UK snooker Championship Day 1 LIVE: Ding Junhui downs Robert Milkins after Ronnie O’Sullivan lost to Barry Hawkins

Mark Allen plays Jackson Page in the afternoon, with Ali Carter also meeting Ryan Day. The evening session then sees Si Junhui and Wu Yize, while the main event sees Mark Selby taking on Jack Lisowski. Can’t wait!

What an epic match. Not always the best quality but Ding got there in the end. You have to feel for Milkins who came so close.

The frame match is Ding’s now after a fantastic brown.

Milkins misses a long yellow and now Ding only needs to pot this ball to leave him needing a snooker.

Ding leaves a red on and now Milkins has a chance. A clearance still looks difficult from here, but a fine red into the right middle has opened the opportunity.

Milkins misses a red into the left middle and then Ding pots a red, but misses the ensuing black. No red is left on but that’s a reprieve for Milkins.

Milkins had to break up the last three reds, but leaves himself too close to one of the balls and had to tap to one of the other reds.

Milkins leaves Ding a long pot to the left corner pocket but he misses and Milkins goes on to pot a red to set up a chance.

Poor positioning off the black leaves Ding without a pot and he has to play safe up to baulk.

He has effortlessly moved past the 50-mark and now is just a couple of good pots away from taking the match.

Ding has broken up the reds and now the frame and the match is at his mercy.

Ding pots a long red dead weight and follows it up with a very good blue cut into the right middle.

A break of 135, what a way to force a match-deciding frame.

Ding has his first century of the match – and could well make it a total clearance.

Ding’s best break of the match and Milkins now needs a couple of snookers. It looked like being end of break but Ding potted a very good long red into the yellow pocket – a rarity for him today.

When he needed it, Ding has started producing the goods. It looks highly likely we will see a deciding frame now.

It was a risky shot from Milkins but he was so close to potting a difficult red into the left middle hitting both jaws and circling the pocket before staying out. Ding pots an easy red and then a skillful black with cannon onto a red and now looks in a good position.

An audacious attempt at a reverse double from Ding, which just missed the pot, but he knew a chance would not be left from it.

A break of 63 in the tenth frame gives Gilbert a berth in the last 16.

Milkins concedes and now we go into a tenth frame.

A fantastic red into the right middle, then a similarly good pink into the left and the frame is now Ding’s.

A fortunate snooker from Ding. Milkins gets out of it

Everytime I say that…Ding is too short on position for the black and has to play safe.

This is more like the Ding we know. Precision potting around the black spot and he has just his second half century of the match.

Ding gets the better of a safety exchange and now has a chance to try to navigate another messy table.

Ding plays for a cannon into the bottom right and he dislodges the black by the bottom left pocket, opening up an opportunity to cut a red in. Milkins pots it but snookers himself from the black.

Xiao brought the scores level, but another half century puts Gilbert one away from victory.

It has been a day for the underdogs so far. And it looks like Milkins will keep this going.

It is moot now as Milkins rolls in another fine long red, as well as a black. He is now one frame away from a place in the second round.

Amazingly, there is another in-off from Ding. He now needs two snookers to tie.

Milkins potting another red and pink means Ding now needs a snooker.

Ding must want the ground to swallow him up. He pots the cue ball and gives away a free ball as the whole of neither ball can be hit from within the D. Milkins then pots a free ball and backs up with a fantastic black. It could be a frame winner.

On the fourth occasion Ding is millimetres from landing on the red on the bottom cushion. It always feels so harsh when that is called a miss. He hits a red on the fifth time of asking.

Milkins puts Ding now in a very difficult snooker to get out of and he misses the red on the bottom cushion twice. On the third occasion he hits the brown near the right cushion he first plays off.

Ding plays a great snooker, but Milkins not only gets out of it but he pots the red too. No colour is on though. We move on. Slowly.

The break ends as Milkins fails to get on a colour after trying to disrupt the unpottable reds near the bottom cushion.

Milkins pots the red left over the corner pocket and a chance to get in front presents itself.

Another inexplicable miss from Ding. A red into the left corner pocket. But Milkins then misses a red into the right middle. This feels like deja vu. Ding also misses a cut into the bottom left.

Ding now has a chance and, after a couple of good pots, suddenly the table looks a lot more inviting.

The table the way is, it is almost impossible to win the frame in a visit and we are left in a safety exchange again.

Ding misses the pack of reds again and leaves Milkins a free ball.

Ding misses the pack of reds. Surprisingly, Milkins opts to play his own safety and leaves a chance for Ding to the left corner pocket. He misses by a mile but doesn’t leave a pot on. This frame could go on for a looooong time.

Ding with a good plant but he doesn’t leave himself an easy colour, so another possible break is scuppered.

Ding rolls into a red near the bottom cushion but leaves on a red. Milkins pots it with the spider but doesn’t come back far enough to pot the pink. A scrappy start to the frame.

Milkins uses a big pocket to slot in a red but the shot to nothing sees the ball go back to baulk. He rolls the ball behind the yellow.

Ding quickly loses position and then plays safe leaving the cue ball on the baulk cushion.

Second time around, Ding hits a red and Milkins on his next shot misses a pot and sees the cue ball go in off. Ding responds with a very good long pot.

Ding misses rolling up to a red on the left cushion and, with no pot on, Milkins has the ball replaced.

Milkins with a very good pot but he doesn’t leave himself on a colour and just rolls the ball behind the green.

The break ends with a couple of showboat pots and though he misses out on the total clearance, he records a quite marvellous 130.

The first century of the match and a break not really befitting with the quality we’ve seen previously.

It wasn’t the easiest frame ball needing to rest one leg on the table but he slots it and lands perfectly on the black to ensure Ding will not return to the table in this frame.

He passes the half-century mark for the first time since the opening frame. A fine effort from him.

A long red missed by Ding and Milkins pots the same ball and more crucially gets up the table to add the blue.

Gilbert has now taken the lead on the other side of the screen with a 72 break in the fifth frame.

Milkins clears down to the pink to level the scores again.

Ding misses from long range and Milkins now has the chance to seal the frame.

Ding puts Milkins in a snooker he narrowly fails to get out of. And then it appears Ding leaves one impossible to get out of with the cue ball trapped in the jaw just behind the pink, with the red the other side of it. Heroically Milkins gets out of it bouncing the cue ball near the green pocket and back to clip the red without potting the pink. He lifts his arms to salute the crowd afterwards.

Ding misses the pink off the penultimate red. this safety exchange will be key.

It has been a patient break from Ding and he is closing in on Milkins’ score. There is one difficult red on the left-hand side cushion which may help Milkins.

Milkins rockets a pink towards the right middle and it bounces out. Ding is faced with a very inviting table now.

It is hard to believe we are watching the same player who made such gaffes in the previous frame. A very good break thus far.

Ding with a careless long safety and Milkins pots a good long red to get the first chance in the frame.

A break of 27 from Ding is enough to get him over the line. Both players will feel they can do a lot better than this.

Another horrendous miss from Milkins into the right middle pocket and a good pot from Ding into the left middle should now see the Chinese player win the frame. Should.

Feast or famine from Milkins. He misses a red into the left middle and Ding almost misses with the rest for the third time in the match. After potting that, Ding left himself a fairly tricky black and he jawed it in the left corner pocket. Another chance for Milkins… Maybe feast this time.

Ding pots the black but does not leave himself an easy red and misses with the rest into the bottom right pocket for the second time in this match.

He has negotiated the difficult glut of reds around the black spot and now the frame is at his mercy….or it was until a heavy contact, which makes the black a tough pot.

A poor safety leaves Ding with an easy pot into the bottom right pocket and the black is there for him afterwards.

We are back underway and Ding carelessly leaves a red when nestling into the pack of reds, but Milkins cannot get a colour from it so plays safe.

It could be a late night as the other game is also two-apiece, Gilbert getting on level terms with his second 50+ break.

Milkins makes a very big, in the context of the game, clearing up with a break of 41 and we go into the mid-session interval all square.

Ding will not miss a pot by more than that. It wasn’t an easy long pot but it wouldn’t have dropped into a bucket. Milkins potted a good medium-range red and now has a chance to go into the mid-session interval level.

The frame remains open as Ding misses an attempted cannon off a couple of reds. The way Milkins’ safety has been, he will be confident of getting another opportunity.

Ding isn’t at his fluent best but he is looking the far surer player out of the two.

Milkins very frustrated after missing a thin cut on the black. It wasn’t the easiest shot, but he missed it by a mile.

Another very poor safety from Milkins leaves Ding an easy chance, but the favourite then misses with the rest and the Milkman has a chance to take advantage.

On the other player, the Chinese player is also in front, with two half-centuries helping him overcome a one-nil deficit.

Ding pots the last red with a nice long cut into the green pocket and Milkins immediately concedes.

Milkins plays on as he needs a solitary snooker.

Ding lost the cue ball just after that comment and it led to him leaving himself a mid-range red which he missed. But Milkins then played a horrible shot which will surely allow Ding to kill off the frame.

This is more like the Ding we know. The cue ball on a string around the black spot and the frame should soon be his.

Milkins rockets the green towards its pocket and is shocked to see it bounce back out. Now Ding can make him pay.

Ding with the first pot after Milkins misses a long red but he leaves a cut from close to the blue ball into the yellow pocket in the jaws. Now Milkins is in a good position to make a break.

The half-century break at least gave Ding the chance to get his hand on the table and will feel all the better for it.

Ding drops a red into the middle which leaves Milkins needing a couple of snookers and should be the end of frame.

After a prolonged safety exchange, Milkins pots a good red but then misses the black. Ding now has a chance to build a lead, though it remains a messy table.

And yet…Ding misses a straight forward red with his next shot. He is very lucky not to leave a red on for Milkins.

Ding does just that and now looks in a good position to build a big score.

Ding pots his first red of the match, a cross-table red intot he green pocket. The black is open if he can land well on a red off the yellow.

Another fine red from Milkins after a Ding miss. He does not get as much backspin as he hoped off the yellow and was left a three-ball plant from the side cushion. No problem for the Milkman today though! Afterwards he has to play safe though.

Ding left a red over the left corner pocket but with the black blocked into the bottom right, Milkins had to attempt to work the cue ball very hard to get on the other side of the colour. He narrowly didn’t make it and had to play safe.

No century for Milkins but what a break of 82 to give the underdog confidence in this first to six match-up.

A fantastic break from Milkins who has brought his practice form straight onto the main table. He’s just a few pots away from the frame now.

It was only a half chance left by Ding but Milkins potted the red into the bottom right pocket with aplomb and now has a chance to build the first break.

We will be updating on all the action from Ding Junhai and Robert Milkins’ match, while also keeping you abreast of details in the match between Xiao Guodong and David Gilbert. You can watch both matches live on discovery+.

We have an incredible day so far – with champion Ronnie O’Sullivan being dumped out by Barry Hawkins and Shaun Murphy edging past Zhao Xintong in a decider, let’s hope the evening lives up to this.

The Magician will feel he should have got through easier than that, despite him coming into the game second favourite, but the most important thing is he got over the line.

Murphy is over the line and surely Zhao will not come back to the table now.

A lose safety from Zhao allows Murphy to pot the red he himself left over the pocket, coming off the cushion first. Now he surely will put his name in Round 2.

Murphy looked set to take the frame and match in that visit but left himself too straight on the pink and over-cuted the next red.

A sloppy safety gives Murphy the opportunity to rocket a red into the left middle and pot the green, working the cue ball to get down to the rest of the reds.

Murphy’s break ends after one colour and then Zhao pots a fantastic long red but plays a snooker which Murphy gets out of.

Zhao with a wild attempted long pot which leaves Murphy with an easy opener – though the pink and black are tied up.

Undoubtedly the story of the day is Barry Hawkins’ victory over Ronnie O’Sullivan.

A fantastic red into the left middle puts the frame beyond doubt and O’Sullivan comes over to shake hands. What a sensation in the first match of the tournament.

Hawkins pots a red with the rest and then rolls in a black to leave O’Sullivan needing a snooker.

O’Sullivan pots a long red with the cue ball right under the baulk cushion, but then misses the next red, after leaving himself with awkward cueing.

Hawkins leaves O’Sullivan a fairly straightforward red after missing a difficult long pot. O’Sullivan is fortunate to leave very awkward cueing for Hawkins who turns down a chance for a pot.

A reprieve for O’Sullivan as Hawkins left himself straight on the blue and could not get position on the remaining reds. There is a possible 75 left on the table.

Hawkins looking very smooth here and enough free reds meaning he can claim the frame without having to play any really difficult shots – so long as he keeps control of the cue ball.

A very good safety exchange at the start of this frame and it culminates in O’Sullivan trying a long cross-table red, seeing it bounce out of the bottom right pocket and then leave a red over the left middle.

He deserved a century but misses the final red so has to settle for 88 and being one frame away from victory.

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