Remember, you can watch the action by pressing the 'watch live' tab at the top and we're back in action in the Ronnie O'Sullivan v Barry Hawkins match.

Hawkins, after failing to register a point in two frames and only get one in another frame, is in first after the restart and gets to 46, but has to play safe on a red, sending the cue ball back to baulk.

Shaun Murphy was in a strong position to move 4-0 ahead and led 32-23 in frame four, only to leave the blue hanging over the pocket and Zhao Xintong did the rest with a break of 50 to reduce the deficit to 3-1.

A break of 76 in frame three helps Shaun Murphy to a 3-0 lead and halfway to the last 16.

Ronnie O'Sullivan is definitely in the mood today. Check out his long pot success. Flawless, 100%.

Barry Hawkins has scored 81 points so far, none in frames one and three, one in frame four with the other 80 all coming in frame two.

We're already at the mid-session interval on table one with the Rocket Ronnie O'Sullivan blasting through and leaving with a 3-1 advantage.

It's the second century clearance of the match from him as he follows up his 128 in frame one, with a break of 114 in frame four.

Over on table two, Shaun Murphy recovered to snatch the opener on the black and then hits a break of 98 to double his lead. He looked on course for a century, but a long missed red rattles around the jaws and stays on the cloth.

Barry McCann: Barry Hawkins plays a really decent break off shot and he's one down after five minutes.

No messing about from eight-time champion Ronnie O'Sullivan as he regains his lead against Barry Hawkins.

He made a break of 42 at the start of frame three and then wraps up the frame a bit later on.

Remember, all matches except the final are the best of 11, so the first to six.

Shaun Murphy was 63-19 behind against Zhao Xintong, but stole it on the black, winning the opener 74-69.

Murphy's looking fired up and responds with a little fist pump after sinking the frame-winning ball.

We've got some match going on involving Ronnie O'Sullivan and Barry Hawkins. After O'Sullivan's 128 clearance, Hawkins hits a break of 57 on his way to making it 1-1.

But on the other table we're still in the first frame, Zhao led 63-19, Murphy got it back to 63-49 before missing a yellow with the rest. It's now 69-52, with four balls left on the table.

A strong response from Barry Hawkins as he gets in on table one and makes a half-century, with him still at the table looking to make it 1-1.

On table two, Zhao holds a 63-19 point lead in the opener, with three reds still on the table.

Superb from Ronnie O'Sullivan as he makes a 128 clearance to instantly stamp his mark on the match.

What a way to start for Ronnie O'Sullivan as he rattles in the opening century of the tournament.

A break of 37 from Zhao after Murphy missed a cut red into the yellow pocket is the first action on table two, while a superb long red from O'Sullivan helps him to the first break of 50 over on table one.

China's Zhao Xintong says he made "a little mistake" in his first interview since returning from a ban for his involvement in snooker's biggest match-fixing scandal.

Zhao was one of 10 players banned in the corruption scandal but, after a suspension of a year and eight months, has returned and qualified for the the UK Championship.

He did not directly throw a match but was initially suspended for two and a half years, reduced after his early admissions and guilty plea.

He accepted charges of being a party to another player fixing two matches and betting on matches himself.

"Two years ago I made a little mistake, now I've come back," he told BBC's Jamie Broughton. "I know how important snooker is to me and now I just want to come back to the snooker table."

Zhao, 27, said it was now "very rare" that he had contact with former Masters champion Yan Bingtao, another of the players banned during the scandal, and urged other players to learn from his mistakes.

"Let them know this is a big lesson, don't make the mistake," he said. "Play snooker, it's a very good thing."

Ronnie O'Sullivan and Barry Hawkins have met 20 times, with 18 victories to O'Sullivan.

Can Hawkins start the tournament with a huge shock?

And we're up and running with our coverage on BBC One, so join Hazel Irvine and the rest of the team by pressing the 'watch live' tab at the top of this page.

As always, feel free to send us your comments and get your name in this page by sending us your snooker-related thoughts.

Easy question to start us off. Who is going to win this competition and why?

Message us using #bbcsnooker on X (formerly Twitter) to get involved.

Image source, Michael Emons

What a start to the event we have as reigning champion Ronnie O'Sullivan plays Barry Hawkins in a repeat of the 2013 World Championship final.

On the other table, we have former world champion Shaun Murphy against former UK champion Zhao Xintong of China.

Later on, two more Chinese players, Ding Junhui and Xiao Guodong go up against Robert Milkins and David Gilbert respectively.

Saturday, 23 November

13:00

Ronnie O'Sullivan (1) v Barry Hawkins

Shaun Murphy (9) v Zhao Xintong

19:00

Ding Junhui (8) v Robert Milkins

Xiao Guodong (16) v David Gilbert

Live coverage

13:15-16:30, BBC One & 16:30-17:30, BBC Two

13:00-14:30, BBC Red Button / BBC iPlayer / BBC Sport website & app

17:45-18:00, BBC Red Button / BBC iPlayer / BBC Sport website & app

20:30-23:00, BBC Red Button / BBC iPlayer / BBC Sport website & app

Highlights

00:00-02:00, BBC Two

Michael Emons
BBC Sport at York Barbican

Image source, Michael Emons

Hello and welcome to BBC Sport's coverage of the UK Snooker Championship from York Barbican.

Sometime a week on Sunday, one of our players will have their hands on the trophy, but for now we have 32 competitors, all hoping for glory.

It is a bitterly cold and wet day in York and there was lots of snow on the ground, before the heavy rain came and washed it all away.

So it's a good job we are an indoor sport and have lots of entertainment to enjoy today.

Image source, Michael Emons