Ronnie O’Sullivan 0-0 Zhou Yuelong
O’Sullivan quickly breaks down after scoring just nine though and forced to play safe off the green. So, just a 13-point lead in the early going of this opening frame
Luke Baker2 December 2025 13:19
Ronnie O’Sullivan 0-0 Zhou Yuelong
Zhou gives way four early points trying to get out of a snooker but a decent adjustment to hit it second time.
However, he then gets a safety shot slightly wrong, O’Sullivan can pick red out of the pack and he’ll have the first scoring chance of this match.
Luke Baker2 December 2025 13:18
Ronnie O’Sullivan v Zhou Yuelong
Ok, walk-ons are complete and we’re underway at the Barbican. Can Zhou spring an upset on the greatest snooker player of all time?
Ont he other table, O’Sullivan’s old foe Mark Selby is taking on Lei Peifan
Luke Baker2 December 2025 13:15
Ronnie O’Sullivan v Zhou Yuelong head to head
Right, turning our attention to this afternoon’s match, which will be underway shortly.
Some people raise their game when they face the great Ronnie O’Sullivan, while others wilt. And sadly, Zhou Yuelong falls into the latter category – so far at least.
Zhou is a talented player who has been as high as No 17 in the world and has reached four ranking finals (albeit losing them all) but O’Sullivan has won all seven matches between the pair.
They first met back at the 2018 Northern Ireland Open, where The Rocket won 4-1, and there were 6-0 whitewashes in the 2018 and 2022 UK Championships.
Zhou saw a 5-4 lead int he 2023 UK quarter-final slip away as O’Sullivan rallied to win 6-5, and would go on to win the title, while their most recent meeting ended 6-2 at the 2024 Players Championship. Can the Chinese cueman turn the tide today?
O’Sullivan and Zhou have met seven times, with the Englishman winning all seven (PA)
Luke Baker2 December 2025 13:02
Zhao Xintong becomes the most complicated world champion in snooker history
Check out Luke Baker’s report from the World Snooker Championship final in Sheffield back in May, when Zhao Xintong made history.
The long-overdue moment that a first Chinese winner of the World Snooker Championship finally arrived was supposed to be one of unalloyed joy. Yet now it’s here, there is an air of hesitancy around the celebrations – entirely because the man in question is Zhao Xintong.
Snooker is already a huge deal in China, with a market of 1.4 billion people dwarfing the traditional hotbeds of this still quaintly British sport, but having their own world champion has always been touted as the occurrence that would send it stratospheric.
Zhao, the 28-year-old from Xi’an cut a swathe through qualifying and the main stage of the World Championship to set up a final against Mark Williams, the laid-back Welshman gunning for his fourth Crucible title and trying to become the oldest world champion in history at the age of 50. He proved no match for Zhao. With the swagger and flair that has become his trademark, the Chinese star cruised to a 18-12 to give his country their first world champion.
So far, so fairytale. Except Zhao immediately becomes the most complicated world champion in snooker history.
Luke Baker2 December 2025 12:53
Jack Lisowski opens up on emotional victory over ‘best friend’ Judd Trump for first ranking title
It’s been a funny old snooker season so far, with 11 different winners in the 11 events that have been played.
The most popular of those was undoubtedly the Northern Irish Open final, where the uber-popular Jack Lisowski finally won the first tournament of his career.
Much like Scott Donaldson last night, Lisowski’s dad passed away earlier this year and, after beating best friend Judd Trump in the final in Belfast, he opened up about the emotions coursing through him
Luke Baker2 December 2025 12:46
Emotional Scott Donaldson causes huge UK Championship shock after father’s death
Scott Donaldson caused the biggest upset at the UK Championship so far as he notched an emotional victory over Mark Allen while coping with the death of his father.
World No 52 Donaldson reached the last 16 of snooker’s second-biggest tournament for the first time in his career as he ground out a 6-1 victory over Allen in a scrappy match that went late into Monday evening.
Donaldson’s father Hector died at the age of 70 in October and he was in tears walking into the arena before the match to the song Babylon by David Gray – one of his dad’s favourites that was played at his funeral.
He channelled that emotion into a truly gutsy display on the baize and acknowledged that the circumstances have helped him put things into perspective.
Luke Baker2 December 2025 12:37
Results so far
And here are the 12 men who have already booked their spot in that last 16
Results so far
Judd Trump 6-4 Stephen Maguire
Mark Williams 6-4 David Gilbert
Pang Junxu 6-2 Xiao Guodong
Neil Robertson 6-2 Julien Leclercq
John Higgins 6-2 Ben Woollaston
Shaun Murphy 6-2 Lyu Haotian
Zhao Xintong 6-1 Long Zehuang
Scott Donaldson 6-1 Mark Allen
Zhang Anda 6-5 Gary Wilson
Luke Baker2 December 2025 12:31
Today’s schedule
It’s not just Ronnie O’Sullivan in action today, there are four fascinating matches at the Barbican. By the end of today, we’ll know the full make-up of the last 16.
Ronnie O’Sullivan v Zhou Yuelong
Kyren Wilson v Elliot Slessor
Barry Hawkins v David Lilley
Luke Baker2 December 2025 12:23
UK Championship prize money
Here’s what the players will earn in York this week
Quarter-finalists: £25,000
Total prize pot: £1,205,000
Judd Trump triumphed at the 2024 UK Championship (Mike Egerton/PA Wire)
Luke Baker2 December 2025 12:16
