Yesterday yielded two very different semi-finals. The afternoon match saw Kyren Wilson prevail by 6-4 over Pang Junxu in a close hard-fought match. Kyren of course is the reigning World Champion and by far the most experienced of the two but Pang really did give a good account of himself. Both have reasons to be proud of themselves and proud of what they offered to the fans. The evening match was as one-sided as it can be. Judd Trump whitewashed Elliot Slessor whose contribution to the scores amounted to a mere 62 points, not even enough to win one single frame in most occurrences. Here are the reports by WST:
WILSON MAKES MAIDEN BELFAST FINAL
World Champion Kyren Wilson is through to the BetVictor Northern Ireland Open final for the first time in his career, after scoring a hard fought 6-4 win over Pang Junxu at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast.
The Warrior captured a maiden Crucible crown back in May, following a momentous 18-14 win over Jak Jones at the Theatre of Dreams. His first season as World Champion has got off to a tremendous start, having already secured silverware at the Xi’an Grand Prix with a win over world number one Judd Trump.
Tomorrow’s final will see Wilson pitted against either Trump or Elliot Slessor, who do battle in this evening’s second semi-final. The title match will be contested over the best of 17 frames, with a top prize of £100,000 and the Alex Higgins Trophy on the line.
Victory tomorrow would see Wilson become only the sixth first time World Champion to win multiple titles in the following campaign. Trump, Stephen Hendry, John Parrott, John Higgins and Mark Selby achieved the feat before him.
Pang will have to wait for a maiden ranking title. He was runner-up to Selby in the 2023 WST Classic, but is yet to taste silverware as a professional.
A superb break of 110 got Wilson off to the perfect start this afternoon. Pang restored parity with 83 in the second, but further contributions of 77 and 46 helped Wilson make it 3-1 heading into the mid-session.
When they returned, the fifth came down to the final two balls, but a risky double attempt on the pink from Englishman Wilson went array and Pang stepped in to deposit it and pull within one at 3-2.
The next frame saw Pang end up in a difficult snooker on the last red. The Chinese cueman failed to hit it three times, leaving himself only able to tie. He was unable to turn the frame around and fell 4-2 behind.
Pang embarked on a maximum attempt in the seventh, with balls in promising positions in the early stages, but a missed black off the spot on 49 allowed Wilson to ruthlessly punish with 72 and make it 5-2.
With his opponent on the verge of victory, Pang dug deep and claimed the next two frames to stay in contention, but a crucial run of 83 saw Wilson over the line a 6-4 victor.
“I wouldn’t say I made glaring errors for him to come back, just the odd little shot you knew would be a match winner. They went awry and I just had to make sure I kept calm. It was just about staying in the present and making sure that I took the next opportunity,” said 32-year-old Wilson.
“Pang is a methodical player. He puts an awful lot of feathers in on every shot. You almost get zoned out on his technique, but he doesn’t make many mistakes. I knew I had to be clinical from the off.
“You never want to fall over the line and it sends a message to your opponents you can handle anything thrown at you. To get through with a one visit frame is good for the crowd to see as well.
“I showed a little bit of emotion at the end, because I’ve never managed to make the one table setup here at the Waterfront. As soon as I walked out today I thought, wow, what a an arena and what a crowd. This is definitely one of the best venues I’ve ever played in. I was desperate to make the final so I’m delighted to do that.”
TRUMP THRASHES SLESSOR TO SET UP WILSON SHOWDOWN
World number one Judd Trump scored an emphatic 6-0 whitewash defeat of Elliot Slessor to reach the final of the BetVictor Northern Ireland Open and set up a mouth- watering meeting with World Champion and world number two Kyren Wilson.
The Ace in the Pack is aiming to capture the Alex Higgins Trophy for a record extending fifth time. He’s the defending champion after last year’s final win over Chris Wakelin. Trump has also beaten Ronnie O’Sullivan in three consecutive title matches between 2018 and 2020.
Tomorrow sees a continuation of 2019 World Champion Trump’s rivalry with current Crucible king Wilson. The pair met in this season’s Xi’an Grand Prix final, with Wilson prevailing. However, the head-to-head record stands at 12-9 in Trump’s favour.
The title match will be contested over the best of 17 frames, with a top prize of £100,000 on the line. Trump is bidding for his 30th career ranking crown, while Wilson is gunning for an eighth.
The heavy loss for Slessor sees him depart at the last four in Belfast for a second time. He made the semis here in 2017, losing out to Mark Williams. The Gateshead cueman has now appeared in four ranking semi-finals, but is still seeking his first appearance in a final.
This evening’s one-sided contest lasted just over an hour and a half. Trump crafted runs of 78, 61 and 90 on his way to victory, to secure a comfortable evening and early night ahead of tomorrow’s blockbuster showdown with Wilson.
“No game is ever easy, but the damage was done at the start. Going 4-0 up, it was going to be tough for him to come back from there. I’m pleased with how I started the game. A few mistakes at the end. It is always tricky to keep your composure, but to be through to another final is nice,” said 35-year-old Trump.
“It is a great match up with Kyren. Over the next ten years, with his hunger and my hunger, we are going to be meeting a lot. It’s nice to have someone pushing me and going away to give their all every single time. It is good to have that kind of rivalry when you reach the top and we are both really enjoying it.
“I think he has improved a lot. From where he was a couple of years ago he has gone to another level. Him playing a lot faster has helped. He was very methodical, but he now looks like he enjoys what he’s doing.
“You can see a difference in him. The way he walks round the table is different. I had the same thing as well. It is nice to see someone who has become World Champion go away and really work at it.”
So there we go … today the reigning World Champion will face the World Number One. Mark Allen, joked on twitter the “the World Number Three” (himself) would be watching from the pub 😂. Judd is 35, Kyren in 32 and Mark is 38. Those three are likely to be the dominant forces in the coming five to ten years as the “Class of 92” is now nearing fifty. It’s a good thing for the sport to have this kind of rivalry at the top. It keeps things interesting. After that … we shall see. I will risk another prediction 😂 … the next top “trio” will be dominantly Asian. We shall see if this one is as wrong as most previous ones 😂1
I won’t make a prediction about who wins today. Most polls on social media have Judd Trump as the clear winner but Kyren is one of those who beat him this season, and beat him in a big final actually. We shall see.
The detailed results are on snooker.org as always.
- If I’m around, with my wits about me, to see it because I will be close to 80 years of age by then … if I’m alive at all. ↩︎
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
I understand, my papa had also symptoms in the end…very painful.
Kyren 8) 8) 8)
Full credit to Eurosport for their pre-match interview with Pang Junxu. Pang didn’t play his best yesterday, but he’s shown he’s a proper player.
I hope you will still be around Monique, and me also😃 I agree with your dominant Asian top trio. And I think Si Juahui is going to be 1 of them. And I am going to make a prediction of my own: I think he is going to be the first ever Chinese player to become world champion…. We will see…😃
Thank you Edgard. I only want to be around if I still have my wits about me. I have seen alzheimer close up in relatives. I don’t want to go there… that’s not living anymore, just “existing” somehow.