UK Championship Tips: Snooker Last 16 Betting Picks Wednesday 3rd Dec
We’re through the first round of the 2026 UK Championship in York and there is already a big headline coming out of the famous Barbican Theatre.
Eight-time winner of the event, Ronnie O’Sullivan, has crashed out in the first round for just the sixth time since he made his 1992 debut in the event, losing a scrappy 6-4 match to Chinese player Zhou Yuelong.
This was the “Rocket’s” first event in the UK since April’s World Championship, and it was over in a couple of hours thanks to the world number 29.
Elsewhere up and down the draw, upsets have been few and far between so far, with Mark Allen the only notable name falling with O’Sullivan having lost 6-1 to Scott Donaldson.
The second round gets underway on Wednesday, with all games still a race to six frames.
Let’s take a look at some of the best betting tips for Wednesday:
Tip 1: John Higgins vs Shaun Murphy — Over 10.5 frames at 11/4 with bet365
John Higgins and Shaun Murphy have traded blows throughout their careers.
Both are multi-ranking tournament winners, former world champions and still capable of challenging the very best on tour.
It’s 16-12 to Higgins in the head-to-heads and 9-9 over their last 18 meetings.
Both players came through as 6-2 winners in the first round and are seemingly on a collision course to a real back-and-forth tie on Wednesday afternoon.
A 6-5 either way is priced really well at 11/4 as these two dig in.
Tip 2: Judd Trump -2.5 frames handicap vs Si Jiahui at 21/20 with William Hill
There is no question that Si Jiahui is a potential banana-skin for world number one Judd Trump.
Trump, the reigning UK Championship titleholder, has had a poor season to his standard so far this campaign, reaching the quarter-finals or beyond in just one of seven ranking tournaments.
But the biggest tournaments tend to bring out the best in the “Ace in the Pack” and Chinese youngster Si Jiahui isn’t having the best of times either.
The attacking youngster hasn’t gone deep in a tournament since reaching the Wuhan Open final in October 2024, and is probably lacking that consistency on the baize to lay a glove on Trump.
He swept Ryan Day aside 6-0 in the opening round but should struggle with Trump’s all-round game.
Tip 3: Neil Robertson 6-3 Wu Yize at 11/2 with Betfred
Three-time winner of this event, Neil Robertson broke his duck of four first-round exits in a row by sweeping past Belgian Julian Leclercq.
This should set the Australian up nicely for a clash with Yu Wize who had to dig deep against Michael Holt, eventually coming through as a 6-4 winner.
Robertson is a real dark horse for this event, up to number four in the world and playing some good snooker on the biggest stages.
Yize is fresh coming off his big win at the International Championship, but hasn’t shown enough consistently to suggest he will be a big threat in this Triple Crown event.
6-3 to Robertson feels about right as we target a bigger price.
Lewis Watson will be back on Free Bets with more coverage across the week from York, so make sure you return to see more of his selections!
