The first round of the UK Championship continues inside the Barbican Centre in York on Monday when the bottom quarter of the draw makes their entry into the competition with four matches across two sessions of play.
That means it is the day where the world champion Kyren Wilson will begin his quest to win this title and the world title in the same season. A number of tournament winners are on the card too on what looks a great day of snooker.
Afternoon Session
Kyren Wilson vs Stephen Maguire
The main table in the afternoon session on Monday will be occupied by the reigning world champion who competes on the BBC for the first time since he landed the world title as Kyren Wilson goes up against the former winner of this tournament in the shape of Stephen Maguire.
A few years ago when Maguire was nearer his peak this would have been a cracking contest but you have to think that Wilson will come through here. We’ve still not seen a seed win comfortably in this tournament though which puts me off because I don’t think there is a coincidence that the qualifiers are going so well. The seeds are vulnerable here because unless they were in the Champion of Champions they haven’t had a match for more than two weeks whereas the qualifiers only finished on either Wednesday or Thursday depending on which side of the draw they were in. That might give Maguire a chance but there isn’t enough of a bank of form for me to back him.
Chris Wakelin vs Matthew Selt
The option over on the other table sees the International Championship finalist Chris Wakelin looking to make the most of his automatic qualification for the tournament when he takes on Matt Selt in the opening round of the draw.
I always feel that the seeds are vulnerable in this round of the tournament and that is especially the case for the ones who haven’t been automatic qualifiers in the event before. Already this week we have seen Xiao Guodong and Si Jiahui bite the dust in that situation and it wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest were Wakelin to go the same way as those two. There wasn’t a huge amount of standout snooker from Selt at the qualifiers though so it might be that the draw has worked out well for Wakelin. He is at least in decent form but the prices here are probably about right so I’ll leave this one well alone.
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Evening Session
Luca Brecel vs Jak Jones
The pick of the two matches in the evening session on Monday sees two men who have competed in one of the last two world finals meeting when the 2023 world champion Luca Brecel goes up against the 2024 finalist in Jak Jones.
I think it is fair to say that Jones hasn’t done much of note this year, or hadn’t until the Champion of Champions came along, but he got to the group final there and probably should have beaten Mark Allen and then he came through two qualifying matches last week so the highest ranked player not to automatically qualify for this draw arrives here in decent nick. The same can’t be said of Brecel who has done nothing pretty much since he won that world title and he is suddenly under massive pressure to remain relevant in the game. He probably won’t lose his tour card but unless something massive happens he is going to drop well down the rankings after the World Championship. That puts him under pressure to deliver here but there have been little signs of it coming in recent times. I think the solid, steady and consistent Jones can see the Belgian off with a bit to spare.
Gary Wilson vs Michael Holt
The game over on table two in the evening session sees the Scottish Open and Welsh Open winner from last season in Gary Wilson taking on a Michael Holt who is making the most of being back on the tour and has qualified for this event despite entering it in the first qualifying round.
Wilson probably hasn’t had the season that he would have wanted so far but there is a massive gap in the rankings between these two and he will be hoping to show that is the case on the baize too. Holt is nothing like as bad as his ranking would suggest. When he has completed his two-year return he will be comfortably inside the top 50 in the world again and qualifying for this tournament will have done that no harm. A win here will boost his ranking even further. Having made it here and banked 10,000 ranking points, Holt is on a bit of a freeroll here. That could make him dangerous but if Wilson plays well he’ll win. He’s probably one for an accumulator if you have one though rather than to back.
Tips
Back J.Jones (-1.5 frames) to beat L.Brecel for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with Betfair
