Local stars face Welsh dragons

TOUGH TESTS . . . for Michael Wild

OLDHAM’S two snooker professionals have been drawn to play two of the sport’s best-known players in the first round of the Betway UK Snooker Championship which runs from November 24 to December 6.

Moorside’s Michael Wild must overcome world No. 29 Dominic Dale, while Werneth-based Hamza Akbar, Pakistan’s only player on the professional tour, will face dual world and UK champion Mark Williams, who is currently ranked 14.

Both Welsh players will start hot favourites to beat their Oldham opponents, but shocks in the early round of the UK are not unknown.

All 128 tour professionals are in the draw and the venue – York’s Barbican Centre - stages multiple matches at the same time, something many of the top players dislike.

Wild must recover from the mental turmoil of a 6-0 loss to Leeds’ Sanderson Lam in his last tournament appearance, the International Championship in China.

He had, however, beaten superstar Judd Trump 6-0 to qualify for that event so he has that success to fall back on in order to boost his confidence.

Dale, the winner of two rankings events - the 1997 Grand Prize and 2007 Shanghai Masters - is a talented player, but one Wild can expect to be in with a shout of beating.

Akbar, the Oldham Snooker Academy-based 22-year-old, faces an even tougher nut to crack in Williams, the 1999 and 2000 UK champion, and World Championship winner in 2000 and 2003.

First prize in the BBC-televised event is a huge £150,000.