Frame two begins the same way frame one did.

Ding pockets a lovely long red but breaks down after running out of position.

Mark Allen responds with a fine long pot of his own and now has a chance to put right the mistakes of the opening frame.

Steve Davis
Six-time world champion on BBC Two

I think Ding will be pretty pleased with that opening frame - it's always tense and nervous in the opener and that can sometimes dictate how a match starts to unfold.

The sign of when a player is in good form is when they are asked a question after losing position a bit. He lost position on a pink but played a confident slow roll which is one of the toughest shots in snooker.

He just stroked that in and that showed you the type of form he's in.

Mark Allen was forced to pot the blue after Ding left it hanging over a pocket.

Always tough to get a snooker when there's only two balls on the table and so it proves as Ding finally pots the pink to seal a very cagey and edgy half-hour opening frame.

Image source, Getty Images

Michael Emons
BBC Sport at York Barbican

Mark Allen was unhappy with how he played in last night’s dramatic 6-5 semi-final win over Jack Lisowski and it’s been a nervy start from both players today.

Allen missed a short red after making 24 to give Ding a chance back at the table after he had also seen a pot on a red stay out with only nine points on the board.

Ding looked to have the frame in the bag until a rolled red into the middle stayed out, with Allen coming back to the table 24-61 down, needing two snookers.

This will be a tough one to take for Ding if he loses this opening frame.

Allen clears to the brown, with his plan to get a five-point foul on the blue so he can win the frame, rather than just tie.

But he's short on the attempted snooker. A couple of shots later, he leaves Ding a really tricky long cut on the blue, which he misses.

Ding Junhui mops up the remaining reds... well, almost. The final red looked destined for the middle pocket but just catches a knuckle, thinks about dropping and stays up.

Mark Allen is snookered on it but comes off the cushion to knock it in. He needs a snooker and a clearance to tie though after taking the blue - 31 points behind, 27 on with just the colours left.

Connor Eccott: Love listening to Shaun Murphy on commentary. Always good to hear the thoughts of an active player, and a very successful player too.

Nervy start from both players here.

Ding's run out of position again. He rescues it with a close-range two-red plant then a cracking dead-weight pink with the white ball tight on the side cushion. He's 41-24 ahead, four reds left on the table.

Shaun Murphy
2005 world champion on BBC Two

I'm not sure if that miss was a heavy contact - you always like to give the professional the benefit of the doubt and it's hard to believe he could miss something that straightforward.

Whatever it was, it's a chance gone.

The first live texter's jinx of this final - and it won't be the last.

Mark Allen misses a routine red at 24-9 up and now Ding is in among the balls with a great chance for a counter-clearance.

Mark Allen showing some of that experience as he takes a good couple of minutes to line up a difficult escape after Ding Junhui left the cue ball tight on the top cushion.

Time well spent as he leaves it safe and, a couple of shots later, smashes in a lovely long red that will add to his confidence.

He's developed several other reds after potting a couple of blues and it's now advantage Allen in this opening frame.

Steve Davis
Six-time world champion on BBC Two

Mark is a vastly different player from his previous two finals here.

He's obviously got the experience now and has become a much more rounded player.

He's a rejuvenated player mentally as well - he's having a great season and he probably feels a little bit bulletproof coming into this final because he's in such a happy place.

We would love your thoughts on today's final so get involved using the usual methods detailed above.

Who do you fancy to lift the trophy?

And with neither of these players having won the World Championship, could they finally banish their Crucible hoodoos next spring given their current form?

Thumbs up for Mark Allen and thumbs down (not literally) for Ding Junhui...

Image source, Getty Images

The answer to our previous question was nine points. Don't think many would have gone that low on the sweepstake.

Ding runs out of position after potting a red - he knocks a delicate green into the middle but misses the long red that follows. Left it safe though.

Michael Emons
BBC Sport at York Barbican

Image source, BBC Sport

And here we go. We have eight frames in the first session and a maximum of 11 in the evening session. It’s the first to 10 and, as you’d expect, there’s hardly a spare seat in the house.

What a tournament it has been and hopefully we have a cracking day of snooker to come.

Great receptions from both players before Ding Junhui gets the 2022 UK Championship final under way.

Image source, BBC Sport

Mark Allen attempts an early long red that is pretty wide of the target.

He's left an easy starter for Ding - how many can the Chinese make here?

Due to Ding Junhui dropping out of the world's top 16, he had to qualify for this event, so has had to win six matches to reach the final.

He's made it look relatively easy in the process - dropping three frames fewer (13) than Mark Allen (16) despite playing two matches more.

'The Pistol' has rode his luck slightly, coming from behind in both his quarter-final with Sam Craigie and Saturday's semi-final against Jack Lisowski, which Allen won in a nail-biting black-ball decider.

Image source, Getty Images

The players are being introduced to a raucous York Barbican crowd by MC Rob Walker.

First up is Ding Junhui who has a smile on his face that's wider than the arena itself.

Huge cheers for Mark Allen too as he follows Ding down the stairs. What a final we have in store.

Michael Emons
BBC Sport at York Barbican

Image source, BBC Sport

Mark Allen will be hoping today is third time lucky as he makes his third appearance in a UK Championship final.

He lost 10-8 to Judd Trump in 2011 and was beaten 10-6 by Ronnie O'Sullivan in 2018 but a dramatic final-ball win, which saw him fight back from 5-3 down to beat Jack Lisowski 6-5 in an epic semi-final that finished at 11.15pm on Saturday kept Allen's hopes alive.

But the Northern Irishman, the 2018 Masters champion, knows he will need to play better to take the title.

"That was awful," said Allen after yesterday's draining semi-final. "Mentally I was very strong but I didn't have any part of my game. Jack will be kicking himself, he had a number of chances to put me away. Ding is going for his fourth UK title and it's up to me to stop him."

Allen, who lost five stone in a health regime in the summer, has had a great season - and is currently top of the one-year rankings after winning the Northern Ireland Open and reaching the final of the British Open.

He added: "I'm going in in just such a good place. I don't want to come here and lose in the final, I'm here to win."

BBC Two

You can watch every ball of today's final between two of the game's best players live on BBC Two. Hazel Irvine and the crew are on hand teeing up the spectacle as we speak.

Coverage will also be available on iPlayer and, of course, right at the top of this page where you can click on the "play" icon to watch proceedings in conjunction with our live text coverage summing up the action.