Guodong Xiao vs David Gilbert Prediction: An exciting day-one encounter

At the York Barbican in York, Guodong Xiao will play David Gilbert on day one of the Snooker UK Championship. Who wins this encounter? 

Guodong Xiao's last encounter was in the Champion of Champions final, and he lost 6-10 to Mark Williams. However, the professional won three consecutive matches in that run, defeating Ronnie O’Sullivan, Mark Selby and Mark Allen. Yet, the Chinese come into this game as a favourite and will hope to take his chances while he eyes a tournament win.

David Gilbert defeated Xing Zihao and Julien Leclercq in the qualification stage of this competition and will hope to be at his best here. In the meantime, David Gilbert lost prior encounters to those wins, coming against Jackson Page and Lei Peifan. However, David Gilbert has three wins and three defeats, heading into this game and entering it as the underdog.

Guodong Xiao has improved so much over the years, and I expect him to win this game. While I believe David Gilbert will give his best in this game after a strong qualification performance, this is a tough opponent, and it will be difficult for him to turn things around. I will back Guodong Xiao to win as a favourite, a game where we should expect a few frames.