UK Snooker Championship 2023 Day 1 Betting Tips: Williams not a Fan of Zhengyi

Saturday sees the start of the Triple Crown events in snooker and our resident expert Dean Strand (@DSSnookerTips) has already given us his excellent UK Championship preview. Now, here is the first of his daily tipping pieces, as he picks two of his favourite bets from day one at the Barbican, in York. 

2pts Mark Allen v Ding Junhui - Both Players To Make A Century Break - 13/8

Saturday afternoon will see the start of this year's UK Championship and first up is easily the standout tie of the first round, as we have a repeat of last year's final between Mark Allen and Ding Junhui.

A tough one to call with both players a little inconsistent this season but both also in decent form heading into this one and the bet I like here, is both players to make a century at 13/8.

Last year's final was very high quality with Allen making two centuries and Ding making four and both players have been scoring well recently, Allen making centuries in his last four and Ding his last five. In best of 11s this season Allen has made at least one century in five of his six matches and Ding at least one in seven out of 10.

2pts Fan Zhengyi to beat Mark Williams - 23/10

My other pick for todays matches comes from the other afternoon match between Mark Williams and Fan Zhengyi. Since the UK moved back to the Barbican in 2011, Williams has had very little joy here. In the 12 events since then, he’s managed just one quarter final appearance with 1st or 2nd round defeats on five occasions.

In the last four years, he’s had defeats here to Michael White, Ricky Walden and Anthony Hamilton and last year lost in the first round to Jamie Clarke.

Fan can be unpredictable but when he hits form, he’s capable of brilliance and often raises his game against the better players, winning eight of his last 13 against top 16 players.

You can follow all Dean's snooker insights with our Snooker Betting Tips section.