Draw for UK Championship is set; top players will face off in opening round in York.

Mark Allen and Ding Junhui are set to meet once again in the first round of the UK Championship, following six days of qualifying that saw some of the biggest names in the sport take part. They had previously met in the final of the tournament last year, which Mark Allen won in a memorable 10-7 victory, coming from 2-6 behind.

The draw for the last 32 also sees Ronnie O'Sullivan face Anthony McGill, with the latter having won just one out of their eight meetings. Shaun Murphy will take on Hossein Vafaei while the player of the season so far, Judd Trump, will face young Chinese talent Pang Junxu.

Unfortunately, some very recognisable names failed to qualify, including Stuart Bingham, Ryan Day, Gary Wilson, Stephen Maguire, and David Gilbert. Si Jiahui, the surprise World Championship semi-finalist, and Jak Jones, who enjoyed an unexpected run to the last eight at the Crucible a few months ago, also failed to make it.

The winner of the UK Championship will walk away with a whopping £250,000, and there is some pressure on the top 16 to win their first round matches in order to gain the ranking points that come with it. For those that qualified, they are guaranteed £10,000 in prize money for contesting the last 32, however, they will only receive the ranking points if they win their opening match.

Hossein Vafaei is looking forward to his first round match against Shaun Murphy, and after his final qualifying game against Scott Donaldson he had a message for the crowd in York. He said, “I love playing in the big events with a good atmosphere, as loud as possible. My advice to all the fans is to make it loud! Otherwise it’s tough for us to perform. Hopefully it will be a good match with Shaun, it will be an honour for me to share the table with him.”

The UK Championship will be an exciting tournament to watch, with so many superstar names taking part. It is sure to be a nail-biter to see who will be crowned champion and take home the massive first prize.

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