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The snooker UK Championship continues the York Barbican on Thursday as Ronnie O’Sullivan returns to the table to face Robert Milkins after an impressive storm to victory in the first round against Anthony McGill. The Rocket rattled off six frames in a row to come from two down and claim the match 6-2 in what could be an ominous sign for the rest of the field at this tournament.
Robert Milkins, meanwhile, defeated Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 6-5 in a gruelling contest that went down to the final frame. He should expect another tough fight this afternoon is he is to sneak past the 2022 world champion.
Also on the table today is John Higgins who beat Joe O’Connor 6-3 in the opening round. His opponent is Zhou Yuelong of China who dumped Neil Robertson out of the championship last time out. This one should be a highly entertaining affair with the winner going on to face the victor of O’Sullivan and Milkins’ match in the quarter-finals.
Follow the action from the UK Championship below:
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Ronnie O’Sullivan 0-0 Robert Milkins
O’Sullivan flicks a red into the left side cushion and leaves is by the yellow halfway down the table. Milkins makes an error from his next safety and leaves a simple straight pot to the top left for O’Sullivan to get a break going.
The green drops next and he spins the cueball back down the table to position it for the remaining reds. He nestles one into the middle right but leaves the cueball over the pocket.
It’s poor positional play and O’Sullivan has to bail out after a short break. Milkins leads 31-5.
Ronnie O’Sullivan 0-0 Robert Milkins
The break moved a few reds out of the pack and Robert Milkins goes about his way of mopping them up and using the black as his primary colour of choice. He quickly moves to a break of 31 but smashes into the cluster of reds and doesn’t have a follow up colour available to pot.
He plays safe and leaves the table to O’Sullivan.
Ronnie O’Sullivan 0-0 Robert Milkins
Ronnie O’Sullivan is breaking off for the first of a potential 11 frames. Robert Milkins’ follow up leaves O’Sullivan with a long pot down to the bottom left pocket.
He misses the ball in an attempt to leave himself on the black and Milkins gets points on the board first.
Ronnie O’Sullivan 0-0 Robert Milkins
The players head out to the table. The pre-match talk has been about whether Robert Milkins has the patience and safety play to challenge Ronnie O’Sullivan today.
We’re about to find out.
UK Snooker Championship LIVE
We’re not too far away from all the action in York. A reminder that these matches remain best-of-11 contests so six frames are required for victory.
We’re just waiting for the players to head out to the tables.
UK Snooker Championship LIVE
Here we go. Coverage from the York Barbican is just getting started on BBC Two.
We’ll be following Ronnie O’Sullivan’s match against Robert Milkins this afternoon with the odd update from John Higgins’ clash against Zhou Yuelong.
UK Snooker Championship LIVE
It should be a fascinating afternoon in York, here’s reminder of today’s matches:
The 2023/24 snooker season so far
The UK Championship is the first Triple Crown event of the snooker season, which began in June and runs until the World Championship in the spring.
Here’s a look at the season so far (* denotes non-ranking event):
Championship League, 26 June-21 July (Winner: Shaun Murphy)
European Masters, 22-27 August (Barry Hawkins)
Shanghai Masters, 11-17 September (Ronnie O’Sullivan) *
British Open, 25 September-1 October (Mark Williams)
English Open, 2-8 October (Judd Trump)
Wuhan Open, 9-15 October (Judd Trump)
Northern Ireland Open, 22-29 October (Judd Trump)
International Championship, 5-12 November (Zhang Anda)
Champion of Champions, 13-19 November (Mark Allen) *
How to watch Ronnie O’Sullivan documentary The Edge of Everything
Snooker fans are set to be offered new insight into the character of Ronnie O’Sullivan with the launch of a documentary on the seven-time world champion.
Regarded as perhaps the sport’s greatest ever player, Ronnie O’Sullivan: The Edge of Everything will feature previously unseen footage of O’Sullivan as a child and junior player, along with classic clips from snooker’s archive.
It also follows the 47-year-old’s pursuit of that seventh world title, including exclusive audio and footage of the moments after O’Sullivan’s record-equalling Crucible triumph over Judd Trump.
How to watch Ronnie O’Sullivan documentary The Edge of Everything
A documentary on the snooker star is set to be released
Ronnie O’Sullivan on his new Amazon documentary: ‘It was harrowing watching it back’
Through the door of a swish London hotel, held open by a concierge; into the dimly lit lobby, past an open fire and smart dinner guests, into a shiny lift; down a corridor lined with abstract art, around a bend to the very end where the last door waits in semi-darkness; through to a suite with a long table scattered with sandwiches and cream scones – Ronnie O’Sullivan’s favourite food – where his agent and various publicists mill; to a leather sofa at the far end.
This is where O’Sullivan is holed up, an hour before his movie premiere in London’s Leicester Square. He emerges from another room with a smile, offers a fist bump and sits down. He is dressed in a blue jumper, dark jeans and smart shoes. Executive producer David Beckham is among the famous guests coming to celebrate O’Sullivan, journalists are here to ask questions and fans are sitting in cinemas around the country to watch the film and a live Q&A afterwards. And he’s dreading it.
“If I’d have looked at the contract before doing this and it said you’ve got to do a premiere, I’d have probably said, ‘that’s me out then’,” O’Sullivan says with a grin. “When we started, they said there’s going to be a film festival and I was like, ‘I’ve got to go to that?’ They were like, ‘yeah’. I was like, ‘f**k’.
Ronnie O’Sullivan on his new documentary: ‘It was harrowing watching it back’
The seven-time snooker world champion tells Lawrence Ostlere about letting filmmakers into his life, losing his father to prison and why he doesn’t think he’ll ever win number eight
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