The first round of the UK Championship concludes inside the Barbican Centre in York on Tuesday when the tasty looking third quarter of the draw play down to the last 16 on a day where more stars come out to play.
This is the day where three former world champions take to the baize as the likes of Mark Selby, Kyren Wilson and Ronnie O’Sullivan get their campaign underway and those three alone should ensure the quality is high throughout both sessions.
Afternoon Session
Ronnie O’Sullivan vs Zhou Yuelong
The match on table one on Tuesday afternoon will see the former winner of the tournament in Ronnie O’Sullivan going up against one of the brighter stars of the campaign in the form of Zhou Yuelong for a spot in the second round.
O’Sullivan peaked when he made the Saudi Arabia Masters final in impressive style but things haven’t really gone to plan since then and he could easily be considered to be vulnerable against a man who has made one final and the semi-final of another tournament this season. Where things get a little awkward in that thought process is that Zhou has a terrible record against the Rocket. O’Sullivan has won all seven meetings between the two and the frame count is 36-12 so few of them have been close. Without that record I would take Zhou to win this one but with it the way it is I will skip this one and wait for better bets to come along.
Mark Selby vs Lei Peifan
There is action on table two in the afternoon session too as another former winner of this tournament gets his campaign underway when Mark Selby looks to add the UK Championship title to his Champion of Champions one. The Scottish Open champion Lei Peifan is the man standing in his way.
Selby showed plenty of good form to pick up that win on home soil in Leicester last month and he will be expected to come through. Lei Peifan was also in that Champion of Champions event, beating a jetlagged Shaun Murphy before losing to Judd Trump but he hasn’t pulled up many trees since then it has to be said. This one feels like it is all about Selby to me. If he repeats the form he has shown in the last month or two I would be surprised if he doesn’t come through because Peifan was one of the weaker performers in qualifying. The odds are fully reflective of that though so this is another one to leave alone.
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Evening Session
Kyren Wilson vs Elliot Slessor
We have another world champion occupying the main table in the evening session when the Shanghai Masters winner Kyren Wilson takes on an Elliot Slessor who will be out to cause an upset as he continues to rise the rankings.
Slessor made the semi-final in the Saudi Arabia Masters earlier in the campaign. He beat John Higgins, Stuart Bingham and Mark Williams in that event before being downed by the eventual winner Neil Robertson. Shaun Murphy has beaten Slessor in his last two events so he’ll be glad for a different opponent here. Wilson won the Shanghai Masters but hasn’t done a lot since then although he took Zhao Xintong to the final black in the Champion of Champions and lost out in a deciding frame to Ronnie O’Sullivan in the Saudi Arabia Masters. I think we’re in for a good match here between two good competitors and I expect this one to go pretty close. Wilson is a class act, we all know that but Slessor battles hard too and this one has 6-4 or 6-5 written all over it. Over 9.5 frames is 6/5 for this one which feels like a big price. I like that as my Tuesday punt.
Barry Hawkins vs David Lilley
Over on table two the finalist of last year will begin his quest to go one better than he did in 2024 when Barry Hawkins opens up his campaign against the veteran David Lilley who is already enjoying his best run in the UK Championship.
Lilley had to come through three qualifying rounds to make it to this stage of the tournament so there is a genuine case to be made that he is free rolling from here, especially having already secured £10,000 and as many ranking points. The pressure is all on Hawkins here. He hasn’t done much this season but he was having a good run at the International Championship recently only to run into the eventual winner Wu Yize in the last eight when he was borderline unplayable. If he can get back to playing like that at the first time of asking here then he is entitled to win this and win it well. Lilley doesn’t score heavily enough for my liking so I don’t see an upset here but the prices and handicap lines are skewed in favour of Hawkins without much value.
Tips
Back K.Wilson vs E.Slessor – Over 9.5 frames for a 3/10 stake at 2.20 with Coral
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