Ronnie O'Sullivan's miserable season continued when he was dumped out by Barry Hawkins in the first round of his UK Championship defence in York.
O'Sullivan, the sport's biggest name, has missed out on every tournament final so far this season including semi-final exits at the Xi'an Grand Prix and Shanghai Masters.
The 48-year-old was hoping to begin an upturn in fortunes on the stretch towards the World Championship next spring, but qualifier Hawkins had other ideas and prevailed 6-4 in the first Triple Crown event of the current season.
Here's a rundown of how it works, who plays who and more, with updated matches and results as things progress.
MORE: Total prize money on offer at the 2024 UK Championship
When is the snooker UK Championship this year?
The main tournament runs from Saturday, November 23 to Sunday, December 1.
Who is playing at the UK Championship?
Since 2022, the tournament has utilised a similar format to the World Championship. The top 16 seeds in the world automatically qualify for the tournament, and are as follows (number denotes seed, nationality in brackets):
- Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG)
- Kyren Wilson (ENG)
- Judd Trump (ENG)
- Mark Allen (NIR)
- Mark Selby (ENG)
- Mark Williams (WAL)
- Luca Brecel (BEL)
- Ding Junhui (CHN)
- Shaun Murphy (ENG)
- Gary Wilson (ENG)
- Zhang Anda (CHN)
- Ali Carter (ENG)
- Si Jiahui (CHN)
- John Higgins (SCO)
- Chris Wakelin (ENG)
- Xiao Guodong (CHN)
Each of the 16 seeds will face a qualifier in the first round, a straight elimination round-of-32.
Qualifying format explained
Qualifiers took place from November 16-21 at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester, with the following players taking the 16 available spots (nationality and current ranking/seed in brackets):
- Jak Jones (WAL, 17)
- Stephen Maguire (SCO, 33)
- Stuart Bingham (ENG, 25)
- Jackson Page (WAL, 41)
- Jack Lisowski (ENG, 21)
- Ryan Day (WAL, 28)
- Wu Yize (CHN, 29)
- Barry Hawkins (ENG, 20)
- Lei Peifan (CHN, 83)
- Matthew Selt (ENG, 35)
- Zhao Xintong (CHN, amateur)
- David Gilbert (ENG, 22)
- Robert Milkins (ENG, 23)
- He Guoqiang (CHN, 58)
- Michael Holt (ENG, 95)
- Neil Robertson (AUS, 18)
There were four qualifying rounds in total, with seeded players just outside the top 16 entering at later stages and amateur players also trying to earn a spot via all four qualifying rounds.
As expected, many well-known and accomplished players just outside the top-16 bubble used the qualifiers to each the main event such as former world champion Neil Robertson, former World finalist Barry Hawkins and 17th-placed Jak Jones.
Are there any amateurs at the 2024 UK Championship?
The only official amateur designation to make it in this year was Zhao Xintong, whose status mostly pertains to his 20-month ban for offenses related to betting on snooker matches that concluded two months ago.
Xintong, in fact, won the 2021 edition of this very tournament meaning his credentials are far beyond his standing, at first glance, in this year's event.
Did the women's world champion qualify for the UK Championship?
Bai Yulu of China, the current women's world snooker champion, made it to the final qualifying round before suffering a 6-1 loss to former World Championship quarter-finalist Jack Wisowski.
Yulu, 21, said of the experience: "I felt relaxed before the match, but once I was out there I felt tension.
"I have gained a lot of experience of these occasions this week, it gives me more confidence.
"I can see some weaknesses in my game which I will work on. I need to get more good results in order to influence more girls to play snooker."
Lisowski praised his opponent, saying: "Bai had an incredible run and that storyline was in the back of my head so I had to keep my concentration."
Snooker UK Championship: Main draw, results, schedule
Nov. 23-26: First round (Best of 11 frames)
(Matches are in order of bracket. The winner of the first match in this order will face the winner of the second in the next round, and so on)
- Ronnie O'Sullivan 4-6 Barry Hawkins
- Ziao Guodong 4-6 David Gilbert
- Shaun Murphy 6-5 Zhao Xintong
- Ding Junhui 6-5 Robert Milkins
- Mark Selby 4-6 Jack Lisowski
- Ali Carter 6-4 Ryan Day
- Si Jiahui 4-6 Wu Yize
- Mark Allen 6-4 Jackson Page
- Judd Trump vs. Neil Robertson
- John Higgins vs. He Guoqiang
- Zhang Anda vs. Lei Peifan
- Mark Williams vs. Stuart Bingham
- Luca Brecel vs. Jak Jones
- Gary Wilson vs. Michael Holt
- Chris Wakelin 6-4 Matthew Selt
- Kyren Wilson 6-0 Stephen Maguire
Nov. 27: Second round (Best of 11 frames)
- Barry Hawkins vs. David Gilbert
- Shaun Murphy vs. Ding Junhui
- Jack Lisowski vs. Ali Carter
- Wu Yize vs. Mark Allen
- Remaining matches TBD
Nov. 28: Quarter-finals (Best of 11 frames)
- TBD
Nov. 29: Semi-finals (Best of 11 frames)
- TBD
Dec. 1: Final (Best of 19 frames)
- TBD
MORE: UK Championship prize money, winner's purse and bonuses
Snooker UK Championship: List of previous winners
Ronnie O'Sullivan, the defending champion heading into the 2024 tournament, is the all-time leader in UK Championship wins with a total of eight titles.
He leads fellow great Steve Davis, who won six. John Higgins, Ding Junhui and Neil Robertson are the closest active players to O'Sullivan but at three titles apiece, remain some way off the top.
| Player(s) | No. of titles |
| Ronnie O'Sullivan | 8 |
| Steve Davis | 6 |
| Stephen Hendry | 5 |
| John Higgins, Ding Junhui, Neil Robertson | 3 |
| Mark Williams, Mark Selby, Doug Mountjoy | 2 |
| 13 players | 1 |
