THE draw and format for this month’s Betway UK Championship have been announced, with all of snooker’s top players heading to the York Barbican.
Mark Selby will face Egypt’s Basem Eltahhan when he begins the defence at the event, which runs from November 28 to December 10.
Selby won the title for the second time when he beat Ronnie O’Sullivan 10-7 in a fantastic final last year, and the world number one will start against a player 130 places below him in the rankings when he tackles the first round of this year’s tournament on Wednesday, November 29.
O’Sullivan will be up against Scotland’s Rhys Clark in his opening match on Thursday, November 30. John Higgins faces a Wishaw derby against up-and-coming Chris Totten on November 28, while Judd Trump begins against Australia’s Michael Bolton.
Other top stars among the 128-man field include Neil Robertson, Shaun Murphy, Ding Junhui and Jimmy White, with Yorkshire set to be represented by Paul Davison (Pickering), Chris Keogan (Doncaster), Adam Duffy (Sheffield), Sanderson Lam (Leeds), David Grace (Leeds), Peter Lines (Leeds), Oliver Lines (Leeds) and Ashley Hugill (York).
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