Yesterday was the last of the 2024 UK Championship qualifying rounds and here are the report by WST:

RESURGENT ZHAO BOOKS YORK RETURN

Zhao Xintong will return to the scene of his greatest triumph at the Victorian Plumbing UK Championship, having beaten Ricky Walden 6-2 in the final qualifying round.

China’s 27-year-old Zhao has stormed through the qualifying phase in Leicester, winning four matches for the loss of just nine frames and making a tournament-high break of 146. He now heads to the York Barbican where he will face Shaun Murphy in a sizzling last 32 tie on Saturday afternoon. 

Zhao, who was UK Champion 2021 when he beat Luca Brecel in the final, fell 2-0 behind today as Walden started fast with breaks of 94 and 67. But the Cyclone then dominated with top runs of 69, 124 and 64 as he took six frames in a row.

“I have really missed this,” said Zhao, who has been away from the tour for the past 20 months, serving a ban for breaching betting rules. “Now I am back and I just want to enjoy the tournament and I will do my best. I love snooker and I needed to come back. I have been practising for the last two years so that feeling is still there. Shaun Murphy is a very good player, everyone knows he can pot anything.“

David Gilbert stormed to a 6-1 win over Julien Leclercq with a top break of 61 to earn a tie with Xiao Guodong. “I played terrible but kept nicking frames, Julien had a bad day,” admitted Gilbert, who has reached two Crucible semi-finals but never been beyond the last 16 of the UK Championship. “I love York but I’ve never had a run so I’ll have another go. Xiao has won about £6 million in the last few weeks so I don’t think he’s feeling pressure. I am miles away from my top form because I have barely played for a month. I’ve got a new cue from John Parris but I haven’t hit enough balls. Hopefully York will rekindle something for me.”

Matthew Selt scored an impressive 6-3 win over Zhou Yuelong, firing runs of 97, 88, 52, 65 and 65 to set up a match with Chris Wakelin. “York is my favourite venue, it’s such a big event,” said Selt, who reached the quarter-finals at the Barbican in 2015. “My scoring boots were on today. I got a bit nervous towards the end so I’m delighted to get through. I have played really well this season, I am very happy with the way I’m playing.

“I had a conversation with my coach Chris Henry yesterday and said it’s starting to wind me up because I look at my scoresheets and see I’m scoring more heavily than ever and my safety game is always there, but I’m not ranked where I feel I should be. Ultimately I am not winning enough matches and I need to work out why. If I feel comfortable I don’t fancy anyone beating me. The standard outside the top 20 now is astronomically high compared to what it was like a decade ago, it only takes one good week to get towards the top 16 and everyone in the top 50 is capable of that.“

Lei Peifan ensured that there will be at least seven Chinese players in the field as he beat Ben Woollaston 6-2 with top breaks of 129 and 131. He now meets Zhang Anda.

ROBERTSON SETS UP TRUMP CLASH IN YORK

Three-time winner Neil Robertson earned his place in the final stages of the Victorian Plumbing UK Championship with a 6-2 defeat of Matthew Stevens, booking a massive last 32 tie against Judd Trump.

The televised stages at the York Barbican start on Saturday and Robertson and Trump will go head-to-head on Tuesday; two players with 53 ranking titles and ten Triple Crown victories between them. It’s a repeat of the epic 2020 UK final, which Robertson won 10-9, and last week’s Champion of Champions quarter-final which the Australian took 6-4. 

Robertson started the current season ranked 28th in the world, then broke back into the top 16 by winning the English Open in September. He has since slipped to 18th so had to face the qualifiers this week in Leicester, but having battled his way through two matches, he can look ahead to York and has also boosted his position in the Race to the Masters – though defeat to Trump could wreck his hopes of a spot at Alexandra Palace in January. 

Breaks of 136 and 125 helped him to a comfortable victory over Stevens. “There was a big frame tonight when I was 2-1 up, Matthew was unlucky when he missed a chance for 2-2, instead it was 3-1. I played well and I’m happy to get through,” said Robertson, who lifted the UK trophy in 2013, 2015 and 2020. 

“I have felt for a while that I needed to improve my safety. The game has changed a lot in the last couple of years. It’s less about thundering in long balls and scoring heavily, it’s more about denying your opponent scoring opportunities. Judd Trump said before our game last week that the key to the match was his safety, when a few years ago he would have been talking about an all-out attacking kind of game. Judd and Mark Allen have improved their safety so much, the rest of the tour are looking at that and thinking that is the best approach. 

“Beating Judd last week doesn’t give me any edge because he is very good at putting losses behind him. We’ve had so many great games and I really enjoy competing against him. The important thing is that I am playing well and I have won a title this season.“

China’s He Guoqiang, last season’s Rookie of the Year, edged out Yorkshire teenager Stan Moody 6-5 in an exciting battle to earn a tie with John Higgins. He led 4-1 with top breaks of 69, 73 and 70, then Moody fought back to 4-4 with a top run of 113. The next two were shared before He dominated the decider with breaks of 57 and 54 to secure his place as one of eight Chinese players in the field in York.

Robert Milkins top scored with 82 as he beat Xu Si 6-2. Milkins has had a patchy start to the season, reaching the last 32 of just one other ranking event, but now hopes to show the quality which has won him two ranking titles. “It has been a shocker of a season for me so far, I have lost a lot of close games,” said Milkins. “I’ve got a lot to make up on the other players in the rankings but maybe it will come. It’s hard work out there, it’s not coming naturally. I am playing a lot of shabby shots rather than my normal game. I have been on losing streaks before and it’s not easy to get out of. If I can get to a quarter or semi-final I’ll be happy.”

Michael Holt, who had two years away from the pro tour before regaining his card for this season, reached the last 32 of this event for the first time since 2015 by beating Liu Hongyu 6-2 with a top break of 85.  World number 98 Holt, who has won four qualifying matches, said: “I have battled all week, been a bit lucky at times but got there in the end. It will be a big day for me to play in an event like this because it was tough when I dropped off the tour and I’m proud of myself to get back here. I just want to take the shackles off because I’m a good player! I still have moments when I drive myself mad because I want to play like I can.“

And the draw for the “main venue” last 32 event has been made:

VICTORIAN PLUMBING UK CHAMPIONSHIP DRAW

Ronnie O’Sullivan will begin the defence of his Victorian Plumbing UK Championship title against Barry Hawkins on Saturday in York.

…

The draw for the last 32 pitched eight-time UK Champion O’Sullivan against Hawkins in a repeat of the 2013 Crucible final. The match will be on the opening afternoon at the York Barbican on Saturday at 1pm. On the other table, Shaun Murphy has a blockbuster clash with Zhao Xintong. 

World number one Judd Trump meet Neil Robertson in a repeat of the 2020 UK final. World Champion Kyren Wilson plays 2004 UK Champion Stephen Maguire, while Mark Selby is up against Jack Lisowski.

The full draw is:

Ronnie O’Sullivan v Barry Hawkins
Xiao Guodong v David Gilbert
Shaun Murphy v Zhao Xintong
Ding Junhui v Robert Milkins
Mark Selby v Jack Lisowski
Ali Carter v Ryan Day
Si Jiahui v Wu Yize
Mark Allen v Jackson Page
Judd Trump v Neil Robertson
John Higgins v He Guoqiang
Zhang Anda v Lei Peifan
Mark Williams v Stuart Bingham
Luca Brecel v Jak Jones
Gary Wilson v Michael Holt
Chris Wakelin v Matthew Selt
Kyren Wilson v Stephen Maguire

There are no easy draws in UK Championship and, all things considered, Barry Hawkins is not the worst draw Ronnie could have had. That said, the way this season has gone so far, I don’t have any expectations at all ahead of this event. We shall see but I’m not optimistic.