UK snooker champion Stephen Maguire starts the defence of his title in York on Saturday afternoon with a secret up his sleeve.

He plays his opening match in the Travis Perkins-sponsored championship at the Barbican Centre against Belfast's Joe Swail determined to battle all the way in his bid to become the first player for nine years to keep the crown.

And he's been working hard in practice to improve his chances, getting help from former world and UK champion Terry Griffiths, coach to the host of star players in the 110 snooker management group.

"I've made a few little changes to some techniques as a result of chatting to Terry about things and I've been working on them," revealed the 24-year-old Scot.

"But I don't want to say what these are," he grinned. "I don't want to give anything away. I'm keeping it in my secret armoury."

The 24-year-old from Glasgow has been cutting down what was his growing alcohol consumption and he has being working in the gym to get himself into fitter condition.

The last player to successfully defend and retain the UK title was Stephen Hendry in 1996. In the past two years in York the defending champions have been knocked out in their opening matches.

Maguire's match starts after the first eight frames of Ronnie O'Sullivan's noon opener against Romford's Mark King, who had a first round 9-4 win over Ryan Day on Tuesday.

On the table next to O'Sullivan's match, Rotherham-based Shaun Murphy makes his UK Championship bow in York against Nigel Bond, the 1995 world championship losing finalist (to Hendry). Bond scored a tough 9-7 first round win over Dave Harold on Wednesday night.

They play eight frames in the afternoon and return tomorrow night to finish their battle for places in the last 16. After eight frames of Murphy's match, seven-times world champion Hendry comes in to play Thailand's James Wattana, who beat Drew Henry on Tuesday.

The Maguire and Murphy matches resume on Sunday from noon, playing to a finish.

Hendry, beaten by Matthew Stevens in the UK final two years ago, was a shock first hurdle victim last year to Kent's Barry Hawkins.

The five cubicles in use this week have gone and from tomorrow two tables will be used until the final on December 18. There was no play today because the arena was being refitted for BBC television coverage to start tomorrow.

Travis Perkins UK Snooker Championship(at York Barbican Centre)

Thursday's results:

Second round: Steve Davis bt Mark Allen 9-7, Allister Carter bt Alan McManus 9-4, Mark Williams bt Michael Holt 9-2, Joe Perry bt Barry Hawkins 9-7, Mark Davis bt Graeme Dott 98-8, Stuart Bingham bt Matthew Stevens 9-3, Ding Junhui bt Ding Junhui 9-3, Neil Robertson bt Stephen Lee 9-3.

There is no play tonight (arena being refitted for televised stages)

Saturday's matches

Second round (best of 17 frames)

Noon and 7pm: Ronnie O'Sullivan v Mark King, Shaun Murphy v Nigel Bond.

Afternoon (after earlier matches have played eight frames): Stephen Maguire v Joe Swail, Stephen Hendry v James Wattana. These matches will be played to a finish on Sunday (noon start).

People's champion White falls to Ding dynasty

JIMMY White made a nightmare exit from the Travis Perkins UK Snooker Championship after morning misery gave him a hopeless task last night at York Barbican Centre, writes Hugh Macdougall.

Ding Junhui, the 18-year-old Chinese rising star, demolished White 8-0 in the morning session and although the people's favourite played decently to win three frames in the evening it was too little too late and he lost 9-3.

"I did not play well this morning and it got worse as it went on," said White. "It was a bad day at the office."

Ding now plays Paul Hunter on Sunday for a place in the quarter-finals.

Six-times world champion Steve Davis is through to the last 16 after beating 19-year-old world amateur champion Mark Allen 9-7. From 8-3 down, Allen won four frames in a row last night before Davis got over the winning line.

Former world champion Mark Williams, who won the UK title in York in 2002, showed that he is back on form with a 9-2 win over Michael Holt, while 2003 UK champion Matthew Stevens fell at the first hurdle for the second year in succession, beaten 9-3 by Basildon's Stuart Bingham.

Updated: 10:24 Friday, December 09, 2005