Allen, Maguire and Robertson ready for round two of UK snooker

The afternoon session of day six at the Coral UK Championship snooker features four men who have reached the final before.

Reigning champion Neil Robertson, the 13/2 second-favourite with the sponsors to retain his title, joins former winner Stephen Maguire (2004), three-time runner-up Ken Doherty and 2011 last hurdle faller Mark Allen in action.

Here, we preview their second round matches against opposition they can feel confident about beating.

Neil Robertson v Kyren Wilson
Just inside the sport’s top 64, ‘the Warrior’ Wilson, 22, is at a career-high rank thus far, but can expect his momentum to be checked by ‘the Thunder from Down Under’. While Robertson whitewashed qualifier Joe O’Connor in round one, Kyren edged namesake Gary in a deciding frame.

It’s hardly surprising, then, to discover the defending UK champion is a massive 1/8 odds-on favourite to advance again. Kettering native Wilson, meanwhile, is a 5/1 outsider, and is under no illusions about the task ahead of him.

“I played alright but I will obviously have to improve a lot to beat Neil,” he said after his opening round win. World number two Robertson should secure serene progress here, though, simply because of the gulf in class between himself and his opponent.

Yu Delu v Stephen Maguire
Glasgow’s man ‘on fire’ Maguire will be looking to turn up the heat on another Chinese cueman in Yu, following his 6-2 first round romp against Lu Ning. Delu is ranked 50th in the world, but the Scot is top 16 stock.

It was a decade ago now when Maguire, 33/1 to win the UK Championship again, burst onto the scene. He took the now defunct European Open title and this crown in York back in 2004, but trophies have been rather sparse since.

Nonetheless, the reigning World Six-red champion is strongly odds-on at 1/10 to beat Yu, who is a 6/1 shot for a big upset here.

Ken Doherty v Michael White
Who among snooker fans doesn’t have soft spot for ‘the Darling of Dublin’? Doherty plays Wales’ White in round two, and their paths have crossed at the UK Championship before.