The first four days of the 2023 UK Championship schedule have seen 32 contenders at the Barbican Centre whittled down to 16.
Reigning champion Mark Allen’s defence was ended by Ding Junhui, who gained revenge for his defeat to the Northern Irishman in the 2022 final.
Neil Robertson and Shaun Murphy were other notable names to crash out at the first hurdle, prolonging their recent periods of poor form.
Murphy, who lost to Hossein Vafaei, has been very quiet since winning the season-opening Championship League, while Robertson’s woes go even further back.
After losing 6-2 to Zhou Yuelong, the Australian looks set to end 2023 without any silverware.
Robertson intends to skip the next two events in favour of a trip home to Australia in December, meaning he’ll end a calendar year without a trophy for the first time since 2005.
Kyren Wilson, Jack Lisowski, and Ali Carter were the other seeded players to be dumped out of the UK Championship so far.
Let’s take a look at the second-round matches.
UK Championship
Last 16 draw and schedule
Ding Junhui vs Tom Ford
Wednesday, November 29 – 1pm UTC
Three-time champion Ding Junhui defied illness and a 4-2 deficit to beat Mark Allen 6-5 in the first round.
Tom Ford also prevailed in a decider, miraculously fighting back from 5-1 down to deny Noppon Saengkham.
Ding and Ford’s contest may have huge ramifications in terms of the final Masters invitations, with the loser definitely ending this week below the crucial top 16 cut-off point.
Mark Williams vs Jamie Clarke
Wednesday, November 29 – 7pm UTC
A hard-fought 6-4 victory for Mark Williams saw the two-time former winner progress at the expense of Fan Zhengyi.
Like Ford, Jamie Clarke produced another magnificent turnaround as he edged out Kyren Wilson from four frames down.
Welsh duo Williams and Clarke have crossed paths three times in previous ranking events, including at last year’s UK Championship when the latter won 6-3.
Mark Selby vs Barry Hawkins
Wednesday, November 29 – 7pm UTC
There weren’t too many one-sided encounters during the first-round schedule at the UK Championship, but Mark Selby’s 6-0 defeat of Mark Joyce was certainly one of them.
Barry Hawkins produced one of his poorest performances of what has been a strong season so far, but he still managed to eke out a 6-4 victory against Ben Woollaston.
Selby and Hawkins are good mates who are sharing an apartment in York this week, but it’ll be down to business here with the latter somewhat surprisingly leading their head-to-head 19-17 in all competitions.
Jamie Jones vs Judd Trump
Wednesday, November 29 – 1pm UTC
Jamie Jones enjoys playing Jack Lisowski, who he beat for the third time in three meetings as a professional in the last 32.
The Welshman’s task couldn’t get much harder, though, with player-of-the-season Judd Trump standing in his way of a place in the quarter-finals.
Jones beat Trump once in a six-reds fixture, but Trump has held the aces in the more traditional format of the game with the world number two boasting a 100% winning record.
Ronnie O’Sullivan vs Robert Milkins
Thursday, November 30 – 1pm UTC
Ronnie O’Sullivan’s bid for a record-extending eighth UK crown began strongly as he won six frames in a row from 2-0 down to safely dispatch of Anthony McGill.
As expected, it proved to be a rapid affair between Robert Milkins and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh with the former compiling a brace of tons in a 6-5 defeat of the Thai.
O’Sullivan possesses dominant head-to-head records against many players on the tour and it’s no different with Milkins, who has beaten the Rocket just once – a one-frame clash at the Shoot Out in 2011.
John Higgins vs Zhou Yuelong
Thursday, November 30 – 1pm UTC
Few are tipping John Higgins to challenge for glory this week, but the Scot has been quite consistent during this campaign and he comfortably beat Joe O’Connor in round one.
The challenge should get tougher with Zhou Yuelong up next, a player in fine form who thrashed Neil Robertson with a string of single-scoring visits.
Between them, Higgins and Zhou have tallied almost 50 tons this season, meaning big breaks are likely in store again for this tie.
Hossein Vafaei vs Matthew Selt
Thursday, November 30 – 7pm UTC
Hossein Vafaei took advantage of a disappointing Shaun Murphy performance to reach the last 16 and continue his aspirations of sealing a Masters berth.
The Iranian will fancy his chances of advancing further after Matthew Selt upset the odds to defeat German Masters champion Ali Carter.
Depending on other results, Vafaei could return to the top 16 in time for Ally Pally with a run to the semi-finals, and he has won his only prior clash with Selt.
Zhang Anda vs Luca Brecel
Thursday, November 30 – 7pm UTC
Winning has become a habit for Zhang Anda, and even though he wasn’t at his best on this occasion, the vastly improved Chinese competitor held on to pip Elliot Slessor.
Zhang will face Luca Brecel next after the Belgian Bullet ousted Yuan Sijun despite only performing well in patches.
Zhang has lost his last five meetings with Brecel, although all of those matches were before this season when his form took a dramatic turn in a more positive direction.
2023 UK Championship draw and results
Last 32 (bo11)
Mark Allen (1) 5-6 Ding Junhui
Tom Ford (16) 6-5 Noppon Saengkham
Mark Williams (9) 6-4 Fan Zhengyi
Kyren Wilson (8) 5-6 Jamie Clarke
Mark Selby (5) 6-0 Mark Joyce
Barry Hawkins (12) 6-4 Ben Woollaston
Jack Lisowski (13) 4-6 Jamie Jones
Judd Trump (4) 6-1 Pang Junxu
Ronnie O’Sullivan (3) 6-2 Anthony McGill
Robert Milkins (14) 6-5 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
John Higgins (11) 6-3 Joe O’Connor
Neil Robertson (6) 2-6 Zhou Yuelong
Shaun Murphy (7) 4-6 Hossein Vafaei
Ali Carter (10) 3-6 Matthew Selt
Zhang Anda (15) 6-5 Elliot Slessor
Luca Brecel (2) 6-4 Yuan Sijun
Last 16 (bo11)
Ding Junhui 6-3 Tom Ford (16)
Mark Williams (9) 6-4 Jamie Clarke
Mark Selby (5) 6-5 Barry Hawkins (12)
Jamie Jones 0-6 Judd Trump (4)
Ronnie O’Sullivan (3) 6-5 Robert Milkins (14)
John Higgins (11) 3-6 Zhou Yuelong
Hossein Vafaei 6-1 Matthew Selt
Zhang Anda (15) 6-4 Luca Brecel (2)
Quarter-Finals (bo11)
Ding Junhui 6-5 Mark Williams (9)
Mark Selby (5) 3-6 Judd Trump (4)
Ronnie O’Sullivan (3) 6-5 Zhou Yuelong
Hossein Vafaei 6-4 Zhang Anda (15)
Semi-Finals (bo11)
Ding Junhui 6-4 Judd Trump (4)
Ronnie O’Sullivan (3) 6-2 Hossein Vafaei
Final (bo19)
Ding Junhui 7-10 Ronnie O’Sullivan (3)
How to watch the UK Championship
There will be live coverage of the full UK Championship schedule for UK and Irish viewers on the BBC.
Eurosport and discovery+ will broadcast the event across all of Europe.
Fans in territories not offering live snooker can additionally watch via a subscription at Matchroom.Live.
A full list of all the broadcasters can be viewed on the World Snooker Tour website here.
,,”Marvelous!!🇬🇧
“Amazing”
Milkins actually won 6-5. Best game I’ve seen so far.
Zhou, Clarke, Jones and Ford the only players left yet to win a ranking title.
Indeed, cheers.
Robertson will definitely miss the World Grand Prix now and unlikely to be in February’s Player’s Championship.
Why don’t they leave all coverage to the BBC as you start watching and then they change channels that we can’t get