UK Snooker Championship 2023 draw: Mark Allen drawn against Ding Junhui in repeat of 2022 final
- Published
I'm trying to leave my own legacy in the game - Allen
UK Championship |
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Venue: Barbican Centre, York Dates: 25 November - 3 December |
BBC coverage: Watch live on BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Red Button and BBC iPlayer, as well as the BBC Sport website and app |
Northern Ireland's Mark Allen will begin his title defence at the UK Championship against Ding Junhui - the player he beat in last year's final.
World number four Allen, 37, overcame China's Ding 10-7 to lift the trophy for the first time 12 months ago.
The pair will meet again in the first round of this year's main draw at York's Barbican Centre on Saturday.
Three-time UK champion Ding, 36, had to qualify on Wednesday having slipped out of the world's top 16.
Allen heads into the event on a high after winning the Champion of Champions event in Bolton on Sunday, beating Judd Trump 10-3 in the final.
Thursday's UK Championship draw also pitted world number one Ronnie O'Sullivan against Anthony McGill, a match that will take place on Tuesday.
Trump will face Pang Junxu after he beat amateur Craig Steadman 6-2 as the final eight qualifiers were decided in Leicester on Thursday.
Yuan Sijun beat former world champion Ken Doherty 6-3 to earn a meeting with current world champion Luca Brecel on Sunday and Mark Joyce will face Mark Selby after upsetting Joe Perry 6-4.
Zhou Yuelong fought back from 5-3 down to beat Ian Burns 6-5 and set up a meeting with Neil Robertson, while Shaun Murphy will face Iran's Hossein Vafaei, who beat Scott Donaldson 6-4.
Joe O'Connor beat 2004 champion Stephen Maguire 6-3, Ben Woollaston cruised past Germany's Lukas Kleckers 6-1 and Elliot Slessor beat David Lilley 6-3.
Main draw
Mark Allen v Ding Junhui, Tom Ford v Noppon Saengkham, Mark Williams v Fan Zhengyi, Kyren Wilson v Jamie Clarke, Mark Selby v Mark Joyce, Barry Hawkins v Ben Woollaston, Jack Lisowski v Jamie Jones, Judd Trump v Pang Junxu, Ronnie O'Sullivan v Anthony McGill, Robert Milkins v Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, John Higgins v Joe O'Connor, Neil Robertson v Zhou Yuelong, Shaun Murphy v Hossein Vafaei, Ali Carter v Matthew Selt, Zhang Anda v Elliot Slessor, Luca Brecel v Yuan Sijun