The final round of qualifiers for the 2024 UK Championship, known as Judgement Day, will take place on Wednesday and Thursday in Leicester.
A field of 128 players has been whittled down to the final 32 contenders for the 16 remaining spots in the main draw of the season’s opening Triple Crown event.
The top 16 from the world rankings have already been seeded through to the venue stages at the Barbican Centre in York, which begin on Saturday.
The likes of defending UK champion Ronnie O’Sullivan, reigning world champion Kyren Wilson, and world number one Judd Trump are waiting to see who they might draw in the opening round.
There are several heavy hitters involved on Judgement Day, so let’s take a brief look at the 16 ties in the final round of the 2024 UK Championship qualifiers.
Wednesday, 1pm UTC
Jak Jones vs Fan Zhengyi
As the world number 17, Jak Jones missed out on an automatic spot in York by just one place, but the World Championship finalist comfortably beat Ian Burns in his first qualifying tie.
The Welshman faces former European Masters champion Fan Zhengyi, the 23 year-old one of nine players representing China at the last hurdle.
Elliot Slessor vs Stephen Maguire
Stephen Maguire scored his 100th career century break in the UK Championship during his victory over Artemijs Zizins – ranking behind only Ronnie O’Sullivan and Stephen Hendry in the tournament’s all-time list.
The Scot, who won the UK title 20 years ago, meets Elliot Slessor next – an opponent he has only played once before on the main tour.
Jimmy Robertson vs Stuart Bingham
The match between Jimmy Robertson and Stuart Bingham represents the only all-English clash of Judgement Day.
The latter needs a UK title to complete the career Triple Crown and has beaten Robertson in four out of their prior five matches in all competitions.
Jackson Page vs Hossein Vafaei
It has been a quiet period on the World Snooker Tour for Hossein Vafaei, who went all the way to the semi-finals of the UK Championship in 2023.
Jackson Page reached the final of the season-opening Championship League Snooker and has an opportunity here to continue his progress up the rankings.
Wednesday, 7pm UTC
Jack Lisowski vs Bai Yulu
All eyes will be firmly on Wednesday evening’s tussle between Jack Lisowski and reigning women’s world champion Bai Yulu.
The latter has produced a terrific hat-trick of triumphs to reach this point, including a 6-5 defeat of Scott Donaldson on Tuesday night.
Few expect the 21 year-old from China to beat someone of Lisowski’s calibre, but if she could spring a monumental upset and secure qualification, it would be a watershed moment for the women’s game.
Ryan Day vs Sanderson Lam
Ryan Day looked to be in trouble when he trailed Louis Heathcote 3-0 earlier this week but responded by winning the following six frames to advance.
In the final round of the 2024 UK Championship qualifiers draw, Day meets Sanderson Lam who was a 6-5 winner against Yuan Sijun.
David Lilley vs Wu Yize
The match between David Lilley and Wu Yize is one of seven England-versus-China battles on Judgement Day.
Wu, buoyed by his run to the English Open final, isn’t far off a provisional end-of-season ranking inside the world’s top 20.
Wang Yuchen vs Barry Hawkins
Originally from China but now representing Hong Kong, Wang Yuchen is a win away from matching his best ever run in a ranking event.
The experienced Barry Hawkins is one of the harder challenges he could have received, the Hawk having safely progressed from the penultimate round with a 6-1 thrashing of Alfie Burden.
Thursday, 1pm UTC
Lei Peifan vs Ben Woollaston
Lei Peifan and Ben Woollaston set up a meeting against one another after recording 6-5 victories over two former UK Championship semi-finalists.
Lei heaped further misery on Tom Ford’s miserable season while Woollaston edged veteran Joe Perry in a deciding frame as well.
Zhou Yuelong vs Matthew Selt
Zhou Yuelong may feel a little left behind considering the recent success of his countrymen on the main tour.
The 26 year-old, who beat 2008 runner-up Marco Fu in the last round, has been absent from the business end of events this term and faces a tricky final test in Matthew Selt.
Ricky Walden vs Zhao Xintong
If all eyes are on Bai Yulu on Wednesday, Thursday’s Judgement Day action will likely revolve around Zhao Xintong.
The 2021 UK champion, invited as a top-up by the WPBSA this year through his performances on the amateur Q Tour, has blown away his three opponents in the 2024 UK Championship qualifiers draw.
Zhao has looked like a determined force since returning from his ban, and at this point it would almost be a surprise if Ricky Walden were to deny him a ticket back to the Barbican Centre.
Julien Leclercq vs David Gilbert
It had been a terrible campaign for Julien Leclercq, but a first-round bye set him on his way and the former Shoot Out runner-up beat Dominic Dale to reach the last round.
David Gilbert will be another tough prospect, this year’s World Championship semi-finalist having just scraped past Xing Zihao in a deciding frame.
Thursday, 7pm UTC
Robert Milkins vs Xu Si
Robert Milkins has suffered a dip in form and his end-of-season ranking is provisionally all the way down at number 43.
But the former Welsh Open winner beat Ross Muir to set up a contest with Xu Si, who he has never played before on the World Snooker Tour.
Stan Moody vs He Guoqiang
It’s turning into an impressive campaign for teenager Stan Moody, who continues to record strong results amid beating Pang Junxu on Tuesday.
Another young Chinese player stands in Moody’s way of a last-32 berth, last season’s Rookie of the Year He Guoqiang having pipped Anthony McGill in a 6-5 thriller.
Liu Hongyu vs Michael Holt
When Michael Holt suffered a shock relegation from the main tour in 2022, he must have thought that his career in the big-time was at an end.
But here the 46 year-old is standing just one win away from a return to York, with Liu Hongyu hoping to crush the former Shoot Out king’s ambitions.
Matthew Stevens vs Neil Robertson
With six appearances in finals and four UK titles between them, it doesn’t get much bigger than a Judgement Day showdown between Neil Robertson and Matthew Stevens.
Robertson struggled to overcome Oliver Lines in the third round while Stevens comfortably held Martin O’Donnell at arm’s length, with the pair set to face one another for the first time since 2016.
2024 UK Championship qualifiers
Round 4 – Judgement Day (bo11)
Wednesday, 1pm UTC
Jak Jones vs Fan Zhengyi
Elliot Slessor vs Stephen Maguire
Jimmy Robertson vs Stuart Bingham
Jackson Page vs Hossein Vafaei
Wednesday, 7pm UTC
Jack Lisowski vs Bai Yulu
Ryan Day vs Sanderson Lam
David Lilley vs Wu Yize
Wang Yuchen vs Barry Hawkins
Thursday, 1pm UTC
Lei Peifan vs Ben Woollaston
Zhou Yuelong vs Matthew Selt
Ricky Walden vs Zhao Xintong
Julien Leclercq vs David Gilbert
Thursday, 7pm UTC
Robert Milkins vs Xu Si
Stan Moody vs He Guoqiang
Liu Hongyu vs Michael Holt
Matthew Stevens vs Neil Robertson
Click here for up-to-date results
(snooker.org)
How to watch the UK Championship qualifiers
Watch worldwide on WST’s Facebook or YouTube channels (outside China). You can also watch live on discovery+ throughout Europe including the UK and Ireland.
Featured photo credit: WST
Yesterday was my last day in Leicester – I will return to London to watch the ‘Judgement Day’s coverage online.
Last night’s evening session was one of the most dramatic I can remember. There was a story on each of the 8 tables, some of them twice (two held-over matches)!
There were several 6-5 thrillers, including a respotted black (Woollaston-Perry). McGill seemed to suffer a meltdown, losing after having been 3-0 and 4-1 ahead. There were 3 matches still going at midnight.
But the star was of course Bai Yulu. She was magnificent! It’s not so much the matches she has won, but the way she did it. She finished so strongly, like an experience professional. She kept potting difficult balls under pressure, yet remained composed. The Lisowski match may be a stretch too far, but what she has shown this far is extraordinary. Any tour rookie would be delighted with this run.
Yes, terrific from Bai. The difference in potential between her and the other women players, as good as the likes of Mink and Ng have been on the women’s circuit, is stark to me.
Didn’t realise Woollaston-Perry finished on a respotted black. Thanks for the insights.
Perry needed a snooker to get to the respotted black. But then a double-kiss left an easy finish for Woollaston. Perry was not happy. Overall it was a pretty terrible match, but it was one of about 6 matches that had a gut-wrenching climax. It was a day of tension, unfortunately watched by only about 30 people at the venue, despite the £12 per day entry. I wonder if many people in Leicester knew it was actually going on?
Qualifying represents excellent value. I’m surprised it’s not better attended.
The number of 50 plus breaks from Bai is in stark contrast to the other female players we see on the tour. If not today, a watershed moment from her can’t be far away.
Actually, those 50 breaks are probably her weakness at the moment. She needs to convert those to at least 70+ to make sure of the frame. Twice yesterday she didn’t. But that will indeed come – last year’s she was making centuries, including a 142 and a failed 147 attempt (snookered herself on the yellow). However it’s still at level far exceeding anything we have seen before.
I was only mentioning the 50 breaks in relation to the other female players. However, Bai’s scoring was much stronger than Donaldson’s yesterday.
After three and a half years of all the female players (including Bai Yulu herself until last weekend.) underachieving to what I had expected: a couple of first qualification round wins each per season as a minimum based on what I had seen of the best of the women’s tour rated against the lowest levels of the main tour, Bai Yulu has now exceeded any expectation that I had in just a few days. Her last two wins are surely highly important to the rest of her career. And probably others’ too. Possibly it’s the best achievement of any female cueist that I’m aware of, and I do watch some pro pool from time to time.
I wonder if her facing Mark Williams, and not being utterly overcome, in a full competitive match up at the Champions of Champions has “unbottled” something for her on the tour going forward?