The UK Championship takes place at the York Barbican over the next two weeks and extensive live coverage will be shown by BBC Sport and British Eurosport.
One of the snooker calendar’s most prestigious events, the revamped 2013 tournament runs from November 26 to December 8 with world number one Mark Selby defending his title against the best players on the planet.
This year’s tournament sees a brand new format with all players on the professional tour starting in the same round.
Established stars like Mark Selby, Judd Trump and John Higgins have come up against a mixture of up-and-coming amateurs and rookies in the opening rounds.
This means that the tournament is three days longer than usual, giving fans the chance to see many more players in action with a multi-table layout at the Barbican in the early stages.
The UK Championship is one of eight tournaments which will feature the revamped format of 128 players entering at the first-round stage.
World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn has been responsible for overhauling the sport since taking over snooker’s commercial operations in 2009.
His changes to the structure of selected tournaments has meant the top 16 players have lost protected ranking at major events, giving lesser-known players a greater chance of competing and playing against top names in lucrative TV tournaments.
They used to automatically qualify through to the last 32 stage but now they go in at the first round, where they have to play two extra matches.
With up to eight tables in play during the opening stages, many lower ranked players will have a chance to take on the established stars in front of a packed York Barbican Centre crowd.
Total prize money has also increased this year from £625,000 to £700,000, with the winner’s cheque worth a cool £150,000. There will also be a £55,000 bonus available for a 147 maximum break.
Five-time world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan, who won the recent Champion of Champions of event televised by ITV, will be lead the line-up of top snooker stars in action in York as he continues his battle to return to the world’s top 16.
The 37-year-old has won this tournament four times, including in 1993 at the age of just 17 when he became the youngest ever winner.
Last year’s final saw Mark Selby claim the biggest title of his career so far when he beat Shaun Murphy 10-6.
The tournament begins on Tuesday in York but big names like O’Sullivan, Selby and Ding do not play their first-round matches until Saturday when the BBC and British Eurosport’s extensive TV coverage begins.
World champion O’Sullivan plays amateur Rhys Clark while China’s Ding is up against Antony Parsons.
Ding became the first player since Hendry in 1993 to win three successive ranking event titles following triumphs at the Shanghai Masters, Indian Open and International Championship.
Seven amateur players have been given a place at the UK Championship in York after a corresponding number of players from the professional tour chose not to enter.
All matches up to and including the quarter-finals are best of 11 frames, played in one session. The semi-final is the best of 17, and the final is best of 19 frames.
Four-time world champion John Higgins told World Snooker’s website: “The UK Championship is a huge tournament and I would love to do well in York this year.
“It’s good to have a new format with everyone starting in the same round. You face new opponents and it gives a chance for more players to compete at the venue and get experience playing on TV.”
BBC Sport will televise nine days of action from the 2013 UK Championship from York Barbican across BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Red Button and Online.
Hazel Irvine and Jason Mohammad present the BBC’s coverage throughout all nine days of the televised stages, including live programming, nightly highlights and the late-night Snooker Extra shows.
BBC Red Button will screen second table coverage during the afternoon sessions, as well as live action from the best match from each evening session.
Commentators and guests throughout the championships include Ken Doherty, Dennis Taylor, Stephen Hendry, John Parrott, Dennis Taylor, Willie Thorne and John Virgo.
Regular analyst and six-time world champion Steve Davis will be missing from the BBC team as he is taking part in ITV’s reality show ‘I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here’.
Online viewers can watch full live coverage from both tables and BBC network TV’s output on PCs, laptops, mobiles and tablet devices via the BBC Sport website and app.
British Eurosport will also have live coverage from York alongside the BBC’s offerings, including high-definition coverage of all televised sessions across its two channels.
Eurosport’s commentary team includes Mike Smith, Mike Hallett, David Hendon and former World Champion Joe Johnson.
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