Judd Trump the Ace in the Pack as he beats Shaun Murphy in thriller to reach Cazoo Champion of Champions semi-finals
Judd Trump showed why he is known as the Ace in the Pack as he came from 2-0 and 3-1 down to beat Shaun Murphy 6-4 and book his place in the Cazoo Champion of Champions semi-finals.
The World Number 2 demonstrated why was the pre-tournament favourite, playing a positional shot in the seventh frame which he rated among his top three best ever shots, as he potted the yellow and opened up a red at the same time.
Trump had to fight for his win to set up a semi-final showdown with Barry Hawkins on Friday night, unlike his earlier Group 3 opener in which he brushed aside Baipat Siripaporn 4-0.
Murphy delivered an early masterclass as he raced into a 2-0 lead. After Trump hit the first break, The Magician potted a long red and took the frame with a break of 107.
It was more than 20 minutes before Trump potted his first ball, and Murphy took his chance again to win the second frame 90-5.
The best of 11 Group final was looking ominous until Murphy missed a straightforward red in the next frame which allowed Trump to pull one back with a clearance of 73. But Murphy won a safety battle to lead 3-1 at the break.
Trump showed why he was the man to beat as he won the next two frames to level the match. He then played some of the best positional snooker in the business – including that yellow – to come from behind and edge the frame to lead for the first time.
Trump went from strength to strength and came back in the next frame from needing snookers to win it on the black and move to within one frame of victory.
This was the most exciting of the four Group finals and Murphy refused to give up, and he came from behind to win the ninth frame and reduce Trump’s lead to 5-4.
That was the end of the fightback, however, as Trump booked his fifth successive Champion of Champions final with a closing 107 break.
“I didn’t feel great out there, I felt a bit nervy, a bit rusty, but I managed to produce some good clearances and just dig in and turn it around,” said Trump. “I have played a few good shots in my time but in terms of position, that yellow is in the top three, but I will let everyone judge it on social media.
“When they go in, it gives you the inspiration to go on and do well in the tournament.”
Trump had safely negotiated the potential banana skin of facing Thailand’s rank outsider Siripaporn earlier in the day.
It was always going to be a tough ask for the women’s World Champion, in her first year on the world tour, facing the man with three ranking tournaments under his belt.
Although she made some impressive pots, it was a routine 4-0 win for 2021 Champion of Champion Trump, whose highlight was closing the match with a final frame break of 115.
The other Group match was not as close as predicted, as Murphy made the most of some mistakes from Tyneside Terror Gary Wilson to ease through 4-1 in the best of seven format.
Murphy also closed out the match with a century, notching a 107 break in the fifth frame.
The winner of the Trump-Hawkins semi-final will face either Mark Allen or John Higgins in Sunday’s final, as they meet in the other semi on Saturday night.
There is no doubt that Judd has evolved a lot both as a player and a person over the last years. There was a time when he came across as pretty arrogant, in my eyes at least, would complain about bad luck whenever he lost, and go for stupid shots when things weren’t going his way: in short … the typical spoiled brat attitude. He was only young and supremely talented which can be a bad combination at times! He has matured a lot … and well, like a fine wine. He now has the complete game, without losing his attacking nous. He’s a lot more considerate when talking about his rivals and “bad luck” quotes are a thing of the past.
As for Shaun Murphy … there were shot choices yesterday making me wonder about his thought process.
In other news…
The 2023 IBSF Championships are still underway in Doha, Qatar. This time, I didn’t find the usual website, with all the draws and results as well as the videos. Yes, it’s presentation was outdated and rather ugly, but it had everything.
And the most extraordinary news came from Facebook where Peter Williams shared that yesterday afternoon, Ray Reardon, aged 91, made a 100 break on the “tight table” in his club!
Heroic Higgins books place in Cazoo Champion of Champions semi-finals with win over Ding Junhui
JOHN HIGGINS produced the best snooker of the Cazoo Champion of Champions so far to storm into the semi-finals.
The Wizard of Wishaw swept aside Ding Junhui 6-1 in the Group 1 final at Bolton’s Toughsheet Stadium, to set up a tournament semi-final against Mark Allen on Saturday night.
The snooker was of the highest quality and Higgins had the crowd buzzing in the opening frame as he edged towards a maximum 147 break.
At 48-years-old, he would have been the oldest man in snooker history to make a maximum, but his bid came undone when he was on 96 and the 13th red rattled in the jaws of a pocket.
Ding, nicknamed Enter The Dragon, hit back immediately with a 106 break to level the match, before Higgins regained the lead with a break of 83.
Higgins, who has been a professional for 31 years, didn’t look back after that as he reeled off the next four frames with breaks of 80 or higher to book his third Champion of Champions semi-final appearance.
Higgins, who lost only one frame all day, said: “I felt good out there today and I really enjoyed it. It’s a brilliant venue and I can’t wait to come back on Saturday.
“Me and Mark always have great matches. Last time he pipped me 9-8 in the Northern Ireland final so maybe I owe him one back. I can’t wait to play him.”
Higgins was firing on all cylinders from Wednesday’s first break, beating Chris Wakelin 4-0 in the Group 1 opener as he opened with a 70 and never looked back.
Wakelin, who had not beaten Higgins in three attempts, looked out-of-sorts in his first appearance at the Champion of Champions, and never recovered from missing an important pink in the second frame.
The other best of seven frames Group match was the battle of the two Chinese stars, with man of the moment, Zhang Anda, looking to book a clash against his idol, Scotsman Higgins.
Arriving on the back of his weekend International Championship victory, he fought back brilliantly from 3-0 down to level against Ding – who was a last-minute replacement for Ronnie O’Sullivan.
However, he was finally beaten in a thrilling decider on the final black.
This report doesn’t do justice to one of the best, and most extraordinary best of 7 match you can ever see. Indeed the match between Zhang Anda and Ding Junhui delivered huge drama and, in particular, one absolutely superb clearance by Zhang Anda.
Here it is, shared by Matchroom Multisport on their YouTube Channel:
There was a huge crowd in attendance, likely attracted by the prospect to watch Ronnie. The fans were served an absolute treat and showed their appreciation with a standing ovation and the end of the match. Both players were chased for autographs. They deserved it! Zhang could have suffered a “hang-over” after winning his first ranking tittle, Ding had to fly from China at the very last moment. All credits to them both.
Alan McManus and Neal Foulds were lost for words in the studio after the match.
Yes, Higgins won the group, playing very well, but Ding was probably very tired in that match, after the thrill of the afternoon and the long last minute trip. Zhang also had traveled late after his triumph in Tianjin. What the Chinese lads produced was something very special. Congratulations to them.
The draw for the MrQ UK Championship in York has been made, with Mark Allen to begin the defence of his title on the opening afternoon on Saturday November 25.
The tournament runs from November 25 to December 3 at the York Barbican. The schedule for top 16 seeds has now been announced:
Saturday November 25 1pm Mark Allen v qualifier Mark Williams v qualifier
7pm Kyren Wilson v qualifier Tom Ford v qualifier
Sunday November 26 1pm Luca Brecel v qualifier Zhang Anda v qualifier
7pm Shaun Murphy v qualifier Ali Carter v qualifier
Monday November 27 1pm Judd Trump v qualifier Barry Hawkins v qualifier
7pm Mark Selby v qualifier Jack Lisowski v qualifier
Tuesday November 28 1pm Ronnie O’Sullivan v qualifier John Higgins v qualifier
7pm Neil Robertson v qualifier Robert Milkins v qualifier
Northern Ireland’s Allen beat Ding Junhui 10-7 in the final at the Barbican last year to win the title for the first time. This year’s event promises to be a classic, with many all-time greats in the field as well as in-form Zhang Anda and Tom Ford who have leapt into the top 16 for the first time.
The 16 seeds will be joined by 16 players who come through the qualifying rounds in Leicester, which run from November 18 to 23. Star names among the 128 players heading for the qualifiers include three-time UK Champion Ding, Stephen Maguire, Stuart Bingham, Hossein Vafaei, Ryan Day, Si Jiahui, Jimmy White and Ken Doherty.
Or watch the drama unfold during all six days of the qualifying rounds, from November 18th to 23rd, live on discovery+ or the Eurosport App (depending on your location), as well as the last four days on WST’s Facebook and YouTube channels.
The last two days of the qualifying event, on November 22nd and 23rd, will be ‘Judgement Day’ as players battle for coveted places in the final stages. The random draw for the final stages will be made on Thursday 23rd.
First of all, I’m glad to see Ronnie’s name in the draw. I wasn’t sure he would enter it but of course this is one of the “triple crown” events in a city he likes and that surely helps.
Next, this is a format I like. The lowest ranked players are not immediately facing a top player and get more winnable matches to start with. Of course, they have to win more matches to get to the venue, but they have the opportunity to get some useful experience, ranking points and money before facing the big boys. Also, it’s longer matches, which allows more time to settle.
DOMINANT DAY FOR BARRY HAWKINS WHO SOARS INTO CAZOO CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS SEMI-FINALS
BARRY HAWKINS blew away the opposition on Tuesday as he stormed into his first Cazoo Champion of Champions semi-final.
“The Hawk” followed up his 4-0 victory over World Champion Luca Brecel in the afternoon Group 2 opener by soaring past Robert Milkins 6-2 in the evening.
Hawkins was too clinical for “The Milkman”, who had pulled of a shock in the afternoon with a solid 4-2 triumph over veteran Mark Williams.
Victory for Hawkins, 44, in the best of 11 tie set up a possible semi showdown with Judd Trump on Friday, assuming the tournament favourite comes through Group 3 on Thursday.
“I’m delighted to get through that group because all the groups here are tough with tournament winners,” said Hawkins. “I know Judd is the man of the moment and probably favourite to get through, but they are all great players in the other group. It’s a short format in the first match so it could be anyone who gets through.
“I’m playing again on Friday, and I am sticking around because it is too far for me to go home and travel back on Thursday, ready to play Friday. I’ll get some practice here and there and just chill.”
After scoring two centuries on his way to the Group final, Hawkins didn’t have it all his own way as he had to come back from needing two snookers to take the opening frame 56-52, but he never looked back as he took the next three frames to lead 4-0 at the interval.
Hawkins lost his first frame of the day when the players returned, but claimed the next, before Milkins pulled another one back with a break of 81. The fightback ended there, however, as his in-form opponent won the next frame to wrap up victory.
Earlier in the day it was a miserable fifth appearance in this tournament for “Belgian Bullet” Brecel as Hawkins opened and closed their match by breaking through the ton barrier.
He won the opening frame with a break of 128, and the fourth with a break of 108 in the best of seven tie.
The other semi-final was a war of attrition as Milkins won the first and third frames against Williams but was pegged back each time, before pulling away from “The Welsh Potting Machine”.
Wednesday’s Group 1 action at Bolton’s Toughsheet Stadium will take place without Ronnie O’Sullivan, after “The Rocket” withdrew from the tournament on Tuesday morning and was replaced by China’s Ding Junhui.
The group contains another Chinese star and snooker’s man of the moment, Zhang Anda, fresh from his weekend triumph in the International Championship.
Luca Brecel was utterly awful yesterday, as he has been since the start of the season … when he actually played. It’s been the pattern ever since I’ve known him as a junior. Every time he has a huge success, he goes walkabout… Disappointing but unsurprising.
Milkins played well in beating Willo, but was poor, really poor, against Hawkins before the MSI. He had lost the lengthy first frame, when really he should have won it, and that appeared to affect him. His body language was negative and his concentration had gone. He improved after the interval but he had left himself too much to do.
MARK ALLEN MARCHES INTO CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS SEMI-FINALS
MARK ALLEN booked his place in the Champion of Champions semi-finals with a 6-2 victory over Ali Carter on Monday evening.
The Northern Irishman followed up his 4-1 win over Jimmy White in the afternoon to progress from Group 4 in the tournament at Bolton’s Toughsheet Community Stadium.
Allen, 37, raced into a 3-0 lead over Carter with the help of century breaks in the first and third frames – opening with a break of 135 in less than 10 minutes.
The second frame was much tighter, before the colours fell kindly for Allen to clean up and he ran out winner by 71-42. A break of 104 then sealed the third frame.
Carter found his rhythm in frame four as two confident breaks helped him to a 112-4 win, but a crisp 70 break in the fifth frame restored Allen’s three-frame cushion. He moved to within one frame of victory when he took the next 71-36.
Allen, the 2022 UK Champion and World Grand Prix winner, had to wait for victory as Carter won the seventh frame with a brilliant 143 clearance. It was the best of the day and the 397th century of his career.
Allen crossed the finish line when he took the next frame with a comfortable 98-5 win.
“I feel like I’ve turned a corner, but I am still not where I want to be,” said Allen. “It would be nice to win a tournament when playing well, and I am getting closer.
“I’ve been working hard on the mental side of my game and I have improved. I am more controlled now.”
Allen was flying home on Saturday morning to rest and will play the winner of Group 1, which includes defending champion Ronnie O’Sullivan, on Saturday.
In the afternoon’s best of seven frame matches, the curtain raiser saw Allen beat White in the battle of the left-handers.
The opening frame saw White bounce back from five “fouls and misses” on the same red after being snookered. The duo were tied on 58 points when “The Whirlwind” won it with a great pot of the black.
Veteran White, a 500-1 outsider, struggled with the speed of the table and that was to be his only highlight as Allen ran away with it, winning the second frame with a break of 76 and the third with a break of 84, before edging a tight fourth frame 62-45.
By then, “The Pistol” Allen was firing on all cylinders and finished the job with a break of 108 to clinch victory.
In the other Group match Carter, 44, from Essex, was appearing in this tournament for the first time since 2016, having qualified by winning the German Masters. He pulled of something of a surprise in when he beat Mark Selby 4-3.
Carter took the opening frame 75-34, and “The Captain” was in control of the second before missing a straightforward pink into the middle, allowing Selby to level with a narrow win of 65-56.
There was no joking around from “The Jester” as Selby took a 2-1 lead thanks to a break which ended just short of a century when he missed a difficult yellow.
An early foul in frame four when Selby potted the cueball allowed Carter to build a 48 break, and then return to win the frame with a second break of 76 which cleared the table and levelled the tie.
It was then Carter’s turn to pot the cueball when he was 35-0 ahead and Selby stepped up to take the frame 87-35 and lead 3-2.
Carter ensured the match went to a deciding frame when he won the sixth with the first ton of the tie, clocking up an impressive 121. He then clinched victory by taking the final frame 83-47.
Tomorrow sees world champion Luca Brecel take on European Masters winner Barry Hawkins before British Open winner Mark Williams faces Welsh Open champion Robert Milkins live on ITV4 in the UK.
Nothing much to add really. Allen played well all day, Carter and Selby served the fans an excellent match. The arena looks really great.
The T-shirts divided the fans, some find them terrible, others find them nice … me, I think they’re OK.
… and Ronnie has decided to withdraw from the event …
Not really surprised either … with a possible disciplinary hearing coming over comments he made, he won’t be in the best of mindset, and, maybe, resting his elbow ahead of the UK Championship isn’t such a bad idea.
Polish teenager Antoni Kowalski secured the biggest title of his career to date as he defeated Rory McLeod 5-3 in the final to win the fourth Q Tour UK/Europe event of the season.
The latest stop on snooker’s secondary circuit, a bumper field of 139 players representing 24 different countries entered the tournament held at the Landywood Snooker Club near Walsall in England.
Competing in only his third Q Tour event during his maiden season on the circuit, Kowalski had previously reached the last four on debut at September’s Event Two in Stockholm.
Due to his performances at Q School earlier this year, Kowalski began his campaign in the last 64 where he ousted Alfie Davies – the other losing semi-finalist from Event Two – 3-2 with a 72 break in the deciding frame. He then compiled three half-century breaks during a 3-1 victory against English under-21 champion Ryan Davies in the last 32 and saw off former Crucible qualifier Simon Bedford 3-0 in the last 16.
Returning for Finals Day, the 19-year-old dispatched two further former professionals; Craig Steadman 4-2 in the quarter-finals and Steven Hallworth 4-1 in the last four – the latter performance saw him rack up four efforts of 50 or above.
Progressing through the other side of the draw was the vastly experienced McLeod.
Despite having not been past the last 16 in any of the opening three events of the term, the 52-year-old Jamaican enjoyed a dominant run to the final, dropping just a single frame en route. McLeod registered four clean sweep wins, including a 4-0 success against Harvey Chandler in the semi-finals.
Reigning Polish national champion Kowalski made a superb start to the title match as he rattled in runs of 70, 74 and 57 which helped put him 3-0 ahead before taking a close fourth frame on the final pink to go into the mid-session interval one frame away from glory.
However, determined former European Tour professional event winner McLeod shifted the momentum after the break as he opened his account with the aid of a 58 break in frame five and then threatened a huge comeback win as he also claimed the next two frames to move within one of his opponent.
With the pressure intensifying, though, Kowalski kept cool and completed the task in frame eight to secure the title and vital ranking points in his quest to reach the World Snooker Tour for the first time.
Zielona Góra cueist Kowalski becomes the fourth different winner from as many events on this season’s Q Tour UK/Europe series and he also represents the fourth different nationality to lift a trophy following previous event winners Liam Davies (Wales), Michael Holt (England) and Umut Dikme (Germany).
Event Five is set to take place at the Castle Snooker Club in Brighton between December 15-17.
Gratulacje Antoni !
That’s two events, out of four so far, won by young players from mainland Europe, and three out of four won by young players who have never been professionals. This is in stark contrast with the Q-School where older, former pros, are largely more successful than the youngsters. This suggests that if we had a secondary “development” tour we would probably see more talented young players, and more players from continental Europe, succeed on the main circuit as the transition from amateur to full professional would be more “gradual”. And I stand by all I have said before regarding the main Tour structure: get rid of qualifiers, invest more in continental Europe, structure the calendar better as to minimise expensive and tiring traveling and seriously consider a different ranking system, or better a ELO type rating system.
Zhang Anda defeated Tom Ford by 10-6 in the final of the 2023 International Championship to become a ranking event winner for the first time. He also scored a 147 during the title match, his second competitive maximum and the 192d in professional snooker history.
China’s Zhang Anda claimed a momentous first ranking event title after defeating Englishman Tom Ford 10-6 in the final of the International Championship in Tianjin.
Zhang becomes the sixth player from mainland China to lift ranking silverware. He’s only the second player from China to win a ranking title on home soil, following in the footsteps of the legendary Ding Junhui who sparked huge interest in the sport with his win in the 2005 China Open.
The 31-year-old’s ascent has been a gradual one, having first turned professional back in 2009. He made his first ranking final earlier this season and had looked as if he would land a maiden win at the English Open. After leading Judd Trump 7-3 in the title match, Zhang fell foul of a six frame burst and lost 9-7.
Zhang has defeated an all-star cast to clinch the title this week, beating the likes of Ding, Mark Williams and Ronnie O’Sullivan. He now earns a place in next week’s Champion of Champions, where he will take on O’Sullivan.
He will also move into the world’s top 16 for the first time and automatically qualify for the upcoming MrQ UK Championship, dislodging his compatriot Ding. Zhang is now the highest ranked Chinese player, sitting in 15th position in the world rankings after scooping the £175,000 top prize.
Ford misses out on what would have been a maiden ranking title for himself. The Leicester cueman has now been beaten in all three of his ranking final appearances. Ford made it to the title match at the German Masters earlier this year, but was runner-up to Ali Carter after a heavy 10-3 loss. He earns £75,000 for his exertions this week.
An enthralling afternoon session saw Zhang emerge with a slender 5-4 advantage. He thrilled the packed Tianjin crowd by making a 147 break in the third frame, the second maximum of his career.
The first frame of the evening saw Ford immediately restore parity, crafting a fine break of 91 to make it 5-5. From there, Zhang mounted a charge towards the finish line. Breaks of 71, 65 and 108 made it 8-5, before he crucially edged a 30-minute 14th to make it four on the bounce and move one from victory at 9-5.
Ford fought hard to remain in contention and a valiant break of 55 saw him remain in contention at 9-6. He had a chance to reduce his arrears further in the 16th, but crucially spurned a black off the spot on a break of 51. Zhang saw his opportunity and pounced, firing in a match winning 71 to seal ranking event glory for the first time in his career.
“I’m feeling extremely excited. During the pandemic, I had considered retiring and giving up. But later on, I couldn’t bear it and chose to return to the arena. I have been doing quite well in the past two or three years,” admitted an elated Zhang.
“The English Open had a significant impact on my improvement. When facing a disadvantage, I tell myself not to slack off. The English Open final taught me a valuable lesson and provided a great experience. This time, I maintained my focus because the opponent could have come back at any moment.
“If you watch the maximum break back I had a fairly tough red where I stopped for a while. I made up my mind to play position for the black and it led to the 147. It was pretty straightforward after that point and I’m glad I went for it.
“Right now, I want to see my son immediately. After reaching the semi-finals, I had discussed with my family about bringing my son to Tianjin. I miss him a lot and because this tournament is in Tianjin and I didn’t have time to go back to Guangdong. However, after checking the transportation, I realised that the journey is still quite far for a young child, so I haven’t seen him yet.”
Ford said: “I am gutted I got beat. Zhang was the better player so hats off to him. He deserved to win. It has been an amazing week. A nice arena and a big crowd. It is always good to come to China. I can’t look at any positives at the moment as I got beat. I’ll look at it in the next few days and hopefully I’ll be a bit more positive.
Here is the last frame of the match, shared by Eurosport on their YouTube channel:
And Zhang’s maximum in frame 3 (with Chinese commentary)
This concludes what has been – in my opinion – an excellent tournament. Of course I would have loved to see Ronnie lift the trophy. It wasn’t to be and this is still his best run in a ranking event since winning the 2022 World Championship. I’m very happy for Zhang. It isn’t easy to live most of the time away from your family, in a foreign country and an alien culture, especially when you have young children. They grow fast and you are bound to miss a lot of things … their first words, their first steps, their first birthday… It’s moments like this that make all those sacrifices worth it, both at a personal level and as the family breadwinner because of the huge financial reward and the security it brings. Enjoy this moment, Zhang, you should be proud, very proud indeed.
The last two days of the qualifying event, on November 22nd and 23rd, will be ‘Judgement Day’ as players battle for coveted places in the final stages. The random draw for the final stages will be made on Thursday 23rd.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 