We had two completely different semifinals yesterday in Brentwood. The afternoon match saw two multiple ranking events winners and established British top players do battle, the evening match opposed two Chinese players, one in his first year as a professional, the other, one on the tour for 14 years, had never gone past the quarter-finals before. Here are the reports by WST:

Judd Trump 6-5 John Higgins

Higgins – I’ve Been Hit By A Truck

Judd Trump made a sensational recovery from 5-2 down to beat John Higgins 6-5 in the semi-finals of the BetVictor English Open, as he remained on course to win a first ranking title for 19 months.

Higgins had a chance to close out the tie 6-2 but crucially ran out of position from black to yellow in frame eight then missed a difficult pot. That proved the key moment as he failed to score another point, instead watching from his chair as Trump made a series of superb breaks. Higgins admitted afterwards that he felt he had been “hit by a truck”, so good was his opponent’s performance in the closing stages.

Trump goes through to Sunday’s final at the Brentwood Centre where he will face either Zhang Anda or Liu Hongyu, with the winner to receive £80,000 and the Steve Davis Trophy. Bristol’s 34-year-old Trump will be playing in his 39th ranking final and aiming for his 24th title, which would put him one ahead of Neil Robertson and one behind Mark Williams on the all-time list.

The 2019 World Champion has not won a ranking title since the Turkish Masters in March 2022, though he did win snooker’s biggest invitation event, the Masters, in January this year. Trump was runner-up to Barry Hawkins at the BetVictor European Masters in Germany in August and will have high hopes of picking up the silverware this time.

Higgins and Trump so often produce classic matches – notably their Crucible finals in 2011 and 2019 and more recently the semi-final in Germany two months ago when England’s Trump came from 4-2 down to win 6-5. Today’s battle was another sizzler to add to the list.

Scotland’s 48-year-old Higgins started strongly with a break of 124. Frame two came down to the colours and a rare safety error from Higgins, leaving the blue close to a top corner, allowed Trump to clip it in for 1-1. Higgins dominated the next two with 53 and 137 to lead 3-1 at the interval.

Frame five came down to the last red and Trump trailed by 34 points when he converted an excellent long pot the a baulk corner, but then overcut a tricky black to a top corner, swiping away the cue ball in annoyance as he conceded the frame and went 4-1 behind. Higgins looked set for 5-1 until he ran out of position after potting the last red, trailing 42-59. He later trapped his opponent in a snooker on the brown, but Trump escaped and fluked the brown to a baulk pocket, then added a cracking long blue to close to 4-2.

A run of 77 put Higgins three up with four to play. His match winning chance came in frame eight, but his position from black to yellow was imperfect and, trailing 46-55, he missed a difficult thin cut to the far baulk corner. Trump later made a fine yellow-to-pink clearance to keep his hopes alive, and that changed the momentum as he rattled in breaks of 88 and 111 for 5-5. A cracking long red early in the decider set him up for a run of 68, and Higgins’ hopes ended when he missed a tough long red which might have allowed him to counter.

“John put me under a lot of pressure early on and he didn’t look like missing,” said Trump. “He gave me a lifeline to go 5-3 and I felt I was still in it. I just went for everything and they went in. It helps when you have another tournament the next week because if you lose you know you have another match in two or three days. Early in the game I was tense and trying too hard, then from 5-2 I changed my mindset and relaxed. At 5-4 I went to the toilet and when I came back in the reaction was so loud, that inspired me to put on a show for them. That’s when I play my best.

“John and I have had so many great games and it’s often the toss of a coin in the end. Him, Mark Williams and Ronnie O’Sullivan are all idols of mine, at the end of my career I just hope I can be up there with them.

“If I play (19-year-old) Liu Hongyu tomorrow I will feel like an old man! I feel that with a lot of players now, I have been around for a long time. I try to remember what it was like to be that age and how much I enjoyed it, it felt like it would go on forever. As you get older you put more expectation on yourself and you are desperate to win, so you forget to have fun out there. When I’m having fun I play my best. Whoever wins tonight is going to be very excited about playing in their first final, so I need to remember that feeling too.”

Higgins was playing in his 82nd ranking event semi-final but saw his hopes of a 32nd title end. He told Eurosport: “I was hit by a truck. Judd started smashing them in. I had the chance at 5-2, I didn’t play a great positional shot to get to the yellow, then I cued across it. I tried to play it positive and come off two cushions for the green, but I butchered it. From there I didn’t get a sniff because Judd started flying. You can only take your hat off to him, great champions can do that to you.”

Zhang Anda 6-2 Liu Hongyu

Zhang Reaches First Final

Zhang Anda kept his best run in a ranking event going as he won a Chinese derby against Liu Hongyu 6-2 to set up a final clash with Judd Trump at the BetVictor English Open.

World number 57 Zhang knocked out Ronnie O’Sullivan in the last 16 earlier in the week and carried his momentum into the quarter and semi-finals to set up the biggest day of his career so far. He will battle Trump over a possible 17 frames at the Brentwood Centre on Sunday, with an £80,000 top prize and the Steve Davis Trophy at stake.

Zhang had never been past the quarter-finals of a ranking event before this week, but he kept his composure tonight to outplay tour rookie Liu. His previous career highlights include appearances at the Crucible in 2010, 2015 and 2016 as well as victory in the Asian Under-21 Championship back in 2009 and making his first official 147 in 2022. But the player who first turned pro 14 years ago is now breaking new ground at the age of 31.

Trump will start the final a strong favourite, though Zhang can take confidence from the fact that he has won two of their six previous meetings.

In the opening frame tonight, Zhang trailed 52-8 but hit back to take it with a 59 clearance. In the second, he was 39-54 behind when he trapped his opponent in a tough snooker on the yellow, and from the chance that followed he went 2-0 ahead. Liu had first chance in the third but missed a red to top corner on 29, and Zhang’s runs of 27 and 41 extended his lead.

Frame four came down to the colours and Zhang was fortunate to snooker Liu after missing a tricky pot on the blue to a baulk corner. Liu hit the blue, but left it close enough to a centre pocket for Zhang to go 4-0 up at the interval. World number 57 Zhang had a chance in the fifth but missed a mid-range pot on the last red when he trailed 22-45, and Liu got one on the board.

Zhang’s run of 52 helped him dominate the seventh, then Liu added some respectability to the scoreline with a 68 for 5-2. But Zhang soon wrapped up the result with runs of 31 and 46 in frame eight.

“Neither of us played well today and I felt a bit nervous,” admitted Zhang. “I was playing the one table set-up for the first time. Liu wasn’t able to clear up when he got chances. His safety was good but I was more aggressive.

“I’m not feeling surprised, this wasn’t unexpected for me. I feel fine about the final. This is what I have been trying to achieve for years and I’ve put in a lot of effort.

“Judd is an aggressive player and he’s got that fighting spirit, he is also very good at break building. He’s pretty much flawless. Maybe he’s not the best tactical player, but he still plays much better safety than me.

“I won’t have too much on my mind because I’ve done well this week anyway. I’m happy with myself, but it would be a dream come true tomorrow if I win, to become a champion.”

I can’t comment on those matches as I din’t see any of the action yesterday. However, it has been at bit of a trend for John Higgins recently to lose from winning positions and, surely, it must be a concern for him.

Going by their respective records, and history in the sport, Judd has to be a massive favourite today but you never know in this sport. I just hope that Zhang can keep his composure and plays well. The crowds have been good all week in Brentwood and they deserve a good final. It would be a shame if it turned to be a completely one-sided affair. Zhang is very capable of springing a surprise: in 2010, in his first year as a professional, he reached the television stages at the Crucible, and only lost by 10-9 to Stephen Hendry in the first round. He has a cool head and won’t mind being the under-dog today. All the expectations will be on Judd Trump.

… in other news …

This is poster shared on weibo today. It’s for an exhibition tournament, organised by Wynn in Macau. As you can see it features Ali Carter, Ryan Day, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, John Higgins, Luca Brecel and Mark Selby. All those players, according to weibo, are set to skip the 2023 Northern Ireland Open to play in this most certainly much lucrative event… Something to think about for WST maybe?