The usual suspects will rise to the fore when snooker’s UK Championships begin in Shropshire today.

That’s the view of county professional Adrian Gunnell who has backed defending champion Ronnie O’Sullivan, last year’s runner-up Stephen Maguire and Masters winner Mark Selby to be the three players to beat.

Gunnell will have to play the role of frustrated spectator in his home tournament after being knocked out in the final qualifying round by Steve Davis earlier this week.

The 36-year-old believes all members of the 32-strong field will fancy their chances of making reasonable progress, but believes quality will shine through at the business end of the tournament.

“It’s a wide open event and gone are the days of the past where only four players could win ,” said Gunnell.

“But you have to fancy the top few players to win it. It’s the same old story with Ronnie.

“If he turns up in the right frame of mind and wants to win the tournament, he usually will.

“If the other side of him turns up, he won’t be winning it.

“Mark Selby is always a threat in big tournaments now. He will take a lot of confidence from hammering Stephen Hendry last weekend (in the semi-finals of the Premier League) before losing to Ronnie in the final.

“In the bottom half of the draw, I fancy Stephen Maguire to have a good run. I have heard he is playing well at the moment and scoring really heavily in practice so he will be a big threat.”

And for a wild card selection, Gunnell looks no further than teenage sensation Judd Trump.

“Judd beat me two years ago but he left me so many chances because he was so naive,” added Gunnell.

“His game has come on massively since then and he has developed his safety. That affected his break building and potting for a while but that area of his game is back to its best now.

“He is still very much a raw talent but he won the Masters qualifying last month and got to the semi-finals of the Grand Prix by only playing to about 50 per cent of his capability in any of his matches. He’s a big threat.”