Tweet
Four to watch at the UK Championship
Telford stages the 34th UK Snooker Championship from the 4th-12th December. The Boss picks his four to watch 
JIMMY WHITE:
Make no mistake about it, Jimmy White is back. And i don't just mean in practice. In recent years the ailing Whirwind would have struggled to win three matches all season, let alone in quick succession like he has done to qualify for the calender's second biggest prize, an event he won way back in 1992. And in what style he has qualified, thumping World number 44 Adrian Gunnell 9-4 and then edging out Joe Perry, a top 16 player only last season, 9-6. In the process, White registered breaks that would satisfy any of the top players: a 79, 88 and maginificent 136 among them. What has rejuvinated the 48 year old is anyone's guess, but if Steve Davis could reach the final in 2005 at the same age, then what is stopping another legend from rolling back the years and repeating the feat? Oh, and did i mention that White faces old foe Stephen Hendry in the first round? One couldn't have scripted it better.
MARK KING:
The UK Championship has staged some of Mark King's most memorable moments: in 2004, he went on a giant-killing run, beating the likes of Mark Williams to reach the Semi-Final, where he lost to the eventual winner Stephen Maguire; in 2005 he defeated Ronnie O'Sullivan before the televised stages, a match infamous for the wet towel draped over his head, while in 2006, he scored a career best 146 break at the tournament. King has reached two ranking finals in total, the last in 2004, but never one at the tournament he has crowned with some of his best snooker. A Mark has not won the title since 2003 and King will attempt to end that sequence when he gets his bid under way against Welshman Ryan Day.
RONNIE O'SULLIVAN:
The undoubted favourite to win the trophy he first won as a teenager in 1993 and for a fourth time in 2007. The Rocket surged past Shaun Murphy to win a 9th Premier League title only last Sunday, producing some scintillating snooker. In this kind of form, he should win in Telford, but he has not always conformed to the form book. He does however go into the tournament in a similar vein to 2007, without a ranking trophy for over two years then, while this time his last ranking triumph was the Shanghai Masters in 2009. He appears to be a more relaxed figure in interviews, possibly a natural result of his father's release. He will be watching his son at a major tournament from the outside in nearly 20 years, and that will surely give the Rocket extra incentive to lift the trophy for a fifth time.
ALI CARTER:
Current World Number 2 Ali Carter ("The Captain") won the Shanghai Masters in August, making him one of the biggest threats in Telford. After reaching the Semi-Final in 2008 and Quarter Final in 2009, the Essex cueman will be determined to advance further this year. A much improved player, Carter has won both his ranking titles in the last two years and will hope many more will follow. He could meet World Champion Neil Robertson in the Semi-Final and don't be surprised if he exacted revenge on the man who beat him in Sheffield at the same stage.
No underdog: White will believe he can go all the way again
:snooker:
JIMMY WHITE:
Make no mistake about it, Jimmy White is back. And i don't just mean in practice. In recent years the ailing Whirwind would have struggled to win three matches all season, let alone in quick succession like he has done to qualify for the calender's second biggest prize, an event he won way back in 1992. And in what style he has qualified, thumping World number 44 Adrian Gunnell 9-4 and then edging out Joe Perry, a top 16 player only last season, 9-6. In the process, White registered breaks that would satisfy any of the top players: a 79, 88 and maginificent 136 among them. What has rejuvinated the 48 year old is anyone's guess, but if Steve Davis could reach the final in 2005 at the same age, then what is stopping another legend from rolling back the years and repeating the feat? Oh, and did i mention that White faces old foe Stephen Hendry in the first round? One couldn't have scripted it better.
MARK KING:
The UK Championship has staged some of Mark King's most memorable moments: in 2004, he went on a giant-killing run, beating the likes of Mark Williams to reach the Semi-Final, where he lost to the eventual winner Stephen Maguire; in 2005 he defeated Ronnie O'Sullivan before the televised stages, a match infamous for the wet towel draped over his head, while in 2006, he scored a career best 146 break at the tournament. King has reached two ranking finals in total, the last in 2004, but never one at the tournament he has crowned with some of his best snooker. A Mark has not won the title since 2003 and King will attempt to end that sequence when he gets his bid under way against Welshman Ryan Day.
RONNIE O'SULLIVAN:
The undoubted favourite to win the trophy he first won as a teenager in 1993 and for a fourth time in 2007. The Rocket surged past Shaun Murphy to win a 9th Premier League title only last Sunday, producing some scintillating snooker. In this kind of form, he should win in Telford, but he has not always conformed to the form book. He does however go into the tournament in a similar vein to 2007, without a ranking trophy for over two years then, while this time his last ranking triumph was the Shanghai Masters in 2009. He appears to be a more relaxed figure in interviews, possibly a natural result of his father's release. He will be watching his son at a major tournament from the outside in nearly 20 years, and that will surely give the Rocket extra incentive to lift the trophy for a fifth time.
ALI CARTER:
Current World Number 2 Ali Carter ("The Captain") won the Shanghai Masters in August, making him one of the biggest threats in Telford. After reaching the Semi-Final in 2008 and Quarter Final in 2009, the Essex cueman will be determined to advance further this year. A much improved player, Carter has won both his ranking titles in the last two years and will hope many more will follow. He could meet World Champion Neil Robertson in the Semi-Final and don't be surprised if he exacted revenge on the man who beat him in Sheffield at the same stage.
No underdog: White will believe he can go all the way again
:snooker:
Comment