THE “squash court cubicles” detested by snooker’s elite players have been ditched ahead of the return of the UK Championship to York in December.

The whole of the tournament, which takes place at the Barbican Centre between December 3 and 11, will be played on two tables rather than four.

This is because qualifying and games up until the quarter-finals will be played over the best of 11 frames – in one session – rather than 17, as previously reported by The Press.

The semi-finals will continue to be a best-of-17 encounter with the final a best-of-19 match.

Holding the competition on two tables means that every match has the potential to be televised and should mean top quality clashes will not miss out on TV time, said the game’s ruling body World Snooker.

It will also end a primary bugbear for the game’s top players at the Barbican Centre.

In 2001, the first time the UK Championship was held in the Minster city, Stephen Hendry bemoaned the four-table lay-out, each of which were walled on three sides.

“This is supposed to be the second most important event on the snooker calendar, but it is like qualifying round conditions out there,” he complained.

The situation had not improved in 2006, the last time York staged the event.

Mark Williams also criticised the set-up, arguing: “It is horrible playing in those kind of conditions.

“It’s a shame anyone has to play in it.”

Tickets for the competition, which was won in a final-frame thriller last year by four-time World Champion John Higgins, go on sale on July 15.

Meanwhile, Pickering potter Paul Davison saw his 2011/12 season get under way with defeat at the opening Players’ Tour Championship event at the World Snooker Academy in Sheffield.

Davison, who opened his campaign at the third round stage, lost 4-3 to Marcus Campbell.

After falling 2-0 behind, the 39-year-old took the third frame but lost a scrappy fourth.

A break of 25 proved enough to get over the line in the fifth frame and an under-pressure 69 in the sixth frame levelled the scores at 3-3.

But Davison was to fall at the final hurdle.