Monday November 25th 2024
Chris Wakelin V Matthew Selt 13:00
Coming into today's match, it would be very easy to write off Matt Selt's chances. He has had a very quiet season, making only 1 quarter-final during 6 events.
Compared to his opponent today Chris Wakelin, who is having his best season on tour and is up to 15th in the World rankings, the highest of his career.
His defeat over in-form 9-8 Xiao Guodong in the semi-final of the International Championship has had to be a huge boost of confidence coming into today. To come out on top of arguably one of the most in-form players in the World at the moment in his home event can only be a positive for Wakelin.
Ever since his first and only ranking event title (shootout in 2023), his career has been on an upward trajectory and it seemed to give the Englishman a renewed sense of confidence that he can compete at the top level.
That said, he will not have it his own way today. Even though Selt has struggled to put results together at times this season, his 6-3 final-round qualifying victory over Zhou Yuelong was very impressive. He made five 50+ breaks throughout and completely dominated his much-fancied opponent.
Is he coming into form at the right time? Head-to-head between the pair favours Selt (4-2) but they haven't met in a longer format similar to today's clash before.
The winner will play whoever comes through between Kyren Wilson & Stephen Maguire.
Prediction: 6-5 Wakelin
Kyren Wilson V Stephen Maguire 13:00
The reigning World Champion begins his UK Championship title bid with a tricky tie against a former winner.
Stephen Maguire picked up the title 20 years ago as he cruised to a 10-1 victory over David Gray in the final.
In recent times, the Scotsman has had very little success in York, he failed to qualify for the event in the last 2 years and hasn't featured in the latter stages of the tournament since 2019 (Final defeat to Ding Junhui)
That said, he knows he has the ability and experience to make a deep run in this years first triple crown but faces a huge task to come through against a much-improved Wilson.
Since his world title victory 6 months ago, Wilson has only gone from strength to strength. He seems to have taken the title of World Champion in his stride and looks formidable in each event he competes in.
Up until this year, Wilson seemed to be the 'nearly man', getting so far in a tournament without being able to get across the line and pick up silverware.
That has changed and he has already added to his list of ranking titles this season picking up the Xi'an Grand Prix and Northern Ireland Open.
Both players will know a win today will be huge in terms of possibly going deep in this years event. As the section they find themselves in is far from the strongest in my opinion.
Kyren is a different animal this season, I expect him to come through.
Prediction: 6-1 Wilson
Luca Brecel V Jak Jones 19:00
Since his incredible run to the World Championship title in 2023, things on the table haven't gone to plan for Luca Brecel.
His form has been patchy to say the least, with very few wins to his name, he even faces the possibility of falling off the World Snooker Tour if his form doesn't improve over the next few months.
Hard to believe after picking up the biggest prize in the sport 18 months ago. It's going to be difficult this evening against world number 17 and world championship runner-up Jak Jones.
Jones comfortably came through qualifying against Ian Burns (6-2) and Fan Zhengyi (6-3) displaying some of his excellent break building skills making 10 breaks over 50 in the 2 matches.
He hasn't had the best season so far with the highlight being his run to the quarter-final of the British Open in September. His tactical, hard to break down style of play makes the Welshman hard to defeat.
The winner will play whoever comes through between Gary Wilson and Michael Holt.
Prediction: 6-4 Jones
Gary Wilson V Michael Holt 19:00
In Michael Holt's first appearance in York since 2021, he faces a tough assignment in world number 10 Gary Wilson.
Credit to Holt who came through 4 matches against Steven Hallworth (6-3), Ishpreet Chadha (6-5), Joe O'Connor (6-3) and Liu Hongyu (6-2) to reach the main draw.
Having made early exits in nearly all tournaments this season, it is hard to see him making a deep run this week.
Wilson's form has been patchy over the last few months and he's struggled to pick up wins but will expect to come through tonight against Holt in a relatively weak section of the draw.
An intriguing match up but I expect Wilson to have too much for Holt tonight.
Prediction: 6-2 Wilson
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