Phil Haigh
Published November 26, 2025 12:32am
Updated November 26, 2025 12:32am
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Artemijs Zizins picked up a huge win over Ali Carter on Tuesday (Picture: Getty Images)
The final two days of UK Championship qualifying are played on Wednesday and Thursday and it is a surprise line-up for the Judgement Days.
Only the top 16 in the world rankings go straight to the Barbican in York, where the main stages of the tournament begin on Saturday.
16 players will join them in the draw after six days of qualifying which started on Saturday in Wigan.
The level of play has been very high, with two maximums made in the qualifiers already, by Liam Pullen and Chang Bingyu.
There have also been some significant upsets already in the qualifiers, with some fancied players falling before the final round.
Recent winner of the Northern Ireland Open, Jack Lisowski, was beaten 6-2 by Louis Heathcote on Tuesday, struggling to find any sort of form in that contest.
Ali Carter will also be missing out on the trip to York after losing 6-4 to Latvian teenager Artemijs Zizins on Tuesday afternoon.
Jack Lisowski was handily beaten by Louis Heathcote (Picture: Getty Images)
The highest-ranked player in qualifying was Chris Wakelin, number 17 in the world, having only slipped out of the top 16 when Wu Yize won the recent International Championship and shot up the rankings.
Wakelin fell at his first hurdle, though, beaten 6-3 by Mitchell Mann late on Monday evening.
2023 world champion Luca Brecel also suffered an upset defeat in his first qualifier, losing 6-3 to Ian Burns as the Belgian’s quiet season continues.
UK Championship Judgement Days draw and schedule
Wednesday November 26
1pm
Mitchell Mann vs Lyu Haotian
Yuan Sijun vs Michael Holt
Ian Burns vs Stephen Maguire
Daniel Wells vs David Gilbert
7pm
Elliot Slessor vs Zak Surety
Joe O’Connor vs Ben Woollaston
Jamie Clarke vs Zhou Yuelong
Scott Donaldson vs Stuart Bingham
Former champion Stephen Maguire is bidding for a York return (Picture: Getty Images)
Thursday November 27
1pm
Artemijs Zizins vs David Lilley
Pang Junxu vs Noppon Saengkham
Ryan Day vs Hossein Vafaei
Long Zehuang vs Louis Heathcote
7pm
Zhang Anda vs Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Tom Ford vs Xu Si
Jimmy Robertson vs Lei Peifan
He Guoqiang vs Julien Leclercq
There was better news for another Belgian player, though, as Julien Leclercq downed former Crucible finalist Jak Jones 6-2.
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One player not involved in the Judgement Days, but who had a great week, is Poland’s Michal Szubarczyk.
The youngest ever professional is still just 14 years old but beat Jimmy White and Jordan Brown to reach the third round of qualifying, making his first professional century in defeat to Noppon Saengkham.
The final round of qualifying is played over two days, with the draw for the first round in York made at 3pm on Thursday.
World's Top 16
Judd Trump is defending champion in York (Picture: Getty Images)
- Judd Trump
- Kyren Wilson
- Neil Robertson
- Mark Williams
- Ronnie O’Sullivan
- John Higgins
- Mark Allen
- Ding Junhui
- Shaun Murphy
- Zhao Xintong
- Mark Selby
- Xiao Guodong
- Wu Yize
- Barry Hawkins
- Gary Wilson
- Si Jiahui
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