It’s day two of the UK Championship, and just like the opening day, it was packed with impressive cum colourful plays right from its very start. The headlines – on opening day – were dotted with the names of Neil Robertson, John Higgins and Ali Carter who all produced whitewash wins over their devastated opponents. Speaking of exceptional performances, a whooping 16 centuries were recorded.
Although day 2 wasn’t as stat-padded as the opening day, it wasn’t void of glamour and glitz. To kickstart action on the day was Ding Junhui. The Chinese professional who has lifted the crown on two previous occasions kicked off his title chase with a 6-2 comprehensive victory over Duane Jones.
Duane Jones, a Welsh snooker player who turned professional only in 2015, was simply no match for Junhui. The world number 72 was knocked out in the second round in three of the four Home Nations tournaments he’s ever played. You get the feeling he was never going to scale past Junhui, who is widely considered to be the most successful Asian in the history of the sport.
Elsewhere, Marco Fu unapologetically kicked out Craig Steadman from the tournament with a 6-3 victory. Breaks of 92, 50 and 67 were enough to lead Steadman by a 3-1 scoreline at the interval. He then completed the annihilation with breaks of 63, 117 and 85. He is now opposed to taking on either of Kyren Wilson or Riley Parsons in the next round.
Graeme Dott dominated and battered Barry Pinches by a 6-1 scoreline, the same scoreline with which Lyu Haotian showed Andy Hicks out the exit door.
Next up was Stephen Maguire who got the better of Billy Joe Castle in the game between them. Maguire defeated the Englishman by six frames to four in what was a close call and a tight and gruesome duel between both parties. Jak Jones defeated Andrew Higgins by the same scoreline while Stuart Carrington sealed a place in the next round courtesy of a 6-3 win over James Wattana.
Simultaneously Mark Selby took on Andy Hicks for size while Barry Hawkins took the game to Gerard Greene.
Written by: Roland Arum