UK Championship snooker 2020 - Anthony Hamilton and Ryan Day return positive Covid-19 tests

Updated 23/11/2020 at 11:24 GMT

Anthony Hamilton and Ryan Day have withdrawn from the UK Championship after returning positive tests for Covid-19. Their opponents, Xu Si and Jak Jones, have received byes into the second round. Hamilton withdrew from the World Championship in August due to health concerns surrounding the coronavirus.

Anthony Hamilton

Image credit: Imago

Anthony Hamilton and Ryan Day have contracted coronavirus and have withdrawn from the UK Championship in Milton Keynes.

The 49-year-old Hamilton was due to play Xu Si on Monday morning and Day, who made it to round three of the Northern Ireland Open, was set to face Jak Jones in the evening of the first day of the UK Championship. Both Xu and Jones have received byes to the second round.

Hamilton withdrew from the World Championship in August due to health concerns at late notice after it was announced that the Crucible would be admitting a limited audience to the rescheduled worlds. The player, knocked out in the first round of the UK Championship last year, is an asthma sufferer.

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2020 UK Championship Monday schedule

Monday, 23 November

Morning (9.30am)

Ian Burns v David Grace
Xu Si v Anthony Hamilton - (Walkover, Hamilton positive for Covid-19)
Yan Bingtao v Sean Maddocks
Li Hang v Fraser Patrick
Mark Williams v Ben Hancorn
Tom Ford v Pang Junxu

Afternoon (1.30pm)

Sam Craigie v Chang Bingyu
Scott Donaldson v Simon Lichtenberg
Mark Selby v Michael White
Graeme Dott v Zhao Jianbo
Martin O'Donnell v Jamie Clarke

Evening (7.30pm)

Ryan Day v Jak Jones - (Walkover, Day positive for Covid-19)
Daniel Wells v Gerard Greene
John Higgins v Fergal O'Brien
Barry Hawkins v Riley Parsons
Ben Woollaston v Andy Hicks

What is the format?

All matches are the best of 11 frames until the final which is contested over the best of 19 frames on Sunday, 6 December.

The UK Championship – part of snooker's Triple Crown series – was due to be held at the York Barbican, but due to the global health pandemic, all remaining World Snooker Tour events in 2020 – including the Northern Ireland Open, UK Championship, Scottish Open and World Grand Prix – will continue to be staged behind closed doors at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes.