So the UK Championship is on ver soon. Woop woop!

I showed the draw. I also talked about the reputation of the UK Championship. Now we can dig deeper into what matches are most likely to be pleasurable to our eyes. That sounds very weird indeed. Here it is!

Matches to watch

Yuan Sijun (64) vs. Ken Doherty (65)

It is the typical match we see a lot more regularly in snooker where the young prodigy takes on the experienced veteran. This time there’s a tad more at stake.

Both Yuan and Doherty are on their second and final year of their tour card. Both will find £5,000 worth of ranking points incredibly handy to give them a greater chance to reach the Top 64. Though the former World Champion has a wonderful time last season, he’s been quite subdued so far, while Yuan has really shone this season. Because Yuan’s results include reaching the China Championship quarter-finals and the Last 16 of the International Championship, he leapfrogged the Irishman to be seeded above him.

This have not met in a competitive match before, which makes things just a little spicier. Personally, Yuan’s form should carry him over to the next round. There he will most likely find defending champion Ronnie O’Sullivan. Have fun with that.

Judd Trump (5) vs. David Lilley (a) (124)

If ever there was going to be a huge first-round shock, this would be the match.

Indeed, Judd Trump is on as good as form as he can be in recent years. His Northern Ireland Open victory was inspired, especially after he recent criticism he got since the Champion of Champions. However, he record in the UK Championship hasn’t been great. Judd hasn’t reached the quarter-final of the event since he reached the final in 2014. Whether this will play into the mind of Judd, we will have to see – will he be complacent so soon?

Let’s hope not. Despite never been a professional at all, David Lilley has beaten more professionals than some currently on tour. He tops the Q School Order of Merit and is doing quite well in the Challenge Tour too. He won Event 5 in Cueball Derby and is No. 6 in the rankings. He also notched up six professional wins this season. His best result being his Last 32 appearance in the International Championship, beating Ricky Walden and Ben Woollaston in the process.

We’ve seen a number of shocks in this tournament by amateurs. Mitchell Travis beat Marco Fu; Peter Lines beat Neil Robertson; and Leo Fernandez winning the decider against Ding Junhui. Strange things have happened here. This would be very unlikely for David Lilley but it would be interesting to see how he will pit himself against one of the big guns!

John Higgins (4) vs. Dechawat Poomjaeng (a) (125)

POOMJAENG IS BACK!

That’s all I got on that one.

Of course, I jest. Dechawat Poomjaeng dropped off the tour in 2017 due to poor form as well as suffering from kidney problems. He attempted to rejoin the tour via Q School but, despite reaching the final round twice, he didn’t quite make it. He reached his highest ranking of 37 and reached the Last 16 of the World Championship but he is most known for his character. Oh, the wave of nostalgia!

John Higgins isn’t a happy bunny. Despite reaching the China Championship final this season, he spoke about his dissatisfaction with snooker in general, his form and the number of events in the calendar. His last match wouldn’t help matters either – he lost to Rory McLeod 4-2 in the first round of the Northern Ireland Open.

Poomjaeng pulled off many shocks before but this is probably the best time to face Higgins. On the other hand, Higgins needs a easy win to get his cogs running again. The Wizard of Wishaw should win this but I bet Mr. Poombastic won’t want to mess around here!

Sunny Akani (62) vs. Eden Sharav (67)

I wasn’t expecting to put this one on the list. Indeed, there is £5,000 at stake and with them being so close to each other in the ranking table, it is just going to be a well-fought match that I was sure that fan favourite Sunny Akani was going to win. That’s until Eden Sharav arrived into the scene like a bolt from the blue.

A professional since 2015, Eden was touted as one of the Scottish prospects and dropped off the tour until he was saved by his one-year ranking list position. At the International Championship qualifiers, he was seeded No. 89. Since then however, he acquired a new Maximus cue. But after beating Dominic Dale and Stuart Bingham at that event, reaching the Last 16 of the English Open and impressively reaching the semi-finals of the Northern Ireland Open, he leapt up the ranking table to be seeded 67 here.

Sunny Akani will be remembered most for his impressive performance in the last UK Championship, despite losing 6-5 to Ronnie O’Sullivan in the Last 16. His season has been okay, with his best result being his Last 16 run in the International Championship, beating Mark Williams and Zhou Yuelong. More importantly, he’s done well enough to reach the Top 64 for the first time. But he had a few surprise losses – in particular to Oliver Lines and Mei Xiwen. This will be a real test for him.

I would guess this would go into the deciding frame but there’s a good number of permutations here. Will Sunny take confidence from last event’s form or will he fall under huge expectation? Or are Sharav carry his recent form of good comebacks with him or is his semi-final appearance just a one-off?

Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (55) vs. Jimmy White (74)

Out of all of the matches of the entire draw, this is the one on everyone’s lips. Both notoriously quick and attacking players – this is one to watch. Like when Thepchaiya Un-Nooh whitewashed Robbie Williams in 37 minutes. Dear lord.

A lot of people were surprised as I am that Un-Nooh is ranked as low as he currently is. He would’ve been lower had he not reached the quarter-finals of the Northern Ireland Open. Theppy is a very hot and cold player, meaning he will demolish his opponents in rapid succession and then limp away against the next few opponents. He should go up the ranking table soon. He has very few points from the 2016/2017 season because that season was so horrific. Hopefully, he will have a good run! Unfortunately, he is remembered for the wrong reasons in the UK Championship, as he heartbreakingly missed his first 147 here in 2015.

I think we can talk about Jimmy White until we are blue in the face about how skilful, fluid, rapid, creative and what a great exhibitionist he is. The 1992 UK Championship winner has a huge fan following that will make this match much more exciting. However, Jimmy has only won three matches out of eleven he has played in this season. On the other hand, he did cause a shock in last year’s UK Championship where he claimed victory over Ali Carter by winning 6-2 in the first round before losing to Kurt Maflin by the same scoreline.

Will this match perk Jimmy up? Will Theppy bring his A-game? Let’s hope this match surpasses our expectations so much that the match will be just as fast as Rory McLeod/Lee Walker/Fergal O’Brien/’add your own joke here’ takes to win a frame!

Other matches to watch out for:

• Daniel Wells (63) vs. Zhao Xintong (66)
• Michael Georgiou (49) vs. Luo Honghao (80)
• Liang Wenbo (27) vs. Sam Baird (102)
• Graeme Dott (23) vs. Oliver Lines (106)
• Michael White (35) vs. Joe Swail (94)

The UK Championship will take place between Tuesday 27th November to Sunday 9th December at the York Barbican.