Top contenders of 2011 UK Championship title ready for battle – Part 1
The line-up for the 2011 UK Championship is all set after the qualifying session of the second most prestigious snooker event after World Snooker Championship. The qualifiers were played at South West Snooker Academy, Gloucester, in order to finalise the first-round line-up of the championship. The 2011 UK Championship is the 27th edition of the tournament after it became a major ranking snooker event in 1984.
All top guns of snooker from around the world are heading to the York Barbican Centre, where the championship will commence with some thrilling encounters. Since the 2011-12 Snooker Season started with Players Tour Championship (PTC) Event 1, a couple of new names have made their way into the list of top contenders for major ranking titles.
The first new face was England’s Stuart Bingham, who entered the list of elites after winning the first ever snooker event on Australian soil, the 2011 Australian Goldfields Open, in July, 2011. The event win proved to be Bingham’s first major ranking title during his career. Bingham has now setup a clash with Hong Kong’s Marco Fu in Round 1 of the UK Championship.
Second name that hit the top guns list was Martin Gould, who emerged as the new Power Snooker champion beating defending champion, Ronnie O’Sullivan, after a nail-biting final. Thus, the Englishman was able to win his first ever ranking title. The Englishman will face compatriot, Peter Lines, in the opening round of the UK event.
Another youngster, who earned his place in the top players in last season’s China Open, is also sharpening his cue to take on tough challenges in the 2011 UK Championship. The 2011 World Snooker Championship finalist, Judd Trump, has made a superb start in the current season, winning two PTC and two premier league events. At the UK Championship, he is up against Welshman, Dominic Dale, in the first round.
Scotland’s John Higgins is entering the Barbican Centre arena as the defending champion and as far as his performance in the current season is concerned, he has not won any ranking event so far, except one premier league event. However, despite his low performance in this season, his current match-winning ratio is 70.6 percent after playing in 34 matches, with 24 victories and 10 defeats.
The current world and UK champion is definitely second to none and his match winning abilities are well known in the world of snooker. The Wizard of Wishaw and three-time UK champion will be facing Rory McLeod in his first round match-up at York.
How can one talk about snooker and forget mentioning the Rocket, Ronnie O’Sullivan. The only ambidextrous potter in the line-up who can change the face of the game in mere moments and turn the tables, O’Sullivan is undoubtedly one of the contenders for the event.
The former four-time UK Championship winner did not have a superb last season but he managed to finish at a convincing winning rate as he sprang back into his brilliant form in this season. The Essex Exocet grabbed two PTC events and two premier league events before heading for the UK title. His potting skills are very well known to everyone who knows about snooker today.
O’Sullivan can surely challenge Higgins for the title, as he has the potential to capitalise. His match winning percentage is better that that of Higgins. He has won 33 matches out of 40, with a winning rate of 82.5 percent. His frame winning tendency is 68.7 percent after clinching 149 frame wins out of 217.
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