News in Picture

I'm predicting there will be quite a few upsets at this year's UK Championship as there is so little to choose between the world's top 16 these days.

It has been the case in recent years of Ronnie O'Sullivan turning up and winning if he was in the mood.

While that can still be true, the standard of the chasing pack is so high that tournaments are becoming increasingly hard to win.

Looking at the draw there are some exciting first round matches and one that really caught my eye is Stephen Hendry v Steve Davis.

They have won an incredible 13 world titles between them and, as we saw with his stunning 147 break at this year's World Championship, Hendry is still capable of some brilliant snooker.

Watch out for Mark Selby this week. I fancy him to do well and I also have a sneaky suspicion that Ding Junhui in the other half of the draw will make an impression as his confidence is steadily returning.

Snooker's publicity has gone through the roof in the past few weeks thanks to Jimmy White's appearance on I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here.

I can't say I've seen much of it as I'm more of an X-Factor man, but he is giving the sport a real boost. He is in tonight's final and we all know about Jimmy and finals - let's hope he goes one better than he did in his six world championship finals!

Snooker looks set to get another fillip if Barry Hearn is confirmed as chairman of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association later this month.

He has such a raft of experience in the world of sport and his presence can only be a positive, especially as the players seem to really be behind him.

Rishi Persad presents coverage of the UK Championship snooker on BBC TV.

Rishi was talking to BBC Sport's Paul Birch.

UK Championship: 1300-2300, BBC Red Button/online; 1300-1415, BBC Two/online; 1630-1805, BBC Two/online; 2345-0235, BBC Two.

UK Championship: 1300-2300, BBC Red Button/online; 1400-1720, BBC Two/online, 2350-0240, BBC Two.

Football Focus (1215, BBC One/online); Premier League commentaries (1245, 1500 & 1730, BBC Radio 5 live/online); Championship commentaries (1300 & 1500, BBC Radio 5 live sports extra/online); Final Score (1430, BBC Red Button/online; 1630, BBC One/online); Match of the Day (2230, BBC One/online); The Football League Show (2355, BBC One/online).

Match of the Day repeat (0735, BBC One); Premier League commentaries (1500 & 1700, BBC Radio 5 live/online); MOTD 2 (2200, BBC Two/online).

Live: Barbarians v New Zealand (1415-1630, BBC One/online).

Boxing: Billy Joe Saunders v Lee Noble, Frankie Gavin v Samir Tergaoui and James DeGale v Nathan King (1830, BBC Radio 5 live sports extra/online); Amir Khan v Dmitriy Salita (2200, BBC Radio 5 live/online).

NFL - Cowboys v Giants (2100, BBC Radio 5 live sports extra/online).