SNOOKER: UK Championship 2012 – Live on BBC TV & British Eurosport

World snooker’s finest are in York to contest the 2012 WilliamHill.com UK Championship and you can follow all the action with BBC Sport and British Eurosport.

The tournament is the second biggest ranking event on the calendar after the World Championship and is one of snooker’s Triple Crown events.

Last year, Judd Trump (above) claimed the UK title, his second ranking event of his career, after taking seven frames in a row on the way to beating Mark Allen 10-8, in a gripping match in which he eventually had to hold off a strong comeback from his opponent.

One of the sport’s longest running events, the format of the UK Championship was changed last year with two tables at the York Barbican venue and shorter matches up until the quarter-finals.

All the matches up until the quarter-finals will be best of 11 frames, played in one session, allowing the whole of the tournament to be played on two tables rather than four, which means that every match will be televised.

For the first time since 1992, four-time UK champion Ronnie O’Sullivan will be missing from the line-up. 

The reigning world champion announced in November that he would be pulling out of the rest of the 2012-13 season because of personal issues, and may not return to the sport, according to his manager.

Three-time UK Champion John Higgins opens up proceedings on Saturday, December 1, against English qualifier Michael Holt in a best-of-11-frames match.

Defending UK champion Trump, who moved to the top of the world rankings after securing a place in the recent International Championship final in China, faces Mark Joyce in his first round match on Sunday afternoon.