It was a quite extraordinary day at the 2020 UK championship yesterday:

• Stuart Bingham made a maximum break,  his seventh and the second of the tournament already, after Kyren Wilson made one on Tuesday.
• Jimmy White played his 100th match at the UK Championship AND won it, beating Alan McManus by 6-4.
• Ronnie whitewashed Leo Fernandez in just over an hour, playing quite well
• We are yet to lose a top 16 player, after three days all those who played their matches went through.

Here is the report by WST, minus Ronnie’s match:

…

Stuart Bingham booked his place in the second round with an emphatic 6-2 win over Zak Surety.

In the process, 2015 World Champion Bingham fired in the seventh 147 break of his career. Only John Higgins, Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O’Sullivan have made more maximums than the Basildon cueman.

It’s the second 147 break of the event so far, after Kyren Wilson crafted a perfect run yesterday. Bingham is now in line to take a £7,500 share of the £15,000 high break prize, along with Wilson.

“I felt something was in the air, even before the first red,” said Masters champion Bingham. “My aim is to get to ten before the end of my career. To be fourth on the list, among those sorts of players is special. I’ve always backed myself as a break builder. If you count the ones I should have made, I could be on 20. I suppose that is the same for everyone.”

Jimmy White was victorious in his 100^th match at the UK Championship, beating Alan McManus in a 6-4 thriller.

White, who was UK Champion in 1992, wrapped up victory with a fantastic clearance of 66, which saw him steal the tenth frame on the black. The Whirlwind now faces China’s Zhou Yuelong in the last 64.

White said: “I was thinking about it all day. I wanted to win my 100^th match in the UK Championship. It was a big match for me all round. It is a great milestone and I’m very proud of that.”

Jimmy White was victorious in his 100^th match at the UK Championship, beating Alan McManus in a 6-4 thriller.

White, who was UK Champion in 1992, wrapped up victory with a fantastic clearance of 66, which saw him steal the tenth frame on the black. The Whirlwind now faces China’s Zhou Yuelong in the last 64.

White said: “I was thinking about it all day. I wanted to win my 100^th match in the UK Championship. It was a big match for me all round. It is a great milestone and I’m very proud of that.”

World number three Neil Robertson stormed to a 6-0 defeat of Frenchman Brian Ochoiski to book his second round slot. The Thunder from Down Under, who is a two-time UK Champion, will now face Chris Wakelin.

Ali Carter’s hopes of Masters qualification were ended after a 6-4 loss to Ashley Carty, while Joe Perry whitewashed Alex Borg 6-0 to keep his hopes of clinching a Masters spot alive.

Here is Stuart Bingham’s 147

You will find the report on Ronnie’s blitz win here.

The defending Champion, Ding amd the World number one, Judd Trump will be in action today.

Speaking to Eurosport, Ronnie explained why he believes that Judd Trum biggest challenges will come from the younger ones trying to emulate him, rather than from him or his generation of players.

UK CHAMPIONSHIP SNOOKER: RONNIE O’SULLIVAN: ‘JUDD TRUMP’S TOUGHEST BATTLES WON’T BE AGAINST ME’

Judd Trump and Ronnie O’Sullivan could collide in the semi-finals of this year’s UK Championship on December 5 in Milton Keynes. Snooker’s leading two players are seeded to meet in another showpiece match only days after Trump edged out O’Sullivan 9-7 to lift the Northern Ireland Open. Despite his stunning run of ranking event wins, the world champion feels Trump’s biggest challenges lie ahead. 

BY DESMOND KANE

Ronnie O’Sullivan is adamant that Judd Trump’s bid to dominate snooker won’t be decided on how he fares against this generation of green baize icons.

Trump reaffirmed his status as the sport’s undisputed world number one with his third straight 9-7 win over O’Sullivan in an absorbing final of the Northern Ireland Open on Sunday having edged out the world champion by the same scoreline over the previous two years to lift the Alex Higgins trophy.

He starts as 3/1 favourite ahead of O’Sullivan at 7/2 to claim a second UK Championship having become the first man since seven-times world champion Stephen Hendry in the 1990s – who won a treble of UK titles between 1994 and 1996 – to triumph in the same ranking tournament for a third straight year.

O’Sullivan begins his campaign for an eighth UK title in the first round against Ireland’s Leo Fernandez at 7pm (GMT) over the best of 11 frames on Wednesday night with 2011 winner Trump meeting Paul Davison in his tournament opener on Thursday evening. The game’s top ranked players are seeded to collide in the semi-finals.

Trump has carried off on an astonishing 11th ranking events and the Masters in the past two years having also started this season by winning the English Open with a 9-8 win over world number Neil Robertson in an epic final that produced four centuries and ten breaks over 50.

“I think Judd’s head and shoulders above everybody else out there,” O’Sullivan told Eurosport. “He’s dominating. Maybe you could throw Neil Robertson into the mix with that one.

“(Three-times world champion) Mark Selby if he’s finding his top game. Outside of that, there isn’t anybody really able to compete with him.”

The 31-year-old Bristolian has moved 14-13 clear of O’Sullivan on their career head-to-heads having recently commented that only the six-times world champion and four-times Crucible winner John Higgins can topple him at his very best. Higgins is 22-18 ahead of Trump in their head-to-head meetings.

“In my eyes, there are two people that could beat me at my best,” Trump told Eurosport. “And that’s Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins. I’ve played them both, I’ve played John and played amazing before and still lost in deciders.

I’ve played Ronnie and played well and lost, and against all the other players I normally win comfortably. Those two for me, at their best, are leagues above anyone else in the world.”

O’Sullivan – who powered to an 18-8 win against Kyren Wilson in the delayed World Championship final in August – is the most prolific ranking event winner in history with 37, but Trump has moved up to sixth spot on 19 victories, three behind Mark Williams’ career haul of 22.

O’Sullivan feels Trump’s biggest challenge will be extending his superiority beyond this generation as he looks to emulate snooker’s greatest player of all time, who has lifted six world titles over three decades and is still at the summit of the sport 27 years after winning his first UK title at the age of 17 in 1993.

“Judd’s nearest rivals are going to be the people younger than him because they are going to be excited about playing him and they have no fear,” commented O’Sullivan. “They want to be the next Judd Trump.

“That’s where his hardest battles will lie, not with people like me, Higgins, Williams, Robertson or Selby. The hardest matches are when they are looking up to you.

“Me and John have been around for a long time, but we’re certainly nowhere near the players we used to be when we were in our early 30s.”

That’s how it should be indeed … the problem is that, right now, I can see nobody his age or younger able to challenge Judd, and nobody near to Ronnie’s, John Higgins’, Neil Robertson’s or Mark Selby’s level either. Maybe Kyren Wilson?  He needs to improve though, he’s not quite at that level yet.

Ronnie is about 7 years younger than Stephen Hendry, and 14 years younger than Jimmy White. He’s also about 7 years older than Mark Selby/Neil Robertson and 14 years older than Judd Trump. That’s the generation pattern. Who around the age of 24 do you see challenging Judd? Me, currently, no one.

Ronnie wasted no time in beating Leo Fernandez by 6-0 yresterday evening. The match was just over one hour long…

Here are the scores:

Ronnie played very well although he appeared to lose his concentration a bit in the last frame and missed a few. He managed to wrap it up with a nice little clearance though…

The 121 in the second frame is century number 1070 for the Rocket.

and the full action:

And this is the report by WST:

O’Sullivan Pays Maradona Tribute After Win

Snooker’s six-time and current World Champion Ronnie O’Sullivan defeated Leo Fernandez 6-0 at the Betway UK Championship and afterwards paid tribute to the sporting legacy of football legend Diego Maradona, who sadly passed away today.

Snooker’s most celebrated star O’Sullivan, who has a record 37 ranking titles to his name, wasted little time dispatching his opponent this evening. The seven-time UK Champion fired in breaks of 121, 60, 59 and 73 on his way to a whitewash victory in just over an hour.

Afterwards the Rocket paid homage to footballing great Maradona, who captained Argentina to World Cup glory in 1986.

O’Sullivan said: “He’ll be forever remembered. He definitely did it in a real rock and roll style. He was an amazing talent and an amazing man. Just incredible, he was loved a bit like Roberto Duran in a way, who was the people’s champion with hands of stone. He was a true legend of the sporting world.

“I have always said I would rather have a short life with tremendous highs than a long life in which you are beige. Maradona had the world in his hands, like Mike Tyson, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and Muhammad Ali. We should celebrate what was a great life.

“There are probably 200 billion people that have come and gone in this world, but there are probably only ten people in the sporting world that have actually surpassed what we thought was humanly possible. Diego Mardona was one of them. It wasn’t just the way he played, but the passion and the emotion. You couldn’t help but get sucked into the energy he brought to the football field. Let alone the skill and the mesmeric way he did it.”

Not much else to add innit?

The second day at the 2020 UK Championship started in a weird way. The first two matches scheduled on the streamed tables started as planned, but all other morning session matches were delayed by quite some time. It transpired that this was because the Covid tests results arrived late. Not sure how they where still able to start the two streamed matches as planned under the circumstances …

Anyway … the said results revealed that Matthey Stevens had tested positive.

Stevens Tests Positive For Covid-19

Tuesday 24 Nov 2020 11:34AM

Matthew Stevens has tested positive for Covid-19 at the Betway UK Championship in Milton Keynes and has been withdrawn from the event.

Stevens was due to play Jamie Jones on Tuesday evening. Jones receives a bye to the second round of the world ranking event.

All other players and officials involved in Tuesday’s fixtures have had negative results.

Stevens will now undergo a period of self isolation and will receive the support of WST.

Since WST events restarted in June, strict Covid-19 regulations have been and continue to be followed, under UK Government guidance.

The day didn’t spring any big surprise but some of the top seeds were made to work very hard for their spot in the second round. Here is WST report:

Tuesday 24 Nov 2020 11:10PM

Crucible runner-up Kyren Wilson came through a hard fought battle with Ashley Hugill 6-4 to book his place in the second round of the Betway UK Championship.

The tie included a magic moment for four-time ranking event winner Wilson, who fired in the third maximum break of his career in the sixth frame.

Kettering’s Wilson came into the UK Championship full of confidence, having won the recent Championship League ranking event by beating Judd Trump in the final. By contrast Hugill has been struggling so far this term. The York cueman, who regained his professional status this year by winning the WSF Open, is yet to win a match this season.

Despite the rankings gulf between world number four Wilson and world number 126 Hugill, there was little to choose between the players this afternoon.

Wilson asserted his authority in the early stages, composing a run of 107 to take the opener. Hugill subsequently got his first frame on the board, but it was Wilson who claimed the third and fourth to lead 3-1 at the mid-session.

Hugill pulled within a frame upon the resumption, before Wilson made his sublime 147 contribution to lead 4-2. From that moment of perfection, the Warrior’s standards slipped as Hugill upped his game to make it 4-4 with breaks of 65 and 51.

From there Wilson surged to the finish line, making breaks of 50 and 92 to wrap up the win.

Wilson said: “The 147 break kind of came out of nowhere. I felt in really good form coming here. You never know how it is going to pan out. There were numerous kicks for myself and I just felt a bit edgy. To then create snooker perfection, just shows how topsy turvy this game can be. I’m delighted to do it here, that is my first in a Triple Crown event.

“You know that everyone is watching back home, especially on the TV table. It is something that makes you proud to build up in your career. 147 breaks are hard to come by. There are many great players that have never had one. To have now had three, I am obviously chuffed with that.”

Thai number one Thepchaiya Un-Nooh took a massive step towards Masters qualification with a 6-2 win over Germany’s Lukas Kleckers.

Un-Nooh is currently in 15^th position in the race to qualify for the elite 16-player event, with the cut-off coming at the end of the UK Championship.

Former Shoot Out champion Un-Nooh made breaks of 65, 77, 86 and 51 on the way to today’s victory. He faces Duane Jones or Joe O’Connor next.

Un-Nooh said: “This victory means a lot for me. I dream of playing at the Masters at least one time. This is a great opportunity to qualify. I just need to keep concentrating for the next round and keep winning. All of the top 16 are great players. If I qualify, it will be the honour of my professional career.”

Scotland’s Stephen Maguire surged to a 6-1 defeat of 15-year-old Ukrainian Iulian Boiko.

Maguire reached the final last year, but was runner-up to Ding Junhui. Few would bet against another big run from Maguire this year following today’s display. The 2004 UK Champion fired in runs of 96, 113, 128, 80, 65 and 67 to win in just one hour and 27 minutes.

Triple Crown winner Shaun Murphy came through a thrilling clash with Lee Walker, sealing a 6-5 win with the clock just past 12:40am. Murphy had moved a frame from victory, leading 5-3, before Walker mounted a steely fightback.

After pulling within a frame, Walker then edged an epic 50 minute tenth frame to force a decider. Murphy got in after a sublime safety shot in behind the yellow forced an error from his opponent. From there, the Magician compiled a match winning run of 54.

Gary Wilson’s hopes of Masters qualification were left hanging by a thread after a 6-4 defeat to Oliver Lines. If Jack Lisowski beats Farakh Ajaib in his first round tie on Thursday, then Wilson will definitely miss out on a place.

Gary Wilson defeat is no surprise given how his season has gone so far.

Kyren Wilson produced a rather inconsistent performance: there were lots of mistakes, lots of great shots, and this magical moment:

Kyren Wilson’s 147 will contribute to support the Jessie May charity thanks to the event sponsor:

Kyren Wilson 147 Triggers Betway £10,000 Donation To Jessie May

Kyren Wilson made a fantastic 147 maximum break on the second day of the Betway UK Championship, triggering a donation of £10,000 from tournament sponsor Betway to Jessie May Children’s Hospice at Home.

Betway announced before the tournament that it would donate money for every century break made during the 13-day tournament, up to £10,000, but the full donation would be activated if a 147 was made.

And world number four Wilson potted 15 reds with blacks and cleared the colours during his first round match against Ashley Hugill.

Betway Spokesperson Chad Yeomans said: “Congratulations to Kyren Wilson, whose 147 has triggered our £10,000 donation to Jessie May. The first maximum break seems to happen earlier each year and surely it’s only a matter of time before it’s done on Day One!”

Lindsey Horton, Corporate Partnerships Officer at Jessie May, added: “We can’t believe it. We were sitting here with baited breath watching the centuries and then BOOM…Kyren made a 147! We’re so excited and can’t thank Betway (and Kyren) enough for their remarkable generosity. Our families and Nurses thank you so much. You’ll never know the difference it makes!”

Jessie May Children’s Hospice at Home has been WST’s official charity partner for the past four years. Their nurses provide vital respite and palliative care for terminally ill children, and their families across the South West of England.

The Betway UK Championship runs until December 6^th, featuring all of snooker’s top stars.

After beating the 15 years old Iulian Boiko, Stephen Maguire said this:

He’s absolutely right. Iulian has a huge potential, but he’s not ready. He’s also only a young teenager. Adolescense a difficult period in the life for everyone. Living in the UK as an expat isn’t that easy either, even for an adult. Things are hard enough for Iulian without the additional stress and disappointment of going through soul destroying defeats tournament after tournament. He’s still only a kid. This could destroy his confidence and, in the longer term, his chances to build the career that his talent promises.

Please WST … consider to go back to a tiered system, at least for half of the events. Offer the young a smoother development path. It doesn’t “protect” the higher seeds if, as it is already the case in the World Championship, there are no ranking points for losing the first match, no matter the stage it is played at. And with the current technology, there is no reason why the early stages wouldn’t be streamed, if not televised. You currently do cover eight tables for the Chinese audience…

Yesterday saw the start of the 2020 UK Championship. For the first time since it’s played on a flat draw format, the first round is televised by Eurosport.

Two players where withdrawed after testing positive for Covid-19:

Hamilton And Day Test Positive For Covid-19

Anthony Hamilton and Ryan Day have tested positive for Covid-19 at the Betway UK Championship in Milton Keynes and have been withdrawn from the event.

Hamilton was due to play Xu Si on Monday morning and Day was due to face Jak Jones on Monday evening. Xu and Jones both receive a bye to the second round of the world ranking event.

All other players and officials tested at the event so far have had negative results.

Hamilton and Day will now undergo a period of self isolation and will receive the support of WST.

Since WST events restarted in June, strict Covid-19 regulations have been and continue to be followed, under UK Government guidance.

This is particularly worrying for Anthony Hamilton, who suffers from asthma and has been shielding. But as cautious as you might be, and surely Anthony was very cautious, you still need to go out at times, get some food or other essentials, and, if you go out, you inevitably come into contact with other people. It only takes a few reckless ones to infect a lot of persons. Think about it … even if wearing a mask is no fun, it DOES protect the vulnerable.

Phill Haig who interviewed Anthony after he withdrew from the CLShas been in contact with him and, unfortunately, Anthony isn’t feeling great. Hopefully he doesn’t develop severe symptoms as it could be life treathening given his condition.

Wishing both Anthony and Ryan the best.

Now onto the action… here is WST report:

Selby Edges Out White

Mark Selby booked his place in the second round of the Betway UK Championship with a hard fought 6-4 defeat of Welshman Michael White in Milton Keynes.

Selby, 37, is seeking his first Triple Crown silverware since winning the World Championship in 2017. The Jester from Leicester has won the UK Championship on two occasions. Selby beat Shaun Murphy to lift the title in 2012 and Ronnie O’Sullivan in an epic 2016 final.

White, a two time ranking event winner, suffered a shock relegation from the circuit at the end of last season and subsequently failed to regain his place at Q School. However, playing as an amateur, he provided a stern test for world number five Selby this afternoon.

The pair traded the first two frames, then a superb total clearance of 140 saw Selby take a 2-1 lead. White cleared the colours to win the fourth on the black and head into the mid-session level at 2-2.

When they returned, Selby encountered problems with his right eye after getting something caught in it. Despite that he still built a 5-3 advantage, before White claimed the ninth thanks to a break of 57 to keep his hopes alive. Selby wasn’t to be denied his victory and composed a run of 75 to seal a 6-4 win.

Selby said: “He’s a tough player. I’ve played him at the Crucible before and only came through that 10-9. It was only two and a half years ago he was in the top 16 and winning tournaments himself. He should probably still be in the top 32 on the tour. How he fell off I’ll never know.

“I think since 2017 this is probably the best chance I’ve had coming to a Triple Crown tournament, with the way I’ve been playing. In 2018 and 2019 I wasn’t playing well enough heading into the UK Championship and didn’t believe I could win it. Whereas this year I feel I’m playing a lot better and believing I can win. Whether I do or not is a different thing.”

Scotland’s John Higgins breezed through his first round tie with Fergal O’Brien, winning 6-1 to book his progression.

Higgins is a former three-time winner of the UK Championship, but hasn’t tasted silverware at the event since his epic 10-9 final win over Mark Williams in 2010.

Higgins was in fine break building form this evening, composing runs of 72, 52, 56, 123 and 70 on his way to the win.

“It was a difficult first round game,” said 30-time ranking event winner Higgins. “Any win is a good one against Fergal. He is always going to make it tough. He’ll be disappointed, as he never really turned up at all there.

“My long game was non-existent for the first few frames and I tried to change something. Then I started potting a few long ones. In about the balls I scored alright, so all good”

Germany’s world number 110 Simon Lichtenberg secured a huge 6-3 win over world number 23 Scott Donaldson.

Mark Williams stormed to a 6-0 whitewash win over tour rookie Ben Hancorn to book his place in the second round, while Barry Hawkins thrashed Riley Parsons 6-1.

The Mark Selby v Michael White match was actually a good one, a rarity on the TV table in the UK championship first round with the draw going strictly by seeding.

The Mark Williams interview is interesting in that what he says is so similar to what Ronnie has been saying. At this stage of their career, practice is hard to sustain for long hours and he doesn’t feel that he needs it. But enjoying his snooker is key to be able to continue playing, and playing well.

Simon Lichtenberg has found a way to win… not for the first time, his match was extremely slow going for the first 5-6 frames, then he produced three breaks over 50 in the last four frames to get the job done. It’s a good win for him over Scott Donaldson. For Scott of course it’s a dissapointing result especially after the form he showed last week.

Not mentioned in WST report but another young player, Pang Junxu, had an excellent result, beating Tom Ford by 6-4.

Yan Bingtao started well but had to battle hard in the end to beat young Sean Maddockx  by 6-4.

Jamie Clarke confirmed his good form with a 6-5 win over the “Minister of Defence”, Martin O’Donnell, as did David Grace with a 6-4 victory over Ian Burns. Ben Woollaston however suffered a 6-5 defeat at the hands of Andy Hicks. Ben has lead by 5-3.

There is a possiblility that crowds could return from December 2 on, just a possibility but Mark Selby would love that it seems

The 2020 UK Championship starts in less than an hour… here is Matt Huart’s preview:

With the Northern Ireland Open set to reach its conclusion tomorrow (Sunday), there will just be a matter of hours before the action resumes with the staging of the Betway UK Championship from Monday.

• Tournament Draw and Schedule
• How to Watch

Snooker’s oldest ranking event outside of the World Championship, the UK Championship will be the first Triple Crown Series tournament of the season with a top prize of £200,000 to be won.

Last year it was Ding Junhui who claimed the title for a third time following a 10-6 victory against 2004 champion Stephen Maguire and both will be among those returning to contest the title once again in 2020.

Once again, the tournament will be held at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, rather than its traditional home in York due to the ongoing coronavirus restrictions. The event will however be televised in full for the first time after it was announced that Eurosport will cover the opening round matches for the first time.

As in previous seasons, the draw has been made strictly in accordance with seeding, meaning that the top seed will play number 128 in the opening round, the second seed will player number 127 and so on. This can often throw up a number of ultimately key matches in the battle to stay on tour at the end of the season, with big money to be won and players close to each other around the crucial ‘top 64’ cut-off drawn to play each other in the first round.

All matches up to and including the semi-finals will be played over the best of 11 frames, increasing to 19 for the final (8/11).

Once again, the overwhelming majority of professional players will be involved, with all but five (Mei Xiwen, Marco Fu, Bai Langning, Stephen Hendry and Steve Mifsud) in the main draw.

#RACETOTHEMASTERS

As well as being a highly prestigious event in its own right, as has become tradition in recent seasons the UK Championship also acts as the decisive tournament in the battle to secure one of the richly coveted 16 players at January’s Masters tournament.

• View the latest Race to the Masters

A full analysis detailing all of the permutations and key matches to follow will be posted here at WPBSA.com shortly.

PLEASE NOTE: PREVIEW WRITTEN PRIOR TO THE NORTHERN IRELAND OPEN SEMI-FINALS.

THE TOP QUARTER

The draw is led by defending champion Ding Junhui with the former world number one looking to capture his first ranking title since his victory 12 months ago in York.

First up will be a first career meeting with Jamie Curtis-Barrett, with Northern Ireland Open semi-finalist David Grace or Ian Burns awaiting the winner in the second round.

Opposite Ding in the quarter is three-time champion John Higgins, with the Scot handed a tricky opener with veteran Irishman Fergal O’Brien. The pair met earlier this year at the European Masters in January, Higgins emerging a 5-2 victor.

Elsewhere ahead of Higgins in the draw could come the likes of Scott Donaldson or Ryan Day, with Champion of Champions winner Mark Allen a potential last 16 opponent.

Elsewhere in this quarter, Jack Lisowski and Gary Wilson are also in close proximity, with the pair on course to meet in what could be a hugely significant last 16 encounter. This is because the pair are separated by just £1,250 in the latest Race to the Masters standings, with Wilson currently on course to qualify at Lisowski’s expense.

Finally, there is also a 21st career meeting ahead between Alan McManus and Jimmy White, the latter currently leading their respective head to head record 13-7.

THE SECOND QUARTER

The second section is bookended by two-time UK champions Neil Robertson and Mark Selby, with the pair both set to begin against amateur opposition.

For Robertson, an opening-round clash with promising Frenchman Brian Ochoiski could precede a meeting with either Chris Wakelin or Louis Heathcote, with Zhao Xintong and Yan Bingtao among those potentially standing between him and a first quarter-final appearance in the event since his 2016 victory.

Selby too has not reached the last eight of the tournament since he lifted the trophy in 2017 and has been handed a potential banana skin in the opening round with a match against former ranking event winner Michael White to begin.

Selby could then face Liam Highfield, Michael Holt, and David Gilbert should the tournament progress according to seeding. Gilbert in particular is among those looking to make certain of his place at the Masters, currently 13th in the standings [UPDATE: Gilbert is already mathematically certain of Masters qualification].

Among those in the chasing pack are Anthony McGill (19) and Barry Hawkins (22) who can also be found in this section.

THE THIRD QUARTER

At the time of writing prior to the Northern Ireland Open semi-finals, world number one Judd Trump comes into the tournament in a rich vein of form following his fifth career maximum break last week and victory at the English Open last month.

Despite his victory in York back in 2011, Trump has only once more reached the quarter-finals of one of snooker’s most historic events and begins his latest bid with a clash against Paul Davison – a recent winner against Mark Williams at the German Masters qualifier.

Either Dominic Dale or Luo Honghao will await the winner, with potentially Liang Wenbo and Williams himself – the Welshman looking to seal his Masters place – to follow en route to the quarter-finals.

Also among those still in with a chance of a place at the Masters is Ali Carter, who has made significant ground on the top 16 following his deep run at the Northern Ireland Open. He could play Williams as early as the last 32.

Not for the first time this season, Championship League winner Kyren Wilson finds himself as the highest ranked player in Trump’s quarter, looking to reach the last eight for only the second time in his career.

First up for Wilson will be WSF Open winner Ashley Hugill, with two-time UK quarter-finalist Mark Joyce, Kurt Maflin and Stuart Bingham among those between him and a meeting with Trump.

THE BOTTOM QUARTER

Record seven-time UK Championship winner Ronnie O’Sullivan heads up the bottom section of the draw as its second seed following his strongest performance of the season at the Northern Ireland Open.

First up for the reigning world champion will be experienced amateur Leo Fernandez, who three years ago earned a famous win against Ding Junhui from 5-1 down at the same stage of the event in York.

Ahead of the winner will be either Alexander Ursenbacher or Nigel Bond, with Matthew Stevens and Masters-chasing Thepchaiya Un-Nooh potentially to come.

At the opposite end of the section is 2008 champion Shaun Murphy, who having lost his opening match at the tournament during each of the past two seasons will be looking to avoid an unwanted hat-trick when he opens against Welshman Lee Walker.

Ahead of the winner could be Elliot Slessor, Matt Selt and old rival Stephen Maguire ahead of any potential meeting with O’Sullivan.

Elsewhere in the section can be found Joe Perry, currently 20th in the Race to the Masters and a potential last 16 opponent for O’Sullivan.

Let us know who will take home the trophy at our social media platforms linked at the top of the page!