he Snooker Starting Saturday through Sunday, December 3, the event faces the first bell of the current cycle. Hosted by the English city of York UK Championshipthe first tournament in the series 'triple crown' Which will represent the development of the season.
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There are nine tournaments played so far in 2023-24, seven of which count towards the world rankings. Thus, after celebrating them all and taking into account their physical condition, it seems that two big names stand out above the rest in preparing the difficult complexes. These are last week's finalists for the Tournament of Champions, Mark Allen and Judd Trump.
Allen He reaches the tournament after winning power a week ago over Trump in the tournament final Champion of Champions They are also the defending champions after winning last year 10-7 Ding Junhui in the end. After a more hesitant start to the season, he is reaching his best moment of the season in a tournament in which, as fate would have it, the Northern Irishman and the Chinese will repeat last season's final in a duel of stars from the first round. The winner of that match will not have an easy draw, because he may face A Tom Ford They will appear in due course in the round of 16 and in the quarter-finals Mark Williams or Kyren Wilson As potential competitors.
At the same top of the table, despite being in Q2, is the other favorite for the title. Despite his defeat to Allen by a score of 10-3 last week, Judd Trump He is having an imperial season and is now aiming for the great goal of winning the Triple Crown. With practically no ups or downs during the months of competition so far, the Englishman looks like one of the top title contenders. To do this, you must win the first round against Pang Junxu On a road that doesn't seem easy either. Your friend can wait for you Jack Lisowski In the round of 16 to try to reach the quarter-finals, which they will compete for Mark Selby and Barry Hawkins, two other big names in the tournament. The Leicester City player arrives into this tournament without any good feelings in recent weeks, but he is always one of the favourites. Hawkins, for his part, is one of this season's standout names.
There will also be several big names at the bottom of the draw. In the foreground, always a favorite Ronnie O'Sullivan He's leading the third quarter after a season in which he hasn't done much due to physical discomfort, other than playing in Chinese tournaments. However, there are few players who are as motivated as him when the big events arrive. O'Sullivan will go on to make his eighth UK appearance in a very tough draw in which he will make his debut Anthony McGill Through which the winner of the tournament in the second round can be measured. Robert Milkins Thepchaya on Noah. Two dangerous players always appear in the same quarter, although on this occasion they are far from their best moments. This is the situation John Hugginswhich will make its debut against Joe O'Connorand based on Neil RobertsonWhich you will encounter at first Chu Yuelong.
This part of the draw will meet in the semi-finals with the part led by the current world champion. Luca Brecel, after starting the season without great fireworks after winning the Crucible, after the final match lost in Shanghai against O'Sullivan, reaches his first “Triple Crown” tournament as world champion. It makes him realize that he has the weapons to beat everyone. He will make his debut against the Chinese Yuan Sijun In case of victory, one of the currently strong players can be measured in the second round, e.g Zhang Anda. For the same part of the plate Sean Murphy and Hussein Fafaei They will sign one of the star duels in the first round with Ali Carter Like another dangerous man.
The final part of this tournament (which will be presented by Eurosport) leads the way towards December which will also be a prelude to the Masters at the beginning of January. So it's the culmination of an essential part of the season. Only one player will be able to win one of the most expensive titles on Planet Snooker.
