had to win three qualifying matches to come through to this stage but he did that successfully. You would have to suggest that the draw opened up for him but he still had to take advantage of that and did exactly that. He is seriously up in class here but you wouldn’t say that Williams has been massively impressive yet this season and if Clarke can hang with him then it might get interesting. This one is all about Williams though. If he plays well he wins and probably wins pretty well but there is no guarantee of that and Clarke might be inspired enough by the surroundings to stay close if not come over the line. I’ll leave this one alone.
Stuart Bingham vs Liam Highfield
Over on table two Stuart Bingham will begin his quest for the leg of the Triple Crown series which eludes him when he takes on Liam Highfield who is starting to regularly qualify for the big events but seemingly can’t quite find that breakout win when he is there.
Bingham opened the season well enough with a run to the final day of the Championship League but since then he has played six matches in all competitions and only come out on top in three of them, losing his last two 4-1 to Zhao Xintong at the British Open and 4-0 to David Lilley in Northern Ireland. One of the problems with being a member of the top 16 is their qualifiers for the Home Nations events are held over to the venue so there is an element of them coming to these events underdone. Highfield could well be dangerous here. He might feel he is on a free roll. He wouldn’t have been seeded to make it through to this stage and when he was 5-2 down to Ali Carter in the final qualifying round he was as good as on his way home. He turned that round though and should have taken a lot of confidence from that. Highfield knows he has a win and a defeat over Bingham with the defeat in a deciding frame so it isn’t a bad matchup for him. I think Highfield will more than hold his own here but I’m aware this is a big event and pressurised surroundings so rather than chance he gets over the line I’ll back him to win four frames to cover the handicap.
Tips
Back L.Highfield (+2.5 frames) to beat S.Bingham for a 3/10 stake at 1.75 with BetVictor
Back him here:
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