Allen gets Ding opener in repeat of 2022 UK final

Northern Ireland's Mark Allen will begin his title defence at the UK Championship against Ding Junhui - the player he beat in last year's final.

The pair will meet again in the first round of this year's main draw at York's Barbican Centre on Saturday.

Three-time UK champion Ding, 36, had to qualify on Wednesday having slipped out of the world's top 16.

Allen heads into the event on a high after winning the Champion of Champions event in Bolton on Sunday, beating Judd Trump 10-3 in the final.

Thursday's UK Championship draw also pitted world number one Ronnie O'Sullivan against Anthony McGill, a match that will take place on Tuesday.

Trump will face Pang Junxu after he beat amateur Craig Steadman 6-2 as the final eight qualifiers were decided in Leicester on Thursday.

Yuan Sijun beat former world champion Ken Doherty 6-3 to earn a meeting with current world champion Luca Brecel on Sunday and Mark Joyce will face Mark Selby after upsetting Joe Perry 6-4.

Zhou Yuelong fought back from 5-3 down to beat Ian Burns 6-5 and set up a meeting with Neil Robertson, while Shaun Murphy will face Iran's Hossein Vafaei, who beat Scott Donaldson 6-4.

Joe O'Connor beat 2004 champion Stephen Maguire 6-3, Ben Woollaston cruised past Germany's Lukas Kleckers 6-1 and Elliot Slessor beat David Lilley 6-3.

Main draw

Mark Allen v Ding Junhui, Tom Ford v Noppon Saengkham, Mark Williams v Fan Zhengyi, Kyren Wilson v Jamie Clarke, Mark Selby v Mark Joyce, Barry Hawkins v Ben Woollaston, Jack Lisowski v Jamie Jones, Judd Trump v Pang Junxu, Ronnie O'Sullivan v Anthony McGill, Robert Milkins v Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, John Higgins v Joe O'Connor, Neil Robertson v Zhou Yuelong, Shaun Murphy v Hossein Vafaei, Ali Carter v Matthew Selt, Zhang Anda v Elliot Slessor, Luca Brecel v Yuan Sijun