Joe Perry was probably the man with the most controversial comments after his loss to Robbie Williams. He described his match as the most bored he has been whilst playing snooker, saying he was bored after the first two frames that left him at 2-0 behind. He went on to criticise his opponents style and speed of play, saying that more players need to go out and try to win, rather than trying not to lose. Robbie then responded by saying he was aware that Joe did not like slow and negative play and used this as a deliberate tactic (I'll leave the debate on whether that's gamesmanship or not up to you). Joe levelled at 2-2 from 2-0 behind and again at 3-3 before losing the last three frames and the match at 6-3.
Meanwhile, Ricky Walden was left "embarrassed" by his loss as he felt that he is playing some of the worst snooker of his career in terms of how he is striking the cue ball. He also said that "I'm losing to average players because I'm an average player myself" which is quite a damning verdict on his 6-5 loss from 4-1 in front against Li Hang in which Ricky did not make a break of above 50.
Elsewhere, Shaun Murphy and Stuart Bingham were very pleased with their individual performances in their wins on Saturday. Shaun was the most impressive player of the round with two centuries and plenty of other top breaks in seeing off the big threat of Zhou Yuelong easily with a 6-1 win. Anthony Hamilton may have had plenty of chances to get a lot closer to the world champion, but Bingham was pleased to finish off a 6-3 win with the current tournament highest break of 143.
On Sunday it was the turn of World Number 1 Mark Selby who turned on the style against Oliver Lines with a total clearance in the opening frame, and a missed maximum attempt in the last frame of a whitewash win. Judd Trump was a little bit hit and miss in his encounter with Stuart Carrington but Stuart missed the boat on a couple of occasions and Trump eventually went through comfortably. Ali Carter and Michael Holt also had comfortable wins, while the same could not be said for in form Ryan Day who was soundly beaten by Dechawat Poomjaeng (helping out Michael White's Masters position). Mark Allen is another man who is a big contender for this title, and he kept up his cause with a nice win against Michael Georgiou.
Neil Robertson came through comfortably 6-2 against a poor Aditya Mehta on Sunday evening, and Jamie Cope was also poor as Stephen Maguire quickly romped to a 6-0 win. The big result came on one of the non-TV tables as Robin Hull beat Barry Hawkins 6-3 without Hull making a break of above 50, whilst the highest break from Hawkins was a 54 to win the opening frame, whilst a key moment could be frame two where Hull avoided going 0-2 down by winning the frame on pink and black by a point. David Grace also got a massive result as he thrashed Robert Milkins 6-2 to go with his 6-1 win in round one against Andrew Higginson.
Last 64 Results:
Stuart Bingham 6-3 Anthony Hamilton
Peter Ebdon 6-5 Dominic Dale
Jack Lisowski 6-5 Graeme Dott
David Grace 6-2 Robert Milkins
Martin Gould 6-4 Gary Wilson
Mark Allen 6-2 Michael Georgiou
Michael Holt 6-2 Chris Wakelin
Joe Swail 6-5 Adam Duffy
Judd Trump 6-3 Stuart Carrington
Liang Wenbo 6-2 Jimmy Robertson
Kyren Wilson 6-2 Mike Dunn
Tom Ford 6-5 Mark Williams
Marco Fu 6-0 Yu De Lu
David Gilbert 6-5 Gerard Greene
Ben Woollaston 6-5 Ross Muir
Shaun Murphy 6-1 Zhou Yuelong
Neil Robertson 6-2 Aditya Mehta
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 6-5 Fergal O'Brien
Mark Davis 6-3 Ken Doherty
Stephen Maguire 6-0 Jamie Cope
Li Hang 6-5 Ricky Walden
Jamie Burnett 6-3 Alan McManus
Ali Carter 6-3 Daniel Wells
John Higgins 6-2 Tian Pengfei
Robin Hull 6-3 Barry Hawkins
Luca Brecel 6-4 Anthony McGill
Matt Selt 6-4 Sean O'Sullivan
Robbie Williams 6-3 Joe Perry
Mark Joyce 6-2 Sydney Wilson
Dechawat Poomjaeng 6-2 Ryan Day
Jamie Jones 6-1 Xiao Guodong
Mark Selby 6-0 Oliver Lines
Jack Lisowski Vs David Grace - This is another major opportunity for these two players to get into the Last 16, as both are on the rise. Jack appears to have found a little bit more form at the start of this season with the help of Terry Griffiths and can already boast a win against Ali Carter in the International Championships, but more impressively given his comeback from 5-2 behind, his win this week against Graeme Dott in round two. Jack is scoring well as always but also seems to have grown a little bit more patient and improved a little on his safety and shot selection from what I have seen and heard and that makes him dangerous. David Grace meanwhile has had two great wins this week only dropping three frames in beating Andrew Higginson and Robert Milkins, although it seems like Robert has plenty of chances in the second of those matches and it may have been one of those nights where he didn't fancy it. Overall, this is a huge match and I could see it running very close. Both have proved this week that they have the bottle and it is an incredibly close call, but with signs of his work with Terry coming off I think that Jack Lisowski has the tools to get into the last 16.
Mark Allen Vs Martin Gould - This is all set up to be a brilliant contest between two high scoring and aggressive players. Both guys have had relatively easy starts to the tournament, while Gary Wilson did push Martin Gould in a game that could have gone either way in the end. Mark Allen has just continued his brilliant form of late, and he certainly does not seem like he is ready to let up yet. I constantly say that it is only a matter of time before Mark Allen wins a big tournament in the UK and the way things are shaping up this week and with his present form I can see no reason why that moment could not come in the next week. Gould is always a threat to the top 16 players, but not often enough for his own liking, else he would already be back in the top 16 (or would never have fallen down the rankings in the first place). If he is to beat Mark here I think he will have to be in better scoring form than he showed on Saturday against Wilson.
Michael Holt Vs Joe Swail - Michael Holt is continuing his nice and consistent start to the season, with this being the fourth full ranking event of the season, and if he can beat Swail it will be his third appearance in the Last 16 to go with a Last 32 exit in Daqing to John Higgins. He has played nicely this week too with a century in both of his wins so far, and he was particularly impressive in beating Wakelin so comfortably by winning each of the final five frames. Joe Swail was very convincing when he beat Joel Walker 6-0 in round one, but he did not quite live up to the same expectations against Adam Duffy where based on his scoring that saw him fail to make another 50+ break after an opening frame 88, he appeared to get bogged down. This is a big chance here if Michael can carry on playing well to get another nice run together and Swail will have to be more consistent to win this match.
Judd Trump Vs Liang Wenbo - Here we have one of the contenders for one of the matches of the round and hopefully one of the first exciting televised matches of the week. Liang is a little inconsistent at times but the way he has started off this week, it could be a sign of one of the Chinaman's hot weeks like he had in Berlin in February. Judd meanwhile looked shaky and certainly had issues with his concentration against Stuart Carrington and if he does not sort that out before this contest he is certainly vulnerable to the way that Liang goes about things. Trump could just as easily tune in on the day and blow Wenbo out of the water, and to be a tournament contender you have to come through matches like this with flying colours. If the Chinese takes his chances when they come along, which they certainly will when you play a Judd who seems ready to take plenty of risks this week, then he has a great chance of causing the upset.
Kyren Wilson Vs Tom Ford - Kyren Wilson's impressive form continued in his second round victory against Mike Dunn. Kyren scored well throughout the match once again and was gutted to miss on 88 going for the maximum in the final frame making light of what could have been a tough match indeed there. Tom Ford meanwhile has been in excellent break lol form and was very stylish in the way he not only came back into the match with Mark Williams from 5-3 down but also to make two 70+ clearances from 69-0 down and to have the bottle to clear in the decider from 50 points down also. He certainly won't give Kyren an easy ride here and I expect this match to go quite close if both are in good form once again. With Kyren riding the crest of a wave right now and progressing with his game and very high on confidence I have to make him my pick here.
Marco Fu Vs David Gilbert - Marco Fu and David Gilbert here looks like an interesting match here but one I have a very clear opinion about. David may have found some form with his Ruhr Open semi-final and International final, but his performance against Gerard Greene in round two will need some improving upon if he is to beat Marco. The man from Hong Kong won the General Cup in his home country and will be after some revenge for his deciding frame defeat to Gilbert in the quarter-final of the International Championship where Fu looked to be in great form and I think he is slowly getting back to his best after quite a slow year in 2015. Against Yu De Lu he was a 6-0 winner scoring heavily and barely giving his opponent (who beat Stuart Bingham 6-2 in Daqing) an inch, winning one of those frames from snookers required on the brown. Marco is another man experienced enough to know how to centre his season around the UK and Masters period and therefore will know to peak at the right time and it would still be a surprise to me if Gilbert came out on top here.
Shaun Murphy Vs Ben Woollaston - Shaun Murphy is looking in amazing form so far this week in York. He has already had three centuries over the course of his two 6-1 wins and looks to me to be playing as well as he has done since nearly capturing a second world title. He'll be spurred on by the disappointments of his last few UK campaigns where he could have gone on so much further into the event. Ben Woollaston meanwhile is lucky to still be here after coming back from 3-0 down in the previous round after his opponent Ross Muir started with three breaks in the 70's before Ben eventually came through the decider. Woollaston will have to hope for an off day from Shaun if he is to have any aspirations of progressing here or to improve upon his own performance which has not quite been as good as he would like so far I would say. This is still a tough match for Shaun but he is playing so well that if he keeps this up then he will get over the line and is a serious contender for the title.
Neil Robertson Vs Thepchaiya Un-Nooh - Again we have another great contender for the match of the round and a tough decision to make on Tuesday night when this match and Trump/Wenbo are on at the same time and I would happily watch both. John Virgo on commentary at the end of Robertson's match with Aditya Mehta rated Neil's performance at 7/10 saying it was average. That sort of sums up the high standards we (or just JV) set for Neil that a performance containing two centuries and a 93 is still considered him not being at his best. His performance to win the Champion of Champions showed he was back close to his very best, but he must be weary of giving his opponent too many chances in this one. Thepchaiya Un-Nooh is a player I rate very highly and I always look for his name in the draw and rate his chances before many other players because I recognise the threat he poses to the top players. His run to the International semi-finals highlighted this to everyone and he certainly has a chance of winning against the odds here. One thing the Thai used to do a lot of is making silly errors but with less of this in his game now the results are starting to come and he scores as heavily as Neil on his day. A man of Robertson's experience should know how to work his opponent down and we could see a more deliberate game plan from Neil prove the real winner on Tuesday.
Stephen Maguire Vs Mark Davis - These two are very closely matched and closely ranked overall and both have played some decent snooker so far. Mark has had a couple of easy wins so far but will not find things as easy against Stephen. Stephen had a scare in round one where he had to play well against Jimmy White who himself found some old form. Then against Jamie Cope, Jamie was poor but Stephen still took his chances well and if he keeps that up he is a contender to go far this week. Mark meanwhile has a good record in York and still has a slim chance of getting back into the Masters so that will be spurring him on, and in any case he is usually a tough opponent to beat. Maguire showed signs in Coventry that he was returning to form and has carried that on here so far.
Jamie Burnett Vs Li Hang - This is one of a few matches in the Last 32 draw where it is a massive opportunity for two players down the rankings to put themselves into the latter stages of an event for the first time in a while or even their careers in the case of Li Hang. Jamie Burnett has also been a while since producing some of his best form but has started this week brightly with some good scoring to get him through two tough games against Sanderson Lam and Alan McManus. Jamie obviously has loads of experience which is where he differs from his Chinese opponent here and that could show if this one goes close in the latter stages. However, Li Hang has already come back to win from both 4-1 down against Walden on Saturday and 4-2 down against Lee Walker in the opening round, so he certainly does not know when he is beat. This really is quite a close match to call, and if it were an event in China then I would probably sway towards Li, but as this is the UK Championship an event where Jamie has far more experience, that makes him my choice here.
John Higgins Vs Ali Carter - Here we have yet another blockbuster of a tie in the Last 32 of the UK Championships. That is certainly not a stage where you would expect two players of John and Ali's class to be meeting, but I do not think that will make a difference to the contest. John has started off his quest for the crown with two convincing wins and good performances on the whole, against opponents that could have given him a tougher time on another day. Ali has had two tough matches against tough opponents in Alfie Burden and Daniel Wells and it does not feel like Carter is necessarily at his best this week. When these two met in the Champion of Champions, Higgins came out on top 4-2 despite two centuries from his opponent but again Carter was not quite at his best and John took advantage. I still feel that there is a way to go before we can say that Ali is back at the top of his game despite his win in Furth in August and that is only natural after everything he has been through. John however, truly is back at the top of his game and when he's like this it takes something truly remarkable to send him packing.
Luca Brecel Vs Robin Hull - This section has been blown wide open with one of Brecel, Hull, Selt or Robbie Williams to feature in a UK Championship quarter-final. Robin and Luca meeting here both came through scrappy affairs but importantly came out on the right side against higher ranked opposition. With the match being played the next day after a late night 12.30am finish for Luca Brecel this may not be ideal for the young lad after what was a hard fought win and this could have a small effect. Robin Hull captured a very nice win against Barry Hawkins without even making a break of above 50, while Hawkins only had one, which was a 54 in the opener. Hull mentioned on Twitter (once translated from Finnish) that the conditions were challenging and I think we can expect a better match against another fluent and usually high scoring player in Luca Brecel. Luca's only break of above 50 in his match with Anthony McGill was a 55 in frame four, which as I say is unusual for him, especially given the fact that it was a best-of-11 match that he came out the right side of. Robin usually goes through phases a couple of times a season since returning to the tour of playing nice snooker and getting some classy wins. This seems like one of those periods now, and he has had to battle hard to get through his two matches against very tough opponents so that stands him in good stead here. Brecel meanwhile has a decent record in the UK Championship making this a very tough call as I believe it could go either way on the day, but with Hull having the experience and the pressure probably being on Luca more to continue his progress in the game, while Hull is on more of a second wind. Robin is also heavily underrated and probably as good as many players in the 20-32 bracket as he really is a class act.
Matt Selt Vs Robbie Williams - This is again an opportunity for guys outside of the top 16 to get into the latter stages and after events in this tournament this will be an incredibly interesting game. Obviously it will be interesting to see if Joes comments affect how Robbie plays or his overall performance. Matt Selt meanwhile will be hoping he can get over a slight blip in form that he had prior to this event and make into the UK Last 16 for consecutive seasons. Matt for me is the stronger player of the two here and I would make him the favourite based on his performances over the last year or two in which he has been much improved and shown he belongs inside the top 32. The key for him now is to continue this progress and make it into more last 16s, quarter finals and beyond starting with a win here.
Dechawat Poomjaeng Vs Mark Joyce - Just like the match before it in the draw, this again is a good opportunity for either Mark or Poomjaeng here to go on. Joyce made the Last 16 in 2012 and has been doing well so far in this tournament. He made light work of Sydney Wilson and has scored well in his matches so far, and seems to have found a little form after making the Last 16 of the Bulgarian Open. Poomjaeng is always a little inconsistent and probably a bit underrated because of his overall antics. He's had a couple of nice results also and been scoring reasonably well, with the best of those coming in round one with two centuries. It's a really tough call here but simply because of some of the Thais inconsistency my pick is Joyce.
Mark Selby Vs Jamie Jones - Mark Selby is another player that is going to take some stopping this week at the Barbican, but Jamie Jones is one man that will certainly not make life a bed of roses for him in this match. Jones gives the top players a fairly decent game more often than not and he has beaten Mark Selby this season, 5-1 in the Australian Open last 16 on the way to losing in the semi-finals in Bendigo. Jones made quite an easy match out of Xiao Guodong winning 6-1 in a game I though would go quite close and making a century on the way. Mark Selby as I said though will take some stopping, and so far he has not lost a frame. He gave Oliver Lines a real lesson today in all departments starting off with a total clearance, and then missing a the 13th black on 97 looking for a 147 break. When he's scoring well it is a great sign for Mark because usually his safety is pretty much there a good amount of the time but he does not always make the big scores when in amongst the balls but so far he has looked impeccable on all fronts and if he keeps that up he is one of the biggest contenders for the trophy this year. His record in York winning on 2012 and being a losing finalist in 2013 certainly vouches for that too.
Despite the amount of top 16 players that have gone out early in this event, we still have a very interesting line-up for the Last 32 which in turn, will produce a Last 16 line-up with many players that we do not always see in these stages, and with the Last 16 going down to two tables from the four table set-up that the Last 32 will be played over, it is a big opportunity for some players to get their faces back out there on the TV after big absences for some in particular.
The Last 32 matches are played over the next couple of days, with the Last 16 games then being played over Wednesday and Thursday and of course I will have another round-up of the action and a preview ready for the Last 16 on Wednesday.
Jamie Jones 6-1 Xiao Guodong
Mark Selby 6-0 Oliver Lines
Last 32 Preview (Picks in Bold)
Stuart Bingham Vs Peter Ebdon - Stuart Bingham the world champion has started off his campaign in this years UK Championship relatively well. His win against Anthony Hamilton was impressive even if Hamilton did have chances to possibly get on top of Stuart there, a 143 in the last and the clearance in the first frame saw him show his class and that is what he will need to continue doing if he is to win this match and make himself a real title contender. It is a short turnaround however for Peter Ebdon whose match with Dominic Dale finished less than 12 hours before this one is due to begin in the 1pm session on Monday and it really was a battle in that one with neither player able to play with the same ease that they did in round one winning 6-0. However, the short turnaround will not phase Peter who has plenty of experience on the big stage and is always a tough man to beat whatever the tournament or occasion, despite his struggles to get over the line as he displayed in losing to Shaun Murphy at the Shanghai Masters from 4-1 up. Stuart certainly is not going to have it all his own way, but he knows he is playing well enough to deal with a good battle and being pushed after the match on Saturday with Anthony. He will certainly be the fresher of the two players and having played twice on the TV table in the main arena already, he will feel more at home and has a better chance of settling into the match the quicker of the two.Jack Lisowski Vs David Grace - This is another major opportunity for these two players to get into the Last 16, as both are on the rise. Jack appears to have found a little bit more form at the start of this season with the help of Terry Griffiths and can already boast a win against Ali Carter in the International Championships, but more impressively given his comeback from 5-2 behind, his win this week against Graeme Dott in round two. Jack is scoring well as always but also seems to have grown a little bit more patient and improved a little on his safety and shot selection from what I have seen and heard and that makes him dangerous. David Grace meanwhile has had two great wins this week only dropping three frames in beating Andrew Higginson and Robert Milkins, although it seems like Robert has plenty of chances in the second of those matches and it may have been one of those nights where he didn't fancy it. Overall, this is a huge match and I could see it running very close. Both have proved this week that they have the bottle and it is an incredibly close call, but with signs of his work with Terry coming off I think that Jack Lisowski has the tools to get into the last 16.
Mark Allen Vs Martin Gould - This is all set up to be a brilliant contest between two high scoring and aggressive players. Both guys have had relatively easy starts to the tournament, while Gary Wilson did push Martin Gould in a game that could have gone either way in the end. Mark Allen has just continued his brilliant form of late, and he certainly does not seem like he is ready to let up yet. I constantly say that it is only a matter of time before Mark Allen wins a big tournament in the UK and the way things are shaping up this week and with his present form I can see no reason why that moment could not come in the next week. Gould is always a threat to the top 16 players, but not often enough for his own liking, else he would already be back in the top 16 (or would never have fallen down the rankings in the first place). If he is to beat Mark here I think he will have to be in better scoring form than he showed on Saturday against Wilson.
Michael Holt Vs Joe Swail - Michael Holt is continuing his nice and consistent start to the season, with this being the fourth full ranking event of the season, and if he can beat Swail it will be his third appearance in the Last 16 to go with a Last 32 exit in Daqing to John Higgins. He has played nicely this week too with a century in both of his wins so far, and he was particularly impressive in beating Wakelin so comfortably by winning each of the final five frames. Joe Swail was very convincing when he beat Joel Walker 6-0 in round one, but he did not quite live up to the same expectations against Adam Duffy where based on his scoring that saw him fail to make another 50+ break after an opening frame 88, he appeared to get bogged down. This is a big chance here if Michael can carry on playing well to get another nice run together and Swail will have to be more consistent to win this match.
Judd Trump Vs Liang Wenbo - Here we have one of the contenders for one of the matches of the round and hopefully one of the first exciting televised matches of the week. Liang is a little inconsistent at times but the way he has started off this week, it could be a sign of one of the Chinaman's hot weeks like he had in Berlin in February. Judd meanwhile looked shaky and certainly had issues with his concentration against Stuart Carrington and if he does not sort that out before this contest he is certainly vulnerable to the way that Liang goes about things. Trump could just as easily tune in on the day and blow Wenbo out of the water, and to be a tournament contender you have to come through matches like this with flying colours. If the Chinese takes his chances when they come along, which they certainly will when you play a Judd who seems ready to take plenty of risks this week, then he has a great chance of causing the upset.
Kyren Wilson Vs Tom Ford - Kyren Wilson's impressive form continued in his second round victory against Mike Dunn. Kyren scored well throughout the match once again and was gutted to miss on 88 going for the maximum in the final frame making light of what could have been a tough match indeed there. Tom Ford meanwhile has been in excellent break lol form and was very stylish in the way he not only came back into the match with Mark Williams from 5-3 down but also to make two 70+ clearances from 69-0 down and to have the bottle to clear in the decider from 50 points down also. He certainly won't give Kyren an easy ride here and I expect this match to go quite close if both are in good form once again. With Kyren riding the crest of a wave right now and progressing with his game and very high on confidence I have to make him my pick here.
Marco Fu Vs David Gilbert - Marco Fu and David Gilbert here looks like an interesting match here but one I have a very clear opinion about. David may have found some form with his Ruhr Open semi-final and International final, but his performance against Gerard Greene in round two will need some improving upon if he is to beat Marco. The man from Hong Kong won the General Cup in his home country and will be after some revenge for his deciding frame defeat to Gilbert in the quarter-final of the International Championship where Fu looked to be in great form and I think he is slowly getting back to his best after quite a slow year in 2015. Against Yu De Lu he was a 6-0 winner scoring heavily and barely giving his opponent (who beat Stuart Bingham 6-2 in Daqing) an inch, winning one of those frames from snookers required on the brown. Marco is another man experienced enough to know how to centre his season around the UK and Masters period and therefore will know to peak at the right time and it would still be a surprise to me if Gilbert came out on top here.
Shaun Murphy Vs Ben Woollaston - Shaun Murphy is looking in amazing form so far this week in York. He has already had three centuries over the course of his two 6-1 wins and looks to me to be playing as well as he has done since nearly capturing a second world title. He'll be spurred on by the disappointments of his last few UK campaigns where he could have gone on so much further into the event. Ben Woollaston meanwhile is lucky to still be here after coming back from 3-0 down in the previous round after his opponent Ross Muir started with three breaks in the 70's before Ben eventually came through the decider. Woollaston will have to hope for an off day from Shaun if he is to have any aspirations of progressing here or to improve upon his own performance which has not quite been as good as he would like so far I would say. This is still a tough match for Shaun but he is playing so well that if he keeps this up then he will get over the line and is a serious contender for the title.
Neil Robertson Vs Thepchaiya Un-Nooh - Again we have another great contender for the match of the round and a tough decision to make on Tuesday night when this match and Trump/Wenbo are on at the same time and I would happily watch both. John Virgo on commentary at the end of Robertson's match with Aditya Mehta rated Neil's performance at 7/10 saying it was average. That sort of sums up the high standards we (or just JV) set for Neil that a performance containing two centuries and a 93 is still considered him not being at his best. His performance to win the Champion of Champions showed he was back close to his very best, but he must be weary of giving his opponent too many chances in this one. Thepchaiya Un-Nooh is a player I rate very highly and I always look for his name in the draw and rate his chances before many other players because I recognise the threat he poses to the top players. His run to the International semi-finals highlighted this to everyone and he certainly has a chance of winning against the odds here. One thing the Thai used to do a lot of is making silly errors but with less of this in his game now the results are starting to come and he scores as heavily as Neil on his day. A man of Robertson's experience should know how to work his opponent down and we could see a more deliberate game plan from Neil prove the real winner on Tuesday.
Stephen Maguire Vs Mark Davis - These two are very closely matched and closely ranked overall and both have played some decent snooker so far. Mark has had a couple of easy wins so far but will not find things as easy against Stephen. Stephen had a scare in round one where he had to play well against Jimmy White who himself found some old form. Then against Jamie Cope, Jamie was poor but Stephen still took his chances well and if he keeps that up he is a contender to go far this week. Mark meanwhile has a good record in York and still has a slim chance of getting back into the Masters so that will be spurring him on, and in any case he is usually a tough opponent to beat. Maguire showed signs in Coventry that he was returning to form and has carried that on here so far.
Jamie Burnett Vs Li Hang - This is one of a few matches in the Last 32 draw where it is a massive opportunity for two players down the rankings to put themselves into the latter stages of an event for the first time in a while or even their careers in the case of Li Hang. Jamie Burnett has also been a while since producing some of his best form but has started this week brightly with some good scoring to get him through two tough games against Sanderson Lam and Alan McManus. Jamie obviously has loads of experience which is where he differs from his Chinese opponent here and that could show if this one goes close in the latter stages. However, Li Hang has already come back to win from both 4-1 down against Walden on Saturday and 4-2 down against Lee Walker in the opening round, so he certainly does not know when he is beat. This really is quite a close match to call, and if it were an event in China then I would probably sway towards Li, but as this is the UK Championship an event where Jamie has far more experience, that makes him my choice here.
John Higgins Vs Ali Carter - Here we have yet another blockbuster of a tie in the Last 32 of the UK Championships. That is certainly not a stage where you would expect two players of John and Ali's class to be meeting, but I do not think that will make a difference to the contest. John has started off his quest for the crown with two convincing wins and good performances on the whole, against opponents that could have given him a tougher time on another day. Ali has had two tough matches against tough opponents in Alfie Burden and Daniel Wells and it does not feel like Carter is necessarily at his best this week. When these two met in the Champion of Champions, Higgins came out on top 4-2 despite two centuries from his opponent but again Carter was not quite at his best and John took advantage. I still feel that there is a way to go before we can say that Ali is back at the top of his game despite his win in Furth in August and that is only natural after everything he has been through. John however, truly is back at the top of his game and when he's like this it takes something truly remarkable to send him packing.
Luca Brecel Vs Robin Hull - This section has been blown wide open with one of Brecel, Hull, Selt or Robbie Williams to feature in a UK Championship quarter-final. Robin and Luca meeting here both came through scrappy affairs but importantly came out on the right side against higher ranked opposition. With the match being played the next day after a late night 12.30am finish for Luca Brecel this may not be ideal for the young lad after what was a hard fought win and this could have a small effect. Robin Hull captured a very nice win against Barry Hawkins without even making a break of above 50, while Hawkins only had one, which was a 54 in the opener. Hull mentioned on Twitter (once translated from Finnish) that the conditions were challenging and I think we can expect a better match against another fluent and usually high scoring player in Luca Brecel. Luca's only break of above 50 in his match with Anthony McGill was a 55 in frame four, which as I say is unusual for him, especially given the fact that it was a best-of-11 match that he came out the right side of. Robin usually goes through phases a couple of times a season since returning to the tour of playing nice snooker and getting some classy wins. This seems like one of those periods now, and he has had to battle hard to get through his two matches against very tough opponents so that stands him in good stead here. Brecel meanwhile has a decent record in the UK Championship making this a very tough call as I believe it could go either way on the day, but with Hull having the experience and the pressure probably being on Luca more to continue his progress in the game, while Hull is on more of a second wind. Robin is also heavily underrated and probably as good as many players in the 20-32 bracket as he really is a class act.
Matt Selt Vs Robbie Williams - This is again an opportunity for guys outside of the top 16 to get into the latter stages and after events in this tournament this will be an incredibly interesting game. Obviously it will be interesting to see if Joes comments affect how Robbie plays or his overall performance. Matt Selt meanwhile will be hoping he can get over a slight blip in form that he had prior to this event and make into the UK Last 16 for consecutive seasons. Matt for me is the stronger player of the two here and I would make him the favourite based on his performances over the last year or two in which he has been much improved and shown he belongs inside the top 32. The key for him now is to continue this progress and make it into more last 16s, quarter finals and beyond starting with a win here.
Dechawat Poomjaeng Vs Mark Joyce - Just like the match before it in the draw, this again is a good opportunity for either Mark or Poomjaeng here to go on. Joyce made the Last 16 in 2012 and has been doing well so far in this tournament. He made light work of Sydney Wilson and has scored well in his matches so far, and seems to have found a little form after making the Last 16 of the Bulgarian Open. Poomjaeng is always a little inconsistent and probably a bit underrated because of his overall antics. He's had a couple of nice results also and been scoring reasonably well, with the best of those coming in round one with two centuries. It's a really tough call here but simply because of some of the Thais inconsistency my pick is Joyce.
Mark Selby Vs Jamie Jones - Mark Selby is another player that is going to take some stopping this week at the Barbican, but Jamie Jones is one man that will certainly not make life a bed of roses for him in this match. Jones gives the top players a fairly decent game more often than not and he has beaten Mark Selby this season, 5-1 in the Australian Open last 16 on the way to losing in the semi-finals in Bendigo. Jones made quite an easy match out of Xiao Guodong winning 6-1 in a game I though would go quite close and making a century on the way. Mark Selby as I said though will take some stopping, and so far he has not lost a frame. He gave Oliver Lines a real lesson today in all departments starting off with a total clearance, and then missing a the 13th black on 97 looking for a 147 break. When he's scoring well it is a great sign for Mark because usually his safety is pretty much there a good amount of the time but he does not always make the big scores when in amongst the balls but so far he has looked impeccable on all fronts and if he keeps that up he is one of the biggest contenders for the trophy this year. His record in York winning on 2012 and being a losing finalist in 2013 certainly vouches for that too.
Despite the amount of top 16 players that have gone out early in this event, we still have a very interesting line-up for the Last 32 which in turn, will produce a Last 16 line-up with many players that we do not always see in these stages, and with the Last 16 going down to two tables from the four table set-up that the Last 32 will be played over, it is a big opportunity for some players to get their faces back out there on the TV after big absences for some in particular.
The Last 32 matches are played over the next couple of days, with the Last 16 games then being played over Wednesday and Thursday and of course I will have another round-up of the action and a preview ready for the Last 16 on Wednesday.
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