The UK Championship is set to reach crunch time this weekend as the draw pulled out some fascinating match-ups.
Qualifying comes to an end on Thursday evening in Leicester, where 16 players will have earned the right to join the world’s top 16 at the the Barbican in York. Fans will be treated to a repeat of the 2013 World Championship final as defending UK champion Ronnie O’Sullivan goes head-to head with Barry Hawkins. World champion Kyren Wilson, meanwhile, is looking to win the prestigious event for the first time and has been drawn against Stephen Maguire. World number one Judd Trump will play either Neil Robertson or Matthew Stevens as he searches for his second UK title.
An all-Chinese match up between Si Jiahui and Wu Yize is set to entertain as Mark Selby was drawn against Jack Lisowski. But the main event gets underway in some style on with the clash between the Rocket and the Hawk.
Record Sport has all the details.
What is the UK Championship draw and schedule?
- Saturday, November 23 – (1pm) Ronnie O’Sullivan vs Barry Hawkins / Shaun Murphy vs Ricky Walden OR Zhao Xintong. (7pm) Ding Junhui vs Milkins OR Xu / Xiao Guodong vs Dave Gilbert.
- Sunday, November 24 – (1pm) Mark Allen vs Jackson Page / Ali Carter vs Ryan Day. (7pm) Si Jiahui vs Wu Yize / Mark Selby vs Jack Lisowski.
- Monday, November 25 – (1pm) Chris Wakelin vs Zhou Yuelong OR Matt Selt / Kyren Wilson vs Stephen Maguire. (7pm) Luca Brecel vs Jak Jones / Gary Wilson vs Liu Hongyu OR Michael Holt.
- Tuesday, November 26 – (1pm) John Higgins vs He Guoqiang OR Stan Moody / Judd Trump vs Neil Robertson OR Matthew Stevens. (7pm) Mark Williams vs Stuart Bingham / Zhang Anda vs Ben Woollaston OR Lei Peifan.
UK Championship Draw – following round
- O’Sullivan/Hawkins vs Xiao/Gilbert/Leclercq
- Murphy/Zhao/Walden vs Ding/Milkins/Xu
- Selby/Lisowski vs Carter/Day
- Si/Wu vs Allen/Page
- Trump/Robertson/Stevens vs Higgins/He/Moody
- Zhang/Lei/Woollaston vs Williams/Bingham
- Brecel/Jones vs G Wilson/Liu/Holt
- Wakelin/Zhou/Selt vs K Wilson/Maguire.
The first players to come through qualifying were Stuart Bingham and Jackson Page on Wednesday afternoon after comfortable wins over Jimmy Robertson and Hossein Vafaei respectively. This year’s World Championship runner-up Jak Jones joined them, with Stephen Maguire the last to come through on Wednesday afternoon thanks to a dramatic 6-5 win over Elliot Slessor.
How can I watch the UK Championship?
The BBC and Eurosport/Discovery+ will be showing the tournament live. The schedules are available here for BBC and Eurosport.
What is the UK Championship snooker prize money?
Winner: £250,000
Runner-up: £100,000
Semi-final: £50,000
Quarter-final: £25,000
Last 16: £15,000
Last 32: £10,000.