Michael Emons
BBC Sport at York Barbican

Ali Carter has just hit a break of 99, the best break of the match so far, to take him to one frame away from the winning line.

He leads 5-3 against Ryan Day, while it is 3-3 on table one in the match between Mark Allen and Jackson Page.

Michael Emons
BBC Sport at York Barbican

Jackson Page is 41st in the world and had to defeat Jamie Clarke and Hossein Vafaei in qualifying just to get to this stage, for his first appearance in the later stages of the UK Championship.

The 23-year-old has been in good form as he reached the quarter-finals of the International Championship in Nanjing, China earlier this month.

He could be causing a huge upset today as he leads Mark Allen 3-2, although he is only halfway to the winning target.

But the Welshman has caused shocks in the past. On his way to the semi-finals at the 2024 World Open in March, he gained wins over multiple world champions John Higgins and Mark Selby, before losing to Judd Trump in the final four.

Michael Emons
BBC Sport at York Barbican

Almost the steal of the tournament from Ali Carter, who found himself 70-0 down in the fifth frame, only to drag himself back into it.

The Captain got it back to 69-70 and had a chance to move 4-1 ahead with an effort on the black, only for him to then miss that shot. He was left fuming, and was still shaking his head in disbelief when Ryan Day converted his next pot.

That could be a big moment in this match. It was nearly 4-1 in a race to six, now it's 3-2.

Michael Emons
BBC Sport at York Barbican

Who will get their name on the winners' board? Mark Allen's name is already on there after his success here two years ago, but he has work to do in his first-round match with Jackson Page with them tied at 2-2 at the mid-session interval.

Ali Carter has twice lost in the semi-finals at the UK Championship, but he's progressing along nicely at the moment, leading 3-1 in his match with Ryan Day.

A reminder, it's the first to six in all matches up to and including the semi-finals.

Image source, Michael Emons

Michael Emons
BBC Sport at York Barbican

Image source, Michael Emons

Enjoying a big day out at the snooker? Then you want some souvenirs to take home - and you have plenty of options from the merchandise stand.

Fancy a John Virgo T-Shirt? Then you're in luck. But there's plenty of other things to go home with, including cues, jumpers, keyrings, pens, posters, pictures, artwork and much, much more.

These stands might get busy soon as we are in the fourth frame of the day on both tables, with the mid-session interval coming up soon.

Both of the seeded players are leading 2-1. Mark Allen has come from one down to lead Jackson Page, while Ali Carter won the opening two frames against Ryan Day, who picked off the third.

Image source, Michael Emons

Michael Emons
BBC Sport at York Barbican

Image source, Michael Emons

If Mark Allen needed some inspiration before today's matches started then he wouldn't have needed to look far.

Throughout the corridors of the York Barbican backstage, there is a timeline of the history of the UK Championship, including Mark Allen's epic win here two years ago when he fought back from 6-1 down to beat Ding Junhui 10-7 to become the winner.

Allen finds himself behind early on today against 23-year-old Welshman Jackson Page, who took the opener 66-6.

On table two, two-time World Championship finalist Ali Carter leads Ryan Day 1-0 thanks to a break of 75 in the first frame.

Michael Emons
BBC Sport at York Barbican

Shaun Murphy will play three-time UK champion Ding Junhui after the Chinese player edged past England's Robert Milkins 6-5 in a late finish on Saturday.

Ding, the eighth seed, led 3-2 but Milkins won three frames in a row, one with a break of 130, to move one away from the win.

However, China's Ding reeled off three successive frames, making a break of 135 in the 10th frame on his way to victory.

In the other match in the evening session, unseeded David Gilbert beat China's 16th seed Xiao Guodong 6-4 to set up a last-16 tie with Hawkins.

Michael Emons
BBC Sport at York Barbican

Image source, PA Media

Former world and UK champion Shaun Murphy also moved into the last 16, thanks to a 6-5 win over Zhao Xintong.

Zhao, who won this tournament in 2021, was playing his first major tournament match after serving a 20-month ban.

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

Zhao 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 party to another player fixing two matches and betting on matches himself.

Murphy took the opening frame on the black as he moved into a 3-0 lead, aided by breaks of 98 and 76, only for Zhao to win two frames also on the black as he made it 3-3, but Murphy fought to claim the win.

Michael Emons
BBC Sport at York Barbican

Image source, Getty Images

Eight-time champion Ronnie O'Sullivan was knocked out on the opening day of the 2024 UK Championship, losing 6-4 against world number 20 Barry Hawkins, who called the win one of the best of his career.

O'Sullivan led 3-1 and 4-2 at the York Barbican before Hawkins played some superb snooker to complete a shock win.

"It has been eight years since I've beaten him so that win has to be right up there for me," said Hawkins, after only his third win in 21 matches with O'Sullivan.

"It's a massive win. So many times I've played him and he has done well and other times he has been there for the taking and I've crumbled and could not take advantage.

"He looked sharp to me, but I felt strong at the end to get a win. Hopefully this gives me a lot of confidence and I can take that into the next round, but I can't get carried away."

Hawkins, 45, lost 18-12 to O'Sullivan in the 2013 World Championship final and led 9-6 in the 2021 Tour Championship semi-finals, only to lose 10-9 in the last frame.

The Englishman, who had to fight through two rounds of qualifying to get to York, admitted he feared the worst when he was drawn against 48-year-old O'Sullivan.

"I thought 'here we go, I'm going home again'," said Hawkins.

"So many times I've been on the brink of winning against Ronnie and it has gone to the last frame and I've lost a decider. Maybe I was a bit more aggressive today, I had a bit more confidence and belief.

"Obviously this is a great result but there's no way I will be happy if I beat Ronnie and then lose in the next round."

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

What a day we have in store and these are the matches coming up...

• Mark Allen (NI, 4) v Jackson Page (Wal)
• Ali Carter (Eng, 12) v Ryan Day (Wal)

Evening session

• Mark Selby (Eng, 5) v Jack Lisowski (Eng)
• Si Jiahui (Chn, 13) v Wu Yize (Chn)

You will be able to watch all the action in this very page by pressing the 'watch live' tab at the top.

Michael Emons
BBC Sport at York Barbican

Image source, Michael Emons

A week today, one of the best snooker players in the world will get their hands on this trophy and be the UK Championship winner.

But who will it be? It definitely won't be record holder Ronnie O'Sullivan as the eight-time champion lost on the opening day in a shock.

Mark Allen and Mark Selby have both lifted this trophy before and will be hoping to do so again in 2024 and both players begin their campaigns today.

BBC iPlayer

BBC TV will show live action from the UK Championship at the York Barbican every day on either BBC One or BBC Two.

You can watch uninterrupted coverage of every match on BBC iPlayer, the BBC Sport website and the BBC Sport mobile app, with additional coverage on BBC Red Button.

The BBC Sport website will stream the live coverage and provide live updates and reports plus a full live text commentary of the final.

Sunday, 24 November

Live coverage

12:50-17:10, BBC Two

13:00-18:00, BBC Red Button / BBC iPlayer / BBC Sport website & app

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

Highlights

00:05-02:05, BBC Two

BBC Sport

Whether you choose to play competitively or socially, snooker is sure to get your brain working.

It requires skill and concentration and will improve your focus and hand-eye coordination. Anyone can play regardless of age, gender or ability and it's not an expensive sport to get into.

Snooker is essentially a simple sport, once the rules of the game have been learnt - to do just that click here., external

And a great way to start taking part in snooker is through a local snooker club.

English Partnership for Snooker and Billiards provides a club finder, external to locate your local snooker venue.

To find a club in other areas of the UK please contact the national snooker federations of Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.