The draw and format for the 2018 UK Championship is now available on snooker.org
Ronnie is the defending champion, hence seed n°1. He will face an amateur, Luke Simmonds, in the first round on November 29, 2018 in the afternoon. This should be a very winnable match.
Next for him will probably be the dangerous Yuan Sijun, a very capable young Chinese player.
The draw and format are now also available on Worldsnooker
The draw and format for the 2018 Betway UK Championship is now available.
The tournament at the York Barbican runs from November 27 to December 9 and tickets are still available – for details CLICK HERE
Ronnie O’Sullivan will begin the defence of his title against Luke Simmonds, an amateur from the Isle of Wight. O’Sullivan beat Shaun Murphy in last year’s final to equal Steve Davis’s record of six UK crowns.
All 128 players start in the first round in York, each needing to win seven matches to take the trophy and a top prize of £170,000.
World Champion Mark Williams has been drawn against Sheffield’s Adam Duffy while world number one Mark Selby will take on James Cahill. In-form Judd Trump will be up against David Lilley.
The entire first round takes place over the first three days (Tuesday November 27, Wednesday November 28 and Thursday November 29) and matches to look out for include:
Ding Junhui v Adam Stefanow – Tuesday November 27, 2.30pm
Neil Robertson v Kishan Hirani – Tuesday November 27, 2.30pm
Judd Trump v David Lilley – Tuesday November 27, 7.30pm
Shaun Murphy v Chen Feilong – Wednesday November 28, 2.30pm
John Higgins v Dechawat Poomjaeng – Wednesday November 28, 7.30pm
Mark Allen v Basem Eltahhan – Wednesday November 28, 7.30pm
Ronnie O’Sullivan v Luke Simmonds – Thursday November 29, 2.30pm
Barry Hawkins v Jamie Clarke – Thursday November 29, 2.30pm
Mark Selby v James Cahill – Thursday November 29, 7.30pm
Mark Williams v Adam Duffy – Thursday November 29, 7.30pmClick here for the match schedule
Tickets for the first three days start at just £8, and with eight tables in play in every session, it’s an incredible chance for fans to see many of the world’s top stars with superb value for money.
Televised by BBC and Eurosport, the Betway UK Championship has been staged every year since 1977 and is one of snooker’s Triple Crown events, alongside the World Championship and the Masters.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
Yes quite a difficult draw for Ronnie, although Kyren Wilson and Mark Selby are in the other half. Ronnie’s two losses this season have both been the day after a difficult match, so the key for him could be to keep winning matches quickly and easily, especially with best-of-11. At least Simmonds, Yuan, Mavis and Lisowski will play an open game, which will suit that.
I’ll be in York for the first round only, but as usual hunting out emerging players and more competitive match-ups.
Enjoy it Lewis !
Ronnie could face Jack Lisowski or Luo Honghao in the round of 16, after which he might face Shaun Murphy or Ding in the QF. After that he could face Trump or Higgins in the SF.
Let’s hope he’s feeling refreshed next week after having some time off to recover from back-to-back finals. It’s nice that he doesn’t play his first round match until Thurdsay…