Two seeds and two qualifiers emerged the winners on the first day at the Barbican in York.

Here are the reports shared by WST:

Afternoon session:

Ding Battles Illness To Dethrone Allen

Ding Junhui overcame dizziness and a fever to edge defending champion Mark Allen 6-5 in a repeat of last year’s final on day one of the MrQ UK Championship in York.

The 2022 title match saw Allen rally from 6-1 down to overhaul Ding on his way to earning a stunning 10-7 victory and becoming UK Champion for the first time. The Northern Irishman came into this year’s event in strong form, having won the recent Champion of Champions, but today’s result sees him suffer an early exit. It’s the first time he’s lost his opening match in York since 2012.

China’s three-time UK Champion Ding had to come through two qualifying rounds to earn his place in the final stages, after being edged out of the world’s top 16 by compatriot Zhang Anda and Tom Ford. Following today’s game he admitted he was close to pulling out of the tournament after becoming unwell in recent days.

The first frame saw Allen come flying out of the blocks, crafting a break of 67 to move 1-0 ahead. A dramatic second went the way of Ding, who cleared with 50 to steal on the final ball, culminating with a tricky cut back black to make it 1-1. Ding then took a tight third frame on the pink, before breaks of 47 and 30 in the fourth saw Allen head into the mid-session level at 2-2.

When play resumed Allen took charge of proceedings, runs of 106 and 60 moved him 4-2 ahead. Ding appeared to be struggling visibly in his chair, but he somehow summoned his best snooker despite that just when he required it. Contributions of 79 and 63 helped him to restore parity at 4-4.

Allen had an opportunity to move one from victory, but ran out of position on 65. Ding ruthlessly stepped up and cleared with 71 to go 5-4 ahead. Allen forced the decider with a break of 70 in a fiercely fought 10th frame. The Pistol had the first chance in the decider, but an unexpected missed red to the left middle left the door open for Ding, who obliged with 102 to claim victory. He now plays either Tom Ford or Noppon Saengkham.

“Every time he made 60 or 50 and I had a chance, I was straight into the black ball area. I made the points that I could. I didn’t put a lot of pressure on myself. I couldn’t think about it that way, because I don’t feel very good,” admitted 14-time ranking event winner Ding.

“I was in the doctors to get some tablets and they haven’t worked yet. In the morning I couldn’t even stand. I thought I maybe wouldn’t be able to play today. I just made it happen and I felt a bit better before the match started. I was thinking of just giving a walkover for this game. I tried to play.”

Allen said: “It was a strange game. I felt like I was in complete control in so many frames and kept losing the frames I was ahead in. I was 5-4 down and I didn’t know how. On another day I win that match 6-1. If you don’t take your chances in this game they come back to bite you and Ding made a good break in the last.

“I’m disappointed to lose. I don’t want to go out in the first round of the UK, but I played well there. I played much better than Ding did. It was just one of those strange games that happens now and again. I did all of the scoring in the game. There were just a few silly mental errors on safeties.”

On the other table, three-time World Champion Mark Williams secured a hard fought 6-4 win over former European Masters winner Fan Zhengyi.

The Welshman composed breaks of 54, 61 and 86 on his way to victory. Next up he faces either Kyren Wilson or Jamie Clarke.

Williams said: “It was a good win for me. I didn’t play too well to be honest. I got a brand new tip on yesterday. The table was really reactive and was excellent. The crowd was excellent. What an atmosphere walking in there, I just didn’t play too well. I’m happy to get through and I potted a good long red in the last frame.”

Ding looked really ill for most of the match. At times I feared he could collapse there and then. Before the interval he really struggled badly. All credits to him for what he did yesterday. He showed huge respect for the fans and the tournament.

I find it a bit sad that Mark Allen felt the need to say that he played better than Ding given the circumstances. He can’t have failed to noticed how unwell Ding was. Yes, he was the heavier scorer, but Ding outplayed him in the safety department. But then, of course, he is the defending champion, it was a very important match for him, he was ahead for most of it. Of course, he’s bitterly disappointed. Such defeats hurt and he’s only human.

Evening session:

Ford Stuns Saengkham On Night Of Fightbacks

Tom Ford mounted a magnificent fightback to come from 5-1 down and beat Noppon Saengkham 6-5 on day one of the MrQ UK Championship in York.

Ford was staring down the barrel of defeat after a barrage of breaks from Saengkham moved the Thai just one from victory. He fired in contributions of 54, 126, 58, 100 and 127 on his way to establishing a 5-1 lead. However, Ford has been working on the mental side of his game in recent years and showed his steel to claw his way back into contention.

World number 16 Ford narrowly earned an automatic place at this year’s event with a brilliant run to the final of the recent International Championship, where he was runner-up to Zhang Anda. He now faces a huge clash with world number 17 Ding Junhui in the second round, with the winner assuming pole position in the race for Masters qualification.

Breaks of 61 and 130 helped Ford move from 5-1 to 5-3 and remain in contention. A dramatic ninth frame saw Saengkham miss an ambitious final red to the yellow pocket. Ford stepped in and cleared with 32 to take the frame on the black and pull within a single frame at 5-4. The Leicester cueman forced a decider, but it was Saengkham who had the first significant contribution with a run of 55. The break ended after Saengkham ran out of position and Ford clinched victory with a brilliant break of 66, punching the air after depositing match ball on the pink.

“I’m smiling and that doesn’t normally happen very often. I was 5-1 down, but I seemed to have a chance every frame. I was blowing them, but when he got in he scored so well. I just kept on fighting and luckily enough I got a few frames back. I thought I was still in it and knuckled down. I’m over the moon,” said 40-year-old Ford.

“I had no chance of winning that match a few years ago. I’d have already been out of the building. I’d have most likely smashed the pack and gone. I tried to stay as focussed as I could, get a couple of frames back and see what happens.

“I was sat there at 5-5, when he was on a break and I was thinking I’d done all of that for nothing. I tried to keep the self belief and fortunately when he let me in the balls went perfect. It was down to me at the end of the day to mess it up, but luckily I kept my nerve and got over the line.”

The pattern of the game on the other table was a mirror image, with Kyren Wilson moving 5-1 ahead before Welshman Jamie Clarke rallied to score a huge 6-5 victory.

Clarke made breaks of 80, 104, 52 and 76 on his way to turning the tie around. He now faces compatriot and three-time World Champion Mark Williams in the last 16. The pair met in the opening round last year, with Clarke coming on top by a 6-3 scoreline. After this evening’s game, Clarke was over the moon to pull off his unlikely comeback win.

“That was one of the best feelings I’ve ever had on a snooker table. I couldn’t believe I won in the end,” said 29-year-old Clarke. “The truth of it was I was looking forward to going home tomorrow. I had a good week in the qualifiers and I wasn’t relaxed out there. I calmed down, found my form at 5-3 and then 5-4. Adrenaline was pumping through my body and it was a really good experience for me.”

I have put part of Tom’s and Jamie’s quotes in bold. Those words are very true, very honest. Tom has always been extremely gifted but controlling his emotions was always a problem. Credits to him for working on it, it’s not easy. In a way, Jamie Clarke is the same: an extremely gifted player who has lost far too often from a seemingly winning position. I wrote “in a way” because they are very different men. Tom used to be an “angry” person, Jamie, if anything, is too nice and it shows in his quotes above: facing defeat he was looking forward to going home. That doesn’t mean he’s someone who gives up, just that sometimes being a bit more “angry” could help him.

… about the setup

This year each table has spectators on two sides right from round one at the venue. That’s good for the players and the atmosphere. The partition is a “full” partition, similar to what it is at the Crucible. That’s a good initiative as it shields the players completely from visual distractions coming from the adjacent table.

… about the tournament format

I remain convinced that this format is far better for everyone than the flat draw. David Grace was reflecting on social media that the flat draw meant that they were all at the venue, “part of the tournament” even if they had to play in a different room. I get that but … the venue was really “cramped”, with four tables in the main arena, there wasn’t really enough space around the tables nearest to the side, the BBC wanted a strict seeding draw, leading to a lot of completely one sided first round matches in the main arena, where the top guys were playing young amateurs more often than not, whilst the close matches were played in the sports hall, a rather uninspiring place where, if you’re not that tall you struggled to actually see the table situation. This format gives all players a winnable match to start with, and those who make it to the main venue have already secured 10000 pounds and points. The qualifiers are extensively covered on stream, during the last round in particular. The pressure is firmly on the seeds in every round. Yes, they will get the money, but not the points.