The first round of the UK Championships is all over which means it starts to feel like a real tournament now, with the TV stages getting underway with the Last 64 on Saturday. There has been one huge upset as the defending champion Neil Robertson is out having been beaten 6-3 by Peter Lines, which really opens up the draw from an early stage.
Kyren Wilson was the next highest ranked casualty as he also lost out 6-3 to Mitchell Mann. Ding Junhui meanwhile made a 74 clearance in his deciding frame to overcome Igor Figueiredo who came back valiantly in that match. Fellow Brazil professional Itaro Santos caused problems for Shaun Murphy leading 3-1 at the interval before Murphy came back with five frames in a row to win 6-3.
However, there were a number of easy wins for the top seeds as Stuart Bingham came through his opener 6-0, with guys like Northern Irish Open runner-up Barry Hawkins and Ricky Walden also winning by the same scoreline. Ronnie O'Sullivan took winning 6-0 to a new level as his match against Boonyarit Keattikun included three centuries and lasted just 56 minutes.
World Champion Mark Selby had a failed maximum attempt in frame one of his 6-1 win over Andy Hicks, while Stephen Maguire, Liang Wenbo and Ali Carter also won 6-1 in their first round games. Judd Trump beat James Wattana 6-2 while in form John Higgins beat Alex Borg 6-3. Mark Allen impressed with three centuries in a 6-4 win over Chen Zhe.
There were also a couple of big comebacks in round one, but the biggest of them all went to Alan McManus who came from 5-0 down to beat Michael Wild. Wang Yuchen beat Peter Ebdon 6-5 from 5-3 and 3-0 behind, while Ross Muir won all of the last four frames from 5-2 down to beat Joe Swail 6-5 in an important match for the fight for tour survival.
Meanwhile, success at the Northern Irish Open was not a recipe for more success in Northern Ireland. Semi-Finallist Anthony Hamilton lost 6-3 to Rod Lawler, just as the other losing semi-finalist Kyren Wilson had done. Belfast champion Mark King suffered a 6-2 loss to Sam Craigie including being docked a frame for forgetting his cue after the mid-session interval and therefore not being ready to re-start on time.
Last 128 Results:
Peter Lines 6-3 Neil Robertson
Chris Wakelin 6-2 Alfie Burden
Wang Yuchen 6-5 Peter Ebdon
Liam Highfield 6-5 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Mark Williams 6-1 Jason Weston
Andrew Higginson 6-4 Hossein Vafei Ayouri
Ricky Walden 6-0 Fang Xiongman
Scott Donaldson 6-4 Dechawat Poomjaeng
Matthew Stevens 6-1 James Cahill
Michael White 6-5 Fraser Patrick
Xiao Guodong 6-3 John Astley
Joe Perry 6-3 Jamie Barrett
Mike Dunn 6-1 Darryl Hill
Michael Georgiou 6-2 Matthew Selt
Rhys Clark 6-5 Li Hang
Ronnie O'Sullivan 6-0 Boonyarit Keattikun
Ding Junhui 6-5 Igor Figueiredo
Ross Muir 6-5 Joe Swail
Alan McManus 6-5 Michael Wild
Jamie Jones 6-1 Eden Sharav
Ali Carter 6-1 Christopher Keogan
Robbie Williams 6-1 Akani Songsermsawad
David Gilbert 6-2 Adam Duffy
Mark Joyce 6-3 Lee Walker
Mei Xi Wen 6-5 Jack Lisowski
Martin Gould 6-2 Gareth Allen
Rory McLeod 6-3 Jak Jones
Marco Fu 6-2 Josh Boileau
Jimmy Robertson 6-0 Thor Chuan Leong
Mark Davis 6-3 Sydney Wilson
Oliver Lines 6-5 Martin O'Donnell
Judd Trump 6-2 James Wattana
Stuart Bingham 6-0 Adam Stefanow
Yu De Lu 6-3 Nigel Bond
Luca Brecel 6-0 Aditya Mehta
Sam Craigie 6-2 Mark King
Barry Hawkins 6-0 David John
Fergal O'Brien 6-2 Zhang Yong
Stephen Maguire 6-1 Cao Yupeng
Zhao Xintong 6-2 David Grace
Zhou Yuelong 6-3 Duane Jones
Michael Holt 6-2 Kritsanut Lertsattayathorn
Yan Bingtao 6-5 Stuart Carrington
Liang Wenbo 6-1 Kurt Dunham
Dominic Dale 6-5 Sanderson Lam
Graeme Dott 6-1 Ian Preece
Robin Hull 6-1 Jamie Cope
Shaun Murphy 6-3 Itaro Santos
John Higgins 6-3 Alex Borg
Noppon Saengkham 6-0 Ken Doherty
Ben Woollaston 6-5 Elliot Slessor
Paul Davison 6-3 Gary Wilson
Mark Allen 6-4 Chen Zhe
Rod Lawler 6-3 Anthony Hamilton
Ryan Day 6-2 Jimmy White
Kurt Maflin 6-0 Allan Taylor
Zhang Anda 6-2 Tian Pengfei
Anthony McGill 6-5 Craig Steadman
Sam Baird 6-2 Sean O'Sullivan
Mitchell Mann 6-3 Kyren Wilson
Hammad Miah 6-5 Tom Ford
Robert Milkins 6-1 Hamza Akbar
Daniel Wells 6-5 Ian Burns
Mark Selby 6-1 Andy Hicks
That's set up the main stages of the UK Championships in effect, with the Last 64 being played over Saturday and Sunday so let's look at who is playing who and when.
Saturday 26th November: 1pm Session:
Mark Selby Vs Daniel Wells
John Higgins Vs Noppon Saengkham
Mark Williams Vs Andrew Higginson
Stephen Maguire Vs Zhao Xintong
Graeme Dott Vs Dominic Dale
Luca Brecel Vs Sam Craigie
Liam Highfield Vs Wang Yuchen
Mike Dunn Vs Michael Georgiou
Saturday 26th November: 7pm Session:
Stuart Bingham Vs Yu De Lu
Ali Carter Vs Robbie Williams
Barry Hawkins Vs Fergal O'Brien
Michael Holt Vs Zhou Yuelong
Michael White Vs Matthew Stevens
Chris Wakelin Vs Peter Lines
Jamie Jones Vs Alan McManus
Sam Baird Vs Mitchell Mann
Sunday 27th November: 1pm Session:
Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Rhys Clark
Ding Junhui Vs Ross Muir
Mark Allen Vs Rod Lawler
Liang Wenbo Vs Yan Bingtao
Martin Gould Vs Mei Xi Wen
David Gilbert Vs Mark Joyce
Robert Milkins Vs Hammad Miah
Ben Woollaston Vs Paul Davison
Sunday 27th November: 7pm Session:
Judd Trump Vs Oliver Lines
Shaun Murphy Vs Robin Hull
Marco Fu Vs Rory McLeod
Joe Perry Vs Xiao Guodong
Ryan Day Vs Kurt Maflin
Ricky Walden Vs Scott Donaldson
Anthony McGill Vs Zhang Anda
Mark Davis Vs Jimmy Robertson
With defending champion Neil Robertson out in the top quarter of the draw, you have to look at 2014 winner Ronnie O'Sullivan as the man who could come through that section now, particularly after an impressive first round display. Ricky Walden, who is a two time York semi-finalist from 2011 and 2013, and Mark Williams are the two men who could have played Robertson in the Last 16, which could well make a possible Last 32 meeting between the two a very high stakes affair. This is baring in mind that Masters places are very much on the line. Opportunity certainly knocks in that top little section as one of non tour card holder Peter Lines, English Open quarter-finalist Chris Wakelin, Liam Highfield or Chinese Wang Yuchen will be in the last 16 as each of those four players came through after beating a top 64 seeded player in round one.
My quarter winner for the bottom quarter has been beaten as Kyren Wilson lost out in round one, and that probably helps Mark Selby's cause more than anyone though he may still have to play Anthony McGill in the Last 16. Mark Allen's three centuries in his round one match could make him a man to watch in that quarter also.
Ding was very close to going out in round one, so he is a man to watch closely for any possible vulnerabilities going forward. Ali Carter could take advantage if Ding were to lose early, if he can keep his form going after two centuries in a comprehensive 6-1 round one win. Judd Trump is still the main man for me in that second quarter though, given that his mini section does contain the out of form Marco Fu as the biggest threat before the quarter-finals.
In quarter three, Shaun Murphy was both relieved but equally as unhappy after a first round performance where he had to pull it out of the fire to beat Itaro Santos. He faces Robin Hull (in a battle of my two favourite players) and Hull had a good chance to beat Murphy in the recent International Championships, and will be well up for that one after thrashing Jamie Cope in round one. Stuart Bingham will be very happy with his efforts at the top end of quarter three, but so will Stephen Maguire and Barry Hawkins whom he could face one of in the Last 16. Last years runner-up Liang Wenbo will also be happy with a 6-1 win and he is Shaun Murphy's potential Last 16 opponent though there is a long way to go before we reach that stage.
One of my picks in the Last 64 comes on Saturday night when Michael White plays Matthew Stevens and that could be a very competitive match if it were to be placed on TV. I'm also looking forward to following Luca Brecel who has good history in this event, and a 6-0 first round win under his belt, as he plays one of my players to watch for this season in Sam Craigie. Ryan Day against Kurt Maflin on Sunday evening could also be a very big scoring affair. Xiao Guodong could be a good match for Joe Perry, as Xiao has been in much better form this season while Perry has not had the greatest year and was nearly pegged back from 4-0 to 4-4 against Jamie Barrett in round one.
My other two players to watch this season also made it through round one with Yan Bingtao playing Liang Wenbo in round two and Zhao Xintong facing Stephen Maguire. Don't be surprised if at least one of my three players to watch is gracing the Last 32 with his presence.
It may also be worth keeping an eye on Michael Georgiou who beat Matt Selt in round one, and he now plays Mike Dunn in the second round with a possible meeting with Ronnie O'Sullivan at stake. The same could be true of Sam Baird who made the Last 16 of the International Championships a month ago and the Last 16 of the World Championship and he now plays Kyren Wilson's victor Mitchell Mann in round two.
In all, 18 of the top 64 seeds for the UK Championships fell at the first hurdle. Six of these come in the bottom quarter, and seven are in the top quarter from which Neil Robertson the very top seed was removed. Only two seeds fell in the second quarter, while the other three came out of quarter three.
So there is plenty to look forward to over the weekend, and that is before we even get to the Last 32 stages which I will be back and looking ahead to ready for Monday.
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