SIX-TIME champion Steve Davis and International Championship victor Ricky Walden will clash in the pick of the first round ties at the UK Snooker Championship in York later this month.

The Nugget meets The Stamina Man at the York Barbican on the second day of the tournament, which gets under way at the Fishergate venue on November 25.

Davis' 36-year stint on the professional tour came to an end last season, but he can still enter certain events thanks to special invites for legendary players. The 57-year-old will have his work cut out, though, against the world numb er eight.

All 128 players will contest the opening round over the first three days. The competition concludes on December 7.

Ronnie O’Sullivan begins his quest for a fifth UK title against Welsh amateur Daniel Wells on Thursday, November 27. Defending champion Neil Robertson will meet Leicester’s Joe O’Connor, while World Champion Mark Selby faces Derbyshire’s Oliver Brown.

Ali Carter, who will play in his first full ranking event since successful treatment for lung cancer, will take on China’s Zhang Anda, while crowd favourite Jimmy White has been drawn against Stoke’s Dave Harold.

The first round will be played and completed before BBC’s television coverage begins.

Tickets for the tournament start at just £8, concessions £4, and several sessions are close to sell-out. Telephone 0844 854 2757 to book or visit www.worldsnooker.com/tickets

 

UK Championship first round draw: Neil Robertson v Joe O'Connor, Kyren Wilson v Gary Wilson, Kurt Maflin v Chris Norbury, Peter Ebdon v Ross Muir, Robert Milkins v Michael Leslie, Marcus Campbell v Scott Donaldson, Graeme Dott v Alexander Ursenbache, Anthony Hamilton v Craig Steadman, Tom Ford v Barry Pinches, Alan McManus v Joel Walker, Alfie Burden v Chris Wakelin, Stuart Bingham v Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon, Ken Doherty v Mitchell Mann, Michael White v Cao Xin Long, Robbie Williams v Sam Baird, Ricky Walden v Steve Davis, Barry Hawkins v Ashley Carty, Nigel Bond v Stuart Carrington, Fergal O'Brien v Igor Figueiredo, Anthony McGill v Michael Georgiou, John Higgins v Lee Walker, Jamie Cope v John J Astley, Matthew Stevens v Allan Taylor, Gerard Greene v Vinnie Calabrese, Matthew Selt v Hammad Miah, Xiao Gudong v Ian Glover, Rory McLeod v Ian Burns, Allister Carter v Zhang Anda, Ben Woollaston v Michael Wasley, Dominic Dale v Tony Drago, Peter Lines v Joe Swail, Ronnie O'Sullivan v Daniel Wells, Ding Junhui v John Sutton, Jimmy White v Dave Harold, Mark King v James Cahill, Andrew Higginson v Tian Pengfei, Joe Perry v Liu Chuang (w/o), Mike Dunn v Andrew Pagett, Mark Davis v Jak Jones, Jamie Jones v Liam Highfield, Jamie Burnett v Fraser Patrick, Ryan Day v Lyu Chenwei, Aditya Mehta v Alex Davies, Judd Trump v Rouzi Maimaiti, Rod Lawler v Alex Borg, Martin Gould v Lee Page, Luca Brecel v Noppon Saengkham, Mark Allen v Eden Sharav, Shaun Murphy v James Wattana, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh v Robin Hull, Liang Wenbo v David Grace, Jack Lisowski v Chris Melling, Marco Fu v Ahmed Saif, Cao Yupeng v Lyu Haotian, Michael Holt v Zak Surety, Dechawat Poomjaeng v Andrew Norman, Jimmy Robertson v Zhou Yuelong, Mark Williams v Steven Hallworth, Yu De Lu v Oliver Lines, Stephen Maguire v Lu Ning, David Gilbert v Elliot Slessor, Mark Joyce v Ratchayothin Yotharuck, David Morris v Li Hang, Mark Selby v Oliver Brown.