Ronnie O'Sullivan is the man to beat not just as the defending champion after his success against Shaun Murphy in last year's final, but also having made at least the semi-finals in all of the four events he has played in this season, winning two of them.
2011 champion Judd Trump is the most recent winner on tour though having defeated O'Sullivan to lift the Alex Higgins trophy last week in Belfast, while the ranking event prior to that was won by 2011 UK runner-up Mark Allen.
Mark Selby looked to be in form on the way to the semi-finals in Northern Ireland where he lost a classic to O'Sullivan and the two-time champion is also among the favourites to lift the UK title.
Struggling of late though are World champion Mark Williams and last year's losing Crucible finalist John Higgins while last year's UK runner-up Murphy is yet to really get out of the traps this season. The list of possible first time Triple Crown event winners is headed by Kyren Wilson who made the final of the recent Champion of Champions and Jack Lisowski who has motored up the rankings in the last 18 months.
It all makes for a potentially exciting tournament and it all starts on Tuesday with three days of last 128 action before the BBC cameras turn up for the start of the last 64 on Saturday.
Quarter 1
Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)
Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Luke Simmonds
Yuan Sijun Vs Ken Doherty
Zhou Yuelong Vs Soheil Vahedi
Mark Davis Vs Sam Craigie
Marco Fu Vs Hammad Miah
Michael Georgiou Vs Luo Honghao
Jack Lisowski Vs Zhang Jiankang
Fergal O'Brien Vs Mei Xiwen
Lu Haotian Vs Tian Pengfei
Jimmy Robertson Vs Jordan Brown
Martin O'Donnell Vs Xu Si
Shaun Murphy Vs Chen Feilong
Ben Woollaston Vs Alfie Burden
Xiao Guodong Vs Sean O'Sullivan
Matthew Selt Vs Zhang Yong
Ding Junhui Vs Adam Stefanow
Ding Junhui is a two-time UK champion but has struggled for success in this event in recent years. His two triumphs came in 2005 and 2009 but he has failed to get to a UK quarter-final since 2011, with two last 128 exits in his last three visits to York. He does not have much form this year either, having played almost exclusively in China and entering only three ranking events. His one visit to the UK since the World Championships was for the Champion of Champions where he defeated Michael Georgiou before losing out to Shaun Murphy. The class act that Ding is, he could come good at any time, but he certainly looks vulnerable to an early exit at the moment.
Ronnie O'Sullivan is this year's defending champion and his record at the UK Championship overall is exceptional. This year marks the 25th anniversary of his first ever UK title win and since then he has picked up the trophy another five times, with one runner-up finish, three further semi-finals and six quarter-finals in that period - meaning he has reached the quarter-finals in 16 of the last 22 UK Championships that he has played in. In the ranking events he has played this season he reached the semi-finals of the English Open, the final of the Northern Ireland and has won both invitationals he entered at the Shanghai Masters and Champion of Champions which is an ominous sign for the rest of the field. The sort of form that O'Sullivan, who will celebrate his 43rd birthday during the tournament, is still able to achieve even after extended periods away from the game is frightening and at his best there are very few people that can match him so it will be interesting to see whether he brings his very best to the Barbican.
Marco Fu, Jimmy Robertson and Mark Davis are all players that could do well in this section. Fu though has had a really poor first half to the season, which was added to recently in Belfast by a last 128 exit that handed Chen Feilong his first win on tour. Jimmy Robertson of course has been riding high with his recent European Masters victory, though he has actually failed to get beyond the last 64 in three ranking events since then, while at the UK Championship he has only gone beyond the last 64 at the venue twice. Davis has had a nice season by reaching his first ever ranking final at the English Open, though in the two events since he has suffered last 64 and last 32 exits. He does have some form at the UK Championship though making the semi-finals in 2012 and the quarter-finals in 2014, but equally he lost in the last 128 last year and the last 64 in 2016 in York.
Jack Lisowski is one of the form men coming to the UK Championship this year. After starting the season with a run to the final in Riga, he has gone on to reach a further semi-final and three quarter-finals in ranking events, while his two recent last 32 exits in the Home Nations series were both at the hands of Judd Trump. His record in York is not good though, failing to get beyond the last 32 in any of his previous attempts and that is something he has every chance of putting right this year, given the way that he has been performing. For me he is probably the biggest threat to O'Sullivan in the first four rounds and is certainly more likely to make the last 16 than Fu who is in Lisowski's mini section.
My first quarter choice though is last year's losing finalist Shaun Murphy. The 2008 UK champion may have had a really poor start to the season but his record at this event and the fact that this is the year's first major could help him turn that slump around. Overall, he has suffered five last 128 exits out of eight ranking events, made one last 16 appearance as his best of the season and currently sits 54th on this year's money list, poor by the standards of the current world number nine. In the UK Championship though he has reached at least the semi-finals in six of his last 11 outings, including his title win in '08 and his appearances in the final both in 2012 and last year and at no point in that period has he failed to reach the last 16. His draw this week is not easy with a potential last 64 meeting with an in-form Martin O'Donnell as well as potential last 32 outings against either European Masters champion Jimmy Robertson or indeed Lu Haotian, who knocked him out in the last 16 at the China Championship. Being back at an event where he has had so much success though should help him focus on the positives in his game and get his mind in the right place and there have been positives of late, making the semi-finals of the Champion of Champions where he defeated Jimmy Robertson and Ding Junhui (both of whom are in this quarter) before losing to O'Sullivan in a match where Murphy made two centuries. Given the class that Murphy has it would be a big surprise if he does not come good at some point soon this season and coming to an event where his record is very solid provides the opportunity to really kick his 2018/2019 campaign into gear.
Ronnie O'Sullivan is this year's defending champion and his record at the UK Championship overall is exceptional. This year marks the 25th anniversary of his first ever UK title win and since then he has picked up the trophy another five times, with one runner-up finish, three further semi-finals and six quarter-finals in that period - meaning he has reached the quarter-finals in 16 of the last 22 UK Championships that he has played in. In the ranking events he has played this season he reached the semi-finals of the English Open, the final of the Northern Ireland and has won both invitationals he entered at the Shanghai Masters and Champion of Champions which is an ominous sign for the rest of the field. The sort of form that O'Sullivan, who will celebrate his 43rd birthday during the tournament, is still able to achieve even after extended periods away from the game is frightening and at his best there are very few people that can match him so it will be interesting to see whether he brings his very best to the Barbican.
Marco Fu, Jimmy Robertson and Mark Davis are all players that could do well in this section. Fu though has had a really poor first half to the season, which was added to recently in Belfast by a last 128 exit that handed Chen Feilong his first win on tour. Jimmy Robertson of course has been riding high with his recent European Masters victory, though he has actually failed to get beyond the last 64 in three ranking events since then, while at the UK Championship he has only gone beyond the last 64 at the venue twice. Davis has had a nice season by reaching his first ever ranking final at the English Open, though in the two events since he has suffered last 64 and last 32 exits. He does have some form at the UK Championship though making the semi-finals in 2012 and the quarter-finals in 2014, but equally he lost in the last 128 last year and the last 64 in 2016 in York.
Jack Lisowski is one of the form men coming to the UK Championship this year. After starting the season with a run to the final in Riga, he has gone on to reach a further semi-final and three quarter-finals in ranking events, while his two recent last 32 exits in the Home Nations series were both at the hands of Judd Trump. His record in York is not good though, failing to get beyond the last 32 in any of his previous attempts and that is something he has every chance of putting right this year, given the way that he has been performing. For me he is probably the biggest threat to O'Sullivan in the first four rounds and is certainly more likely to make the last 16 than Fu who is in Lisowski's mini section.
My first quarter choice though is last year's losing finalist Shaun Murphy. The 2008 UK champion may have had a really poor start to the season but his record at this event and the fact that this is the year's first major could help him turn that slump around. Overall, he has suffered five last 128 exits out of eight ranking events, made one last 16 appearance as his best of the season and currently sits 54th on this year's money list, poor by the standards of the current world number nine. In the UK Championship though he has reached at least the semi-finals in six of his last 11 outings, including his title win in '08 and his appearances in the final both in 2012 and last year and at no point in that period has he failed to reach the last 16. His draw this week is not easy with a potential last 64 meeting with an in-form Martin O'Donnell as well as potential last 32 outings against either European Masters champion Jimmy Robertson or indeed Lu Haotian, who knocked him out in the last 16 at the China Championship. Being back at an event where he has had so much success though should help him focus on the positives in his game and get his mind in the right place and there have been positives of late, making the semi-finals of the Champion of Champions where he defeated Jimmy Robertson and Ding Junhui (both of whom are in this quarter) before losing to O'Sullivan in a match where Murphy made two centuries. Given the class that Murphy has it would be a big surprise if he does not come good at some point soon this season and coming to an event where his record is very solid provides the opportunity to really kick his 2018/2019 campaign into gear.
Best of the rest: Jack Lisowski
Quarter choice: Shaun Murphy
Couge's Choices: For those that are not aware, Couge is a former participant of the Fantasy Snooker League. In the 2015/2016 season he was the league winner, as well as finishing second in last season's league and third in the 2014/2015 half-season version. In this preview I am debuting a new segment where Couge will make his tournament choices and his first is from the top quarter. Given his recent form, making three finals already this season, Couge has "can't see any other final" that does not involve Ronnie O'Sullivan.
Quarter 2
Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)
Judd Trump Vs David Lilley
Dominic Dale Vs Gerard Greene
Mark King Vs Elliot Slessor
Li Hang Vs Lee Walker
Ryan Day Vs Joe O'Connor
Andrew Higginson Vs Nigel Bond
Joe Perry Vs John Astley
Michael Holt Vs Chen Zifan
Mark Joyce Vs Niu Zhuang
Anthony McGill Vs Lu Ning
Liam Highfield Vs Robin Hull
Luca Brecel Vs Fan Zhengyi
Tom Ford Vs Craig Steadman
Robert Milkins Vs Sanderson Lam
Alan McManus Vs Alexander Ursenbacher
John Higgins Vs Dechawat Poomjaeng
John Higgins has had a fairly odd start to the season so far. Missing the early events on the calendar, he then made the final at the China Championship but without playing anywhere near as well as you would expect him to play in making a ranking event final. Since then he has suffered two last 128 exits in the three events he has played in to Peter Lines and most recently Rory McLeod last week in Belfast. At the UK Championships itself, after winning the title in 2010 he then suffered four last 16 exits in a row before making the quarter-finals in 2015 and 2016, but then suffered another last 16 exit last year to Mark King. While there are a lot of players that could potentially beat Higgins in this quarter if he is not at his best, the one main threat to him would be the potential quarter-final with Trump.
Ryan Day put a very average UK Championship record to one side last year as he sailed through to the semi-finals for the first time in the event. Prior to that had been a number of early exits, particularly since the event switched to the flat draw and in 13 previous attempts he had never reached a quarter-final. One thing he has got in his favour this year is that he comes to York off the back of making three quarter-finals in his last four events, with a narrow last 32 loss at the International Championship his only slight blemish, though he will also be disappointed not to have kicked on. His main threat in this quarter, like Higgins, will also be Trump who put him out in the quarters last week in Belfast, but the likes of Andrew Higginson and Joe Perry could definitely challenge him in the early rounds.
Luca Brecel and Anthony McGill are two potential dark horses, though they have struggled this season so far. In seven ranking events so far this season, McGill has only got to one last 16 and one further last 32 which is simply not good enough for someone ranked just outside of the top 16. He has made one quarter-final in UK Championship history but has followed it with three successive last 64 defeats and he is certainly vulnerable again this year. As for Brecel, his last 16 at the Northern Ireland Open to Trump means he is still to achieve a ranking event quarter-final in the calendar year 2018, though there were signs of promise in Belfast. The UK Championship does bring back good memories for him though, making his maiden quarter-final at the event back in 2012 before making another in 2016, both of which he lost to Murphy. Throw in the fact that he made the last 16 back in 2015 and he has made it to the last 16 in half of his six Barbican visits.
My second quarter choice though is one of the form men and a former UK champion in Judd Trump. The left-hander won the Northern Ireland Open last week, almost as a direct response to criticism of him following his 6-1 loss to Kyren Wilson in the Champion of Champions and the rivalry that seems to have been sparked between the two. He was in sublime form in Belfast but now he needs to transform that into the big events. Since winning the UK Championship in 2011 he has not quite won as many of the big events as people have expected, missing out narrowly on winning this title again in 2014 where he lost the final 10-9 to O'Sullivan. Other than that his five other Barbican appearances since his title run in 2011 have only produced one last 16 showing and he has not been beyond the last 32 in York since that 2014 final. One thing he does not lack for is ability and the confidence his recent victory has given him will surely put him in a good place for a title bid this year. Day is probably the one big threat standing between him and the quarter-finals this year where Higgins is probably the only man that could stop him should Trump reach that stage and with Higgins' form you have to favour Trump for this section overall.
Ryan Day put a very average UK Championship record to one side last year as he sailed through to the semi-finals for the first time in the event. Prior to that had been a number of early exits, particularly since the event switched to the flat draw and in 13 previous attempts he had never reached a quarter-final. One thing he has got in his favour this year is that he comes to York off the back of making three quarter-finals in his last four events, with a narrow last 32 loss at the International Championship his only slight blemish, though he will also be disappointed not to have kicked on. His main threat in this quarter, like Higgins, will also be Trump who put him out in the quarters last week in Belfast, but the likes of Andrew Higginson and Joe Perry could definitely challenge him in the early rounds.
Luca Brecel and Anthony McGill are two potential dark horses, though they have struggled this season so far. In seven ranking events so far this season, McGill has only got to one last 16 and one further last 32 which is simply not good enough for someone ranked just outside of the top 16. He has made one quarter-final in UK Championship history but has followed it with three successive last 64 defeats and he is certainly vulnerable again this year. As for Brecel, his last 16 at the Northern Ireland Open to Trump means he is still to achieve a ranking event quarter-final in the calendar year 2018, though there were signs of promise in Belfast. The UK Championship does bring back good memories for him though, making his maiden quarter-final at the event back in 2012 before making another in 2016, both of which he lost to Murphy. Throw in the fact that he made the last 16 back in 2015 and he has made it to the last 16 in half of his six Barbican visits.
My second quarter choice though is one of the form men and a former UK champion in Judd Trump. The left-hander won the Northern Ireland Open last week, almost as a direct response to criticism of him following his 6-1 loss to Kyren Wilson in the Champion of Champions and the rivalry that seems to have been sparked between the two. He was in sublime form in Belfast but now he needs to transform that into the big events. Since winning the UK Championship in 2011 he has not quite won as many of the big events as people have expected, missing out narrowly on winning this title again in 2014 where he lost the final 10-9 to O'Sullivan. Other than that his five other Barbican appearances since his title run in 2011 have only produced one last 16 showing and he has not been beyond the last 32 in York since that 2014 final. One thing he does not lack for is ability and the confidence his recent victory has given him will surely put him in a good place for a title bid this year. Day is probably the one big threat standing between him and the quarter-finals this year where Higgins is probably the only man that could stop him should Trump reach that stage and with Higgins' form you have to favour Trump for this section overall.
Best of the rest: Luca Brecel
Quarter choice: Judd Trump
Quarter 3
Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)
Mark Selby Vs James Cahill
Akani Songsermsawad Vs Eden Sharav
Ricky Walden Vs Jak Jones
Michael White Vs Joe Swail
Stuart Bingham Vs James Wattana
Kurt Maflin Vs Zhang Anda
David Gilbert Vs Ashley Carty
Peter Ebdon Vs Chris Totten
Stuart Carrington Vs Paul Davison
Yan Bingtao Vs Lukas Kleckers
Mike Dunn Vs Allan Taylor
Kyren Wilson Vs Andy Lee
Gary Wilson Vs Billy Castle
Liang Wenbo Vs Sam Baird
Robbie Williams Vs Ian Burns
Barry Hawkins Vs Jamie Clarke
Mark Selby is the headliner of quarter number three and he comes into this in good form having narrowly missed out on victory over Ronnie O'Sullivan in the semi-finals of the Northern Ireland Open. Prior to that he fell to Neil Robertson in both the first round of the Champion of Champions (despite a 147 maximum break) and the quarter-finals of the International Championship. His record both in this event and the International Championship shows that he thrives over the longer best-of-11 matches compared to the best-of-7 frame games. In the last six UK Championships he has won the event twice, making a further final in 2013 and a semi-final in 2015 (both of which he also lost to Robertson), though both last year and in 2014 he struggled to last 64 exits. Having also won earlier in the year in China, Selby could well be primed for another big UK Championship run.
Barry Hawkins however is someone who has an unusually poor UK Championship record, at least in recent times. He has only ever reached one UK quarter-final and never gone beyond that stage. In 2014 he famously lost in the last 64 from 5-0 up against Nigel Bond and then fell at the same stage again in the next two years to Robin Hull and Fergal O'Brien, the latter of whom had five centuries in that match. Last year he broke that spell but could go no further than the last 32 where he was whitewashed by Akani Songsermsawad. His season started well with some good runs out in China but has gone a bit quiet in recent weeks, first with a last 64 loss at the European Masters, followed by two last 32 defeats at the English Open and then the International Championship before a first round exit in Northern Ireland.
Stuart Bingham has a bit of previous form in the UK Championships, having a spell between 2010 and 2014 where he reached two quarter-finals and two semi-finals out of the five events, but aside from that he has not had such a consistent record in the event as other top players and has lost out prior to the last 16 stage in both of the last two years. This season has seen him pick up the English Open title recently with a superb run of form, but since then he has not won a match, losing in the last 64 of the International Championship and the first round of both the Champion of Champions and Northern Ireland Open. He also has some dangerous players in his section of the draw that he would have to get through just to make his first last 16 in York since 2015.
One of those players is his potential last 32 opponent in David Gilbert. Last time out in Northern Ireland, Gilbert made the quarter-finals before losing out to Ronnie O'Sullivan, having made the last 16 of the International Championship as well as reaching the final of the World Open at the start of the season to leave him well positioned on this season's money list. At the UK Championship he has not done a great deal of note, with a best finish of the last 16 in 2016 but the way he is playing he could easily match that this year and maybe even go one or two rounds better.
My third quarter choice is someone who is starting to thrive in the big events and that is Kyren Wilson. In the UK Championship his best finish may only be the last 32 but he has a smaller sample size than many players, especially considering that this is only his fourth UK Championship since winning his first ranking title. However, he was a finalist at the Masters in January and in his last three appearances at the Crucible he has had two quarter-finals, prior to the semi-final he achieved in May. He was also a finalist recently at the Champion of Champions, beating Mark Williams, Judd Trump and an in-form Mark Allen before suffering a tough 10-9 loss to O'Sullivan and given his determination, he will use the pain of that loss to inspire him on in future big events and I believe that will start right here in York. There have also been other bright sparks this season such as his semi-final at the Shanghai Masters before losing to O'Sullivan there too, as well as winning the Paul Hunter Classic in Germany. Given his results in the World Championship and the Masters he made at the start of the year, it does not feel like it will be long until Wilson is able to bag one of the Triple Crown events because the mental strength required to do so is something he has in abundance.
Barry Hawkins however is someone who has an unusually poor UK Championship record, at least in recent times. He has only ever reached one UK quarter-final and never gone beyond that stage. In 2014 he famously lost in the last 64 from 5-0 up against Nigel Bond and then fell at the same stage again in the next two years to Robin Hull and Fergal O'Brien, the latter of whom had five centuries in that match. Last year he broke that spell but could go no further than the last 32 where he was whitewashed by Akani Songsermsawad. His season started well with some good runs out in China but has gone a bit quiet in recent weeks, first with a last 64 loss at the European Masters, followed by two last 32 defeats at the English Open and then the International Championship before a first round exit in Northern Ireland.
Stuart Bingham has a bit of previous form in the UK Championships, having a spell between 2010 and 2014 where he reached two quarter-finals and two semi-finals out of the five events, but aside from that he has not had such a consistent record in the event as other top players and has lost out prior to the last 16 stage in both of the last two years. This season has seen him pick up the English Open title recently with a superb run of form, but since then he has not won a match, losing in the last 64 of the International Championship and the first round of both the Champion of Champions and Northern Ireland Open. He also has some dangerous players in his section of the draw that he would have to get through just to make his first last 16 in York since 2015.
One of those players is his potential last 32 opponent in David Gilbert. Last time out in Northern Ireland, Gilbert made the quarter-finals before losing out to Ronnie O'Sullivan, having made the last 16 of the International Championship as well as reaching the final of the World Open at the start of the season to leave him well positioned on this season's money list. At the UK Championship he has not done a great deal of note, with a best finish of the last 16 in 2016 but the way he is playing he could easily match that this year and maybe even go one or two rounds better.
My third quarter choice is someone who is starting to thrive in the big events and that is Kyren Wilson. In the UK Championship his best finish may only be the last 32 but he has a smaller sample size than many players, especially considering that this is only his fourth UK Championship since winning his first ranking title. However, he was a finalist at the Masters in January and in his last three appearances at the Crucible he has had two quarter-finals, prior to the semi-final he achieved in May. He was also a finalist recently at the Champion of Champions, beating Mark Williams, Judd Trump and an in-form Mark Allen before suffering a tough 10-9 loss to O'Sullivan and given his determination, he will use the pain of that loss to inspire him on in future big events and I believe that will start right here in York. There have also been other bright sparks this season such as his semi-final at the Shanghai Masters before losing to O'Sullivan there too, as well as winning the Paul Hunter Classic in Germany. Given his results in the World Championship and the Masters he made at the start of the year, it does not feel like it will be long until Wilson is able to bag one of the Triple Crown events because the mental strength required to do so is something he has in abundance.
Best of the rest: David Gilbert
Quarter choice: Kyren Wilson
Couge's Choices: Couge's second and third selections both come from the third quarter of the draw. The first is a dark horse choice as he looks at Sam Baird. He believes that "Sam Baird may win a few matches" as a darkhorse starting out in the last 128 against Liang Wenbo. Baird has had two successes in recent times defeating Shaun Murphy 6-0 and 4-2 in the last 128 of the International Championship and Northern Ireland Open respectively.
Next, he lines up world number one Mark Selby as the other half of his chosen final to take on O'Sullivan, believing that he "cannot see any other final" than Selby Vs O'Sullivan. Mark Allen in quarter four is the one player he thinks could "upset" an O'Sullivan/Selby showdown.
Quarter 4
Last 128 draw: (Picks in bold)
Mark Allen Vs Basem Eltahhan
Rory McLeod Vs Peter Lines
Martin Gould Vs Harvey Chandler
Hossein Vafei Vs Ashley Hugill
Neil Robertson Vs Kishan Hirani
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh Vs Jimmy White
Graeme Dott Vs Oliver Lines
Matthew Stevens Vs Ross Muir
Chris Wakelin Vs Duane Jones
Ali Carter Vs Thor Chuan Leong
Scott Donaldson Vs Li Yuan
Stephen Maguire Vs Simon Lichtenberg
Noppon Saengkham Vs Hamza Akbar
Anthony Hamilton Vs Rod Lawler
Daniel Wells Vs Zhao Xintong
Mark Williams Vs Adam Duffy
Mark Williams has not been on the best run of form since winning the World Open in the summer. Since his run to the last 16 of the China Championship, that was ended abruptly by potential last 64 opponent Zhao Xintong, Williams has suffered a last 32 exit at the English Open and two last 64 exits and looked altogether out of sorts. At this event he has only achieved one quarter-final since finishing runner-up to Higgins in 2010 and in that period, five of his seven exits have been before the last 16 stage in York. With a potentially tough early round draw with guys like Zhao, Noppon Saengkham and Anthony Hamilton all well capable of taking him out before the last 16 stage for this sixth year in the last eight, Williams' form will need to improve slightly.
Mark Allen is a man who has been on top form in recent times. The 2011 UK runner-up was absolutely sublime in winning the International Championship, with centuries galore coming in the process. He only missed out on back-to-back finals by losing a decider to Kyren Wilson in the Champion of Champions and his first round exit in Belfast came as he seemed to run out of steam. Allen is the man to beat in this quarter in my view and the fact that he has just won a tournament that is formatted very similarly to this puts him in a good place. In the last two years Allen has been knocked out at the last 16 stage, with last 32 exits in 2014 and 2015 since he last made the quarters back in 2013. For me, he will make at least a third UK last 16 in a row and a potential third meeting inside four events against Neil Robertson jumps off the page when looking at this quarter.
Speaking of Robertson, his form has still been a little up and down this season but there are many more ups than there were this time last year. He won the season opening Riga Masters and was runner-up to Allen at the International Championship, though he has only gone beyond the last 32 in one of his five other ranking events so far this season. The Australian's record at the UK Championship between 2010 and 2015 was sublime, winning the title twice (2012 and 2015) making a further semi-final, two quarter-finals and only a last 16 decider defeat to Graeme Dott in 2014 being a slight blemish. The last two years have not been the best though, painfully losing in the last 128 as defending champion in 2016 and then losing his top 16 place and a spot in the Masters after falling in the last 32 a year ago to Mark Joyce. The Australian though is still a big contender in York this week.
Stephen Maguire has one of the best UK Championship records over a long period out of every single player in the field this week. The Scotsman won the title all the way back in 2004 and the last time he failed to make the last 16 at the very least was a year earlier in 2003. In the 13 years since winning the title in '04, he has made the last 16 five times, three quarter-finals, four semi-finals and one further final. This season he has had a couple of semi-finals at the Riga Masters and the English Open though he comes into this after a last 128 exit in Belfast to Michael Holt and a last 32 exit in Daqing to his potential last 32 opponent this week - Ali Carter. Given his record though in this event it is hard to rule Maguire out as a serious contender.
My fourth and final quarter choice is more of an outside selection, but someone who is showing signs of good form in recent times and that is Ali Carter. At the Northern Ireland Open a loss from 3-1 up against Eden Sharav denied him a third quarter-final in a row, having lost to the eventual winner of both the International Championship and the English Open at the last eight stage. This has come after a poor run of form in the few months leading up to that but with some confidence boosting wins, including a fightback victory against Mark Williams in Belfast, he looks in good shape for the next two weeks. His UK Championship record is decent, having had three quarter-finals and a semi-final in the six events between 2004 and 2009, as well as a gut-wrenching semi-final loss from 8-4 against Murphy in 2012. A potential last 32 tie with Stephen Maguire would be interesting as Carter has a great record against Maguire, while the Scot has a great record in this event and you would fancy either of them to kick on should they make the last 16. Carter does not look like he is far away from a really big run and if he can keep his emotions in check then he has every chance.
Best of the rest: Neil Robertson
Quarter choice: Ali Carter
Tournament winner selection: Kyren Wilson
Couge's Choices: The final selection from Couge for the UK Championship both come from quarter four. He has picked out Noppon Saengkham as a dark horse who could be one to win a few. The Thai may be the biggest threat in Mark Williams' mini section and has reached the quarter-finals of the English Open, as well as semi-finals at the World Open and Welsh Open so far in 2018.
Whatever the outcomes may be, this shapes up as a fascinating UK Championship. I will be in York this week for the last 128 round providing live blogs and twitter updates on the matches before the BBC TV cameras arrive on the scene. As has now become tradition those matches will be played over the best-of-11 frames, as will each round up until the best-of-19 frame final where the winner of the £175,000 first prize will be decided.
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