UK Championship 2025 snooker LIVE – Zhao Xintong kicks off title bid, Mark Allen later, Ronnie O’Sullivan tomorrow
Allen 0-0 Donaldson (8-76)
A lovely red rocketed to middle tells us Scott is feeling good about himself and he hits the front with a break of real authority. Mark will be rueing the in-off, but he played a poor frame thereafter.
Allen 0-0 Donaldson (8-47)
Mistake from Mark and Scott has a chance to score, opening the pack nicely … but is he on one? He is not. No matter: another error offers him another opportunity, and this should be one to him.
Allen 0-0 Donaldson (8-4)
Mark will feel he can’t lose this match from the front – if Scott wants to beat him, he’ll have to get away well. And he’s in quickly, sliding to middle when offered the white in mid-table; quickly, he opens the pack, takes on a pot bridging awkwardly, sinks it nicely … and watches the white go in-off into middle. Scott, though, can’t sink his starter, but nor can Mark.
We’re ready to go again
Out come our players…
Hello again
Allen headlines evening session
After impressive wins for Zhao Xintong and Ding Junhui, the focus shifts to the evening session in York.
Mark Allen takes on Scott Donaldson, while Gary Wilson is in action against Zhang Anda.
We will have coverage right here from 18:45 UK time.
Zhao crushes Long to get campaign under way
Often, qualifiers present a tricky test for higher-ranked players, in form having won a succession of matches to reach the main competition. But Long Zehuang simply did not turn up offering little resistance until the match was as good as over, as Zhao Xintong recorded an easy 6-1 victory in the first round of the UK Championship.
The world champion began with a century and though the next three frames were scrappier, he claimed them all as Long struggled to string together any meaningful contribution.
And at 5-0 down with Zhao at the table, he looked out of the match, only for a missed black offered him the chance to steal and though he could not take it, he did soon snatch back a frame. But all that did was spur the 2021 winner to up his level, the match finished quickly and clinically thereafter; next for Zhao comes Gary Wilson or Zhang Anda. They, and the rest of the field, will have to play well to beat him.
Zhao Xintong beats Long Zehuang 6-1
The 2021 champ is in nick and will take some stopping this week. Next for him: Gary Wilson or Zhang Anda.
Zhao 5-1 Long (71-0)
Yup, Zhao secures the match, and can very clearly play better than this afternoon.
Zhao 5-1 Long (40-0)
There’s something poetic about watching Zhao play and he’s taking these beautifully, hitting a new stride in response to his opponent’s effrontery in winning a frame.
Zhao 5-1 Long (13-0)
Zhao wasn’t impressed with his losing that frame, and he quickly sends a fine starter to the yellow pocket, adds a good blue, opens the pack off a second, and will once again try to finish the match.
On table two
Ding Junhui 3-2 Xu Si
Zhao 5-1 Long
Ahahahaha! Playing safe, Long removes the pink from the right cushion … and it drops into left-middle. Thusly is the whitewash evaded.
Zhao 5-0 Long (52-60)
Gosh, he cues right across the pink and misses it by so much he doesn’t even hit the jaw; pressure. So Zhao, needing both remaining balls, goes hard at the first to the green bag … no dice. The chase is on.
Zhao 5-0 Long (52-55)
Long is pretty straight on the black, so needs the extension for the yellow; good shot. But he makes blue and pink harder than they need to be…
Zhao 5-0 Long (52-16)
There are no demons on this table. Everything is there.
Zhao 5-0 Long (52-1)
An excellent red to corner keeps the run going, but takes the white down the table; does he roll up behind the green to cut-back the brown? Yeah, Zhao wants this over with, taking on the tightest of skinny ones to middle, it creeps and it creeps … and it’s there. Beautiful. But then he misses the black off its spot; I don’t think anyone saw that coming. Can Long counter? This is a pretty decent chance, all the more so when he quickly promotes two balls on the side.
Zhao 5-0 Long (17-0)
Zhao sinks another starter, snuggles up to the yellow, and when Long’s escape leaves one, you fear for him. But looking to zip into the pack, the world champ lands in it, forced to play safe. No matter: immediately, he’s offered another opportunity and, though there’s work to do, this could be curtains.
On table two
Ding Junhui 3-1 Xu Si
Zhao 5-0 Long
Fifty-nine and the frame; Zhao is one away from a whitewash and a second-round match against Gary Wilson or Zhang Anda.
Zhao 4-0 Long (58-0)
Zhao soon brings the black into play, in total control of the white – and himself. It’s a total no-shot from Long, I’m afraid.
Zhao 4-0 Long (31-0)
Eeeesh, Long again goes in-off but this time, Zhao misses long; he feared he might, playing back to the baulk rail, and it proves to be a decent call, you can probably guess why. Yup, Long soon errs, a terrible shot leaving an opener with claret all over, and 5-0 looks imminent.
Zhao 4-0 Long (19-0)
Long goes in-off, leaving a snick to middle, but there’s work to do to turn a few points into something more telling, and Zhao soon plays safe having run out of position.
Zhao 4-0 Long (7-0)
Long goes at one to left corner, it stops out, Zhao clips to left-centre … but shortly afterwards, an infelicitous kiss on the black forces him to play safe. I hate to say it, but I doubt it makes any difference whatsoever.
We go again…
Zhao 4-0 Long
The match has got messy, but I’m afraid Long just can’t sustain any run long enough to take a frame. He’s got a lot of thinking to do at the interval.
Zhao 3-0 Long (52-47)
Long steers a fine starter to left corner, his best shot of the match, adds black to middle, and must now force a red down the side … but it jams in the jaws, shoots over the other side of the table, and it’s there for Zhao. I fear this is 4-0.
Zhao 3-0 Long (51-39)
Long misses a nudge, looking to promote one of three reds on the side, but he goes again off the blue, screwing back hard to dislodge one that also opens another. He might now be favourite for this frame, but of course as I type, he decelerates through a shot, meaning he must sink a long yellow and land on a tight cut to middle; he cannot.
Zhao 3-0 Long (51-24)
Ooooh, playing off the side rail, Zhao undercuts to right corner, but can Long punish him? Often, qualifiers are nasty because they’re in stroke, having won a succession of matches to reach the main stages and though, so far, this hasn’t been that, the form is in there somewhere.
Zhao 3-0 Long (46-0)
Zhao pots balls. Long is not long for this match.
Zhao 3-0 Long (17-0)
Another fine long pot, rolled to left corner, sets Zhao away, he quickly opens the pack, and though the split is far from perfect, it’s good enough.
On table two
Ding Junhui 3-1 Xu Si
Zhao 3-0 Long
Long must win the next to stand even a semblance of a chance. There’s no sense he’s going to.
Zhao 2-0 Long (47-25)
The thing about Zhao is however poorly he’s playing, he’s always got the long potting, and he takes the green from left side to right corner, this beauty a touch-shot, and Long is in deep trouble.
Zhao 2-0 Long (44-25)
In terms of quality, this frame has been absolutely miserable; we’ve not had a pot in over 15 minutes.
‘The best of the lot’ – Zhao’s potting exhibition continues
Video credit: TNT Sports
Zhao 2-0 Long (44-25)
Oooh, out of nowhere, Zhao botches green to middle; you get the sense he’s lost a bit of concentration, unable to fathom a way he can lose this match
Zhao 2-0 Long (38-25)
Zhao lays a snooker behind the black, the escape leaves a snick to the green bag, and this looks like the frame.
Zhao 2-0 Long (37-25)
Zhao gets in again, then creams black into the green bag – his mid-to-long-range potting is almost a cheat code – but with the final red on the side rail, the frame remains in the balance.
Zhao 2-0 Long (27-25)
It’s Long in next, but he makes a mess of a blue, overcutting to middle, and when he misses a red, soon after, you fear for him, his pot success now down to 76%. Not because the table is open, it isn’t, but because you can’t get close to the world champ playing like this.
Zhao 2-0 Long (14-12)
A wild safety from Zhao opens balls and leaves a starter, but Long soon misses a black to corner. And against a player this good, you just can’t do that; another glorious starter, rammed into left corner, sees the world champ away again … but he soon runs out of position, tries a plant, doesn’t get close, and this frame is getting messy.
‘Absolutely tremendous’ – Zhao sinks stunning long red
Video credit: TNT Sports
Zhao 2-0 Long (6-4)
I’m hate to say it, but this match has got big on Long. A nondescript safety leaves a cut to middle, Zhao gets away … and then, looking to tuck in behind the yellow a few shots later, doesn’t hit the white quite hard enough to reach it. We’ve all done it!
On table two
Ding Junhui 1-1 Xu Si
Zhao 2-0 Long
Long knocks the blue in off the green and leaves a free ball; he doesn’t concede immediately, but he does shortly afterwards, and I’m afraid he’s not turned up. He has time, but not much – it’s hard to see him coming from three down to win a race to six.
Zhao 1-0 Long (70-42)
Frame gone, Zhao slams red to right corner … to see the white go into left-middle. You get the sense Long doesn’t really want to come back to the table really, but a 14-point swing means he only needs one snooker, so he has to, pink and green still there to help him.
‘Poetry in motion’ – Zhao opens UK challenge with century break
Video credit: TNT Sports
Zhao 1-0 Long (61-33)
Zhao is so definitive around the table; when he’s in the balls, it never feels like he’s going to miss, and his potting so far today has been much better than his syoot, a very strange shade of brown.
Zhao 1-0 Long (21-33)
It won’t be easy for Zhao to get everything safe and he can’t, but can Long clip to right corner? He misses by a fortnight, an oversight brought into sharper focus when, a few shots later, the world champ smokes an awesome opener into right corner. The way the balls are, that could prove costly.
Zhao 1-0 Long (2-33)
Zhao manages a red and no more then, bridging awkwardly, prods home another. Again, he doesn’t have a straightforward colour available, but plays a telling safety using the pink and green to block off much of the table; Long’s riposte isn’t especially well executed, but it works out well, leaving nothing but a problem for the world champ.
Zhao 1-0 Long (0-33)
It soon breaks down, pink running down to green and sticking to it no help at all … but this game being this game, Long soon lands the white behind them. And when Zhao misses with his escape, he opts to take on a pot to middle … only to hit the jaw. The lead is useful, but not definitive.
Zhao 1-0 Long (0-21)
Long’s break offers a thin cut to middle, but Zhao misses the object ball entirely, leaving a chance. This feels like a big visit if we’re to see a proper contest here.
Zhao 1-0 Long
A 107 and Zhao hits the front.
Zhao 0-0 Long (86-0)
Long played one shot, it wasn’t a bad one, and the frame has still been confiscated from him. There’s a ton in the offing here, and Zhao is in the mood. Pre-match, readmitted to feeling nervous, but you’d never know; “What a delightful break,” rhapsodises Fouldsy.
Zhao 0-0 Long (48-0)
Just when it looks a really good chance, Zhao lands on almost the only place on the table that prevents him getting from red to black, but the frame is disappearing fast.
Zhao 0-0 Long (32-0)
Long ran Zhao close in World Championship qualifying, losing 10-8 and getting closer than anyone did in Sheffield. But the favourite gets away immediately with a nice starter to left corner, adds the black, opens the pack, and am I wondering if it’s on? It might be you know, because the balls are open and nicely spread.
Off we go…
And out they come
It’s a Monday afternoon and look at us.
Our players are ready
So Rob Walker is on the mic; this is the first time we’ve had four Chinese players playing a session of a triple crown event.
Afternoon all
We begin today with our world champion, Zhao Xintong, who of course sprung to fame winning this title in 2021. Was it really that long ago? He doesn’t look a day older – despite all the subsequent stress – and Long will have to play brilliantly to beat him.
Today’s order of play
13:00
- Ding Junhui v Xu Si
- Zhao Xintong v Long Zehuang
19:00
- Gary Wilson v Zhang Anda
- Mark Allen v Scott Donaldson
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Stream the snooker season, including on the UK Championship, live on TNT Sports and discovery+
