The 2009 UK Championship may still be another three months away but already World Snooker have released both the qualifying draw and the last 32 draws.
First to the qualifying draw and the highlight of the first round for me looks to be the clash between the two young Welshmen, Daniel Wells and Michael White. Both are talented young players who are continuing to improve and it will interesting to see who comes out on top.
Looking further along, we could have a mouthwatering last 48 match between Ken Doherty and Jamie Cope if Ken can win his opening match, while we could also see an all-Scottish affair between Marcus Campbell and Graeme Dott for a place in Telford.
Turning to the last 32, it is not always the case but the two halves of the draw appear to be well balanced on paper. The top half has the likes of defending champion Shaun Murphy, world number two Stephen Maguire and other top players such as Marco Fu, Ding Junhui and Ali Carter, while the bottom has the big two of Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins, plus Mark Selby and Stephen Hendry.
With the quality of the players ranked between 17-32 in the rankings these days there are always going to be some intriguing last 32 matches in prospect but this is perhaps even more the case at this tournament. Take for example the newly crowned Shanghai Masters Ronnie O’Sullivan who could well face Matthew Stevens in the first round, or Peter Ebdon who could come up against Judd Trump should he negotiate his qualifying match.
As the reigning world champion, you could be forgiven for thinking that John Higgins might have an easier draw but instead he will face a very tough opponent from the start as he is poised to meet Ricky Walden first up. In addition Mark Selby will most likely meet either Ken Doherty or Jamie Cope while Shanghai runner-up Liang Wenbo could meet Ryan Day.
Finally if all that was not enough, we could have a classic last 32 match between arguably snooker’s greatest two players, Stephen Hendry and Steve Davis. When you think back to all of the classic duels that they have contested over the years in the competition, it is hard not to be a little excited by this one, should Steve qualify of course.