UK Championship Snooker 2021 | Day Seven Preview and Order of Play
David Gilbert and Mark Allen go head-to-head (Photo by Lawrence Lustig/PDC)
The Third Round action draws to a close at the 2021 UK Championship in York on Tuesday as a host of big names aim to avoid becoming the latest early casualties.
The season’s first Triple Crown event has produced a raft of upsets, talking points and drama over the past week at the York Barbican.
Nine former champions have already departed the competition, leaving only two previous winners remaining in the running.
One of those is world number two Judd Trump as he bids to end a ten-year wait for a second UK Championship title.
Trump, last year’s runner-up, came into this event on the back of securing the Champion of Champions title for the first time just over a week ago, and has seemingly picked up from where he left off in Bolton.
Trump has swept aside David Lilley and Chris Wakelin so far and now comes up against former Indian Open champion Matthew Selt.
Selt saw off Joe Perry in the last round and is now eyeing a place in the Last 16 here for the first time in six years.
Another stand-out tie in the afternoon session sees Northern Ireland Open champion Mark Allen take on Championship League winner David Gilbert.
Allen was runner-up to Trump here a decade ago, while also losing out to Ronnie O’Sullivan in the 2018 final.
The Pistol has been blighted by personal issues away from the table in recent times and admitted he may be forced to pull out of this tournament due to circumstances beyond his control.
Gilbert, who has enjoyed a superb start to the season, is aiming to equal his best run to date in the UK Championship in what is his ninth consecutive appearance.
World number 55 takes on world number 106 as Sam Craigie and Peter Lines aim to progress to the business end of this prestigious event.
Craigie has already seen off three-time finalist Ken Doherty and three-time UK Champion Ding Junhui, while Lines has battled past Elliot Slessor and Fan Zhengyi.
Former World Championship semi-finalist Anthony McGill faces Zhou Yuelong – a semi-finalist behind closed doors in Milton Keynes 12 months ago.
The evening session sees 2004 UK Champion Stephen Maguire looking to build on a blistering start to the tournament when he faces Belgian ace Luca Brecel.
Maguire has dropped just four frames so far in wins over Sanderson Lam and Tian Pengfei with four centuries to his name, while Brecel edged out former semi-finalist Tom Ford in a last-frame decider in Round Two.
Anthony Hamilton’s reward for his scalp of Mark Williams is a show-down with two-time semi-finalist Ricky Walden.
Iran’s Hossein Vafaei, who stunned reigning World Champion Mark Selby with a 6-2 demolition in Round Two, looks to replicate that ruthless display when he faces former Shanghai Masters and Shoot-Out finalist Xiao Guodong.
Welsh Open champion Jordan Brown takes on two-time UK Championship quarter-finalist Mark Joyce in a wide open top quarter of the draw.
The action gets under way from 1pm GMT, with all matches to be contested over the best of 11 frames.
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UK Championship Snooker 2021 Day Seven Schedule
Tuesday November 30
Last 32
1pm
Anthony McGill v Zhou Yuelong
Judd Trump v Matthew Selt
Mark Allen v David Gilbert
Sam Craigie v Peter Lines
7pm
Jordan Brown v Mark Joyce
Ricky Walden v Anthony Hamilton
Luca Brecel v Stephen Maguire
Xiao Guodong v Hossein Vafaei