Snooker's first Triple Crown event of the season, the UK Championship, begins in York in Saturday – check out Richard Mann's tournament preview and best bets here.
Snooker betting tips: UK Championship
1pt e.w. Kyren Wilson to win the UK Championship at 10/1 (General 1/2 1,2)
1pt e.w. Mark Allen to win the UK Championship at 20/1 (Star Sports 1/2 1,2)
For the first time since last season’s World Championship, Ronnie O’Sullivan will contest a snooker tournament on these shores when he bids to continue his love affair with York at the UK Championship.
Eight of O’Sullivan’s 23 Triple Town titles have been UK Championship victories, and his record in York is unmatched, winning here as recently as 2023 having made the quarter-finals in the two previous renewals.
Having relocated to Dubai in the summer, O’Sullivan has made it clear that most of his engagements this season will be limited to the Far East and Middle East, and this might be the last time we see him in the UK before the Crucible rolls around next spring.
O’Sullivan loves York – who doesn’t? – and the fact he generally plays his best snooker here should come as no surprise. All players have their favourites, and this is one O’Sullivan always targets. It’s an event he sets his stall out to win every year and, while that isn’t always possible, he’s certainly been the man to beat in the last decade or so.
Though last season was a struggle for O’Sullivan away from the table, meaning we saw very little of him on the table, he didn’t do a great deal wrong when losing to eventual runner-up Barry Hawkins in this event 12 months ago.
And there have been some positive signs this time around, his two maximum breaks in the same match at the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters helping him reach the final there back in August. He played terrifically well that week and was a trifle unlucky to lose the final to Robertson.
He also made the last eight at the Xi’an Grand Prix and, while O’Sullivan would say he’s not at the level he was when winning in York two years ago, I wouldn’t be sure he’s a million miles away.
More importantly, he probably needs some matches under his belt to sharpen up those rough edges in his game, though a potential last-16 meeting with old foe and recent Champion of Champions winner Mark Selby doesn’t, on paper at least, look ideal.
I won’t be backing O’Sullivan this time, nor Selby, who I'm still not convinced is playing as consistently well as he was at his peak. However, both are evidently big dangers to all if getting on a roll.
World champion hot from Saudi success
That bottom half of the draw does look red-hot with recent Riyadh Season Snooker Championship hero Zhao Xintong, Shaun Murphy, John Higgins and Hawkins also lurking in there.
Last year showed that Hawkins still has the game to compete at the top level when finding his range, and again in 2021, he found some form from nowhere to reach the semi-finals here.
As for Higgins, the veteran Scot remains a model of consistency and has been knocking hard on the door of late, including when runner-up at the International Championship. Oddly, his recent record in York is very poor.
Murphy, who has reached the last eight here in two of the last three years, has been red-hot of late, winning the British Open when coming through a dreadfully tough draw, and also featuring in another final in Xi’an.
The shortest priced runner from this section and now vying for overall favouritism is Zhao, a brilliant winner of the World Championship in the spring, and we shouldn’t forget, an equally magnificent champion in York in 2021.
We all know by know why Zhao was missing for the best part of two years, but he was electric at the Crucible and, back to devastating best in Saudi little over a week ago, could take some stopping on his return to York.
Nevertheless, he does find himself in a difficult part of the draw, with potential last-16 opponent Gary Wilson playing well again and more than capable of putting it up to the Chinese.
Wilson to break UK Championship duck
Quotes of 9/2 and 5/1 for Zhao do look short enough, and I prefer the claims of KYREN WILSON instead.
Wilson sits atop of the bottom half of the draw, seeded number three this year, and he appears to have plenty going for him, not least because he has been knocking on the door in recent visits here, reaching two semi-finals in the last four years.
He just didn’t fire when losing to Judd Trump 6-2 last year, despite leading 2-0 in that semi-final, but he put that right by reaching the final of the Masters the following month.
Last season was a landmark one for Wilson as he claimed four major titles in a campaign that followed his maiden world title in Sheffield – no easy task, as recent history confirms.
For much of that season, Wilson looked the best player in the world, beating Trump in three of those finals and looking every inch the player he always promised he would become.
His victory lap at Sheffield didn’t go to plan, the famous Crucible Curse again striking, but he kicked off this campaign with by bagging first prize at the prestigious Shanghai Masters, and has made it to four more quarter-finals.
In patches, he has looked very close to his best, and should’ve beaten Zhao in the last eight of the Champion of Champions recently when missing match ball on the final black. With Trump to follow, who knows how differently that story might've turned out.
A more recent trip to Saudi was a disaster, Wilson barely getting a look in as Robertson produced an outrageous display featuring two centuries and breaks of 88 and 76 to win 4-0. But that’s the nature of the beast on tour nowadays.
I think it’s important not to get too hung up on the odd result and, more generally, Wilson is still scoring well when getting the chance, as again illustrated in that 6-5 loss to Zhao when he still managed breaks of 120, 104, 88, 66 and 62 in defeat.
A real student of the game who pays special attention to its history, Wilson will be desperate to get another Triple Crown event on his CV.
At a general 10/1, I make him the best value from the bottom half.
Trump too short in title defence
Up top, defending champion Trump starts off against the dangerous Stephen Maguire, UK champion himself back in 2004, and it was interesting to see the former ditch the cue he has persisted with for most of the season in Saudi last time out. Once again, he played well enough and competed hard to reach yet another semi-final.
I really don’t like the idea of all this tinkering at such a crucial juncture of the season, and it would certainly be enough to put me off taking 9/2 about Trump successfully defending the UK title he won for a second time 12 months ago.
It is to Trump’s great credit that he has reached two finals this season, in Northern Ireland and at the Champion of Champions, having by his own admission been a long way from his best.
Another deep run in York would certainly not surprise, but while he is so often one to rely on in the latter stages of big events, you’d have to be worried about his ability to go up a level when he needs to, with so much uncertainty about his cue and which shots he can have full trust to play in those big, crunch moments.
Though a little bit in-and-out of late, Roberston is a three-time winer of this event who has certainly enjoyed his time out in the Middle East this season, picking up one big cheque and finishing runner-up in another final.
He could be a massive player if getting on a roll again, but he hasn’t won a match here in the last four years, having won the tournament in Milton Keynes during lockdown in 2020.
All things considered, he’s another swerve at 9/1.
I’d certainly not rule out Mark Williams who played so well to beat a red-hot Murphy in the final of the Xi’an Grand Prix having reached the semi-finals of the Wuhan Open previously.
I’m not sure he got the rub of the green against Selby in the Champion of Champions, eventually losing a thrilling match 6-5, and I’m passing him over reluctantly this week, perhaps swayed by a largely poor record in York. In fact, Williams has only managed two quarter-finals at this event in the last decade.
Allen to continue York love affair
As such, I’m very comfortable making MARK ALLEN my choice from the top half of the draw, with quotes of 20/1 appearing to wildly underestimate his chances.
I opened this preview by focusing on O’Sullivan’s love affair with York, but this event has also become one of Allen’s favourites.
It all began with a last-four finish in 2010, which was followed by reaching the final a year later, something that was repeated in 2018, since when he has added two more semi-final appearances, including last year, and a deserved title victory in 2022.
He was outstanding that year, shutting down all-comers in a triumph that signalled a new version of Mark Allen, a tougher, more combative operator who, if anything, had become more safety-first than the fearless long potter we first saw burst onto the scene many moons ago.
Such an approach has certainly drawn criticism from many quarters, but the results speak for themselves.
The Northern Irishman has been one of the most successful players of the last few years, and it’s been business as usual this term, a big win at the English Open when he pulled off a series of remarkable comebacks supplemented by three more semi-finals in big tournaments.
Say what you like about his style, but Allen has shaped himself into an incredibly tough nut to crack, particularly in York where he only narrowly missed out on another final last year when losing 6-5 to Hawkins.
Allen is on a collision course with Ding Junhui in the last 16, the man who somehow beat him in a strange match here two years ago, a year on from when Allen outfoxed the Chinese in the final of 2022. Up first is world number 52 Scott Donaldson, who pulled off a remarkable, inspired comeback to get this far, but may just feel the effects.
In fact, I don’t mind the look of Allen’s draw at all. While his price probably reflects the fact that he could meet Trump in the last eight, the head-to-head record, one which Allen currently leads 19-15, does make for interesting reading.
I’ve long argued that Allen is a nightmare opponent for Trump, a fellow southpaw who Trump clearly struggles to get a handle on, and it’s a match-up I like should both men get that far.
In truth, that possible clash might well decide this section, and I’m really keen to roll the dice on the tough-as-teak Allen who is backed enjoy another week to remember in York.
Preview published at 1600 GMT on 27/11/25
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