Judd Trump saw his remarkable record of reaching at least the quarter-finals of every event he has contested in 2024 come to an end as he lost 6-4 to Xu Si in the last 16 of the International Championship in Nanjing.
In a sequence going back to January, Trump had progressed to at least the quarter-finals of 15 consecutive tournaments, winning four of those, reaching two other finals and earning over £1.5 million. But that run came to an end in Nanjing as the world number one was beaten by China’s Xu, ranked 48 places lower.
It’s arguably the best result of Xu’s career so far and keeps a special week going for the 26-year-old as he made a 147 during his previous match against Ryan Day on Tuesday. He is through to the third ranking event quarter-final of his career – and second of the season having reached the same stage of the Xi’an Grand Prix in August.
Two breaks of 76 helped give Xu a 2-0 lead, before Trump battled back to lead 3-2. The next two were shared, but 29-time ranking event winner Trump failed to score a point in the last three frames as his opponent finished superbly with runs of 104, 69, 58 and 68.
“It was my mindset during the key moments that helped,” said Xu, who will now meet Gary Wilson. “In the last frame, I felt a bit of tension, but luckily things went well, and I didn’t leave any easy shots. Finishing the match felt really good. Sometimes you reach a point where you’re very nervous, and then suddenly you’re not nervous anymore.
“I feel there’s a much smaller gap now between myself and the top players. Recently, many Chinese players have been advancing to the latter stages of tournaments, which shows a significant improvement overall.“
Kyren Wilson now has the chance to slash Trump’s lead at the top of the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings, and the World Champion kept his fine form going with a 6-2 win over Barry Hawkins. Breaks of 80, 127, 85, 101, 117 and 60 helped Wilson win a one-sided match and continue his pursuit of a third title this season, having already landed the Xi’an Grand Prix and Northern Ireland Open.
Jackson Page scored an excellent 6-4 win over Pang Junxu and the 23-year-old Welshman is just one round short of his best run in a ranking event, having reached the semi-finals of last season’s World Open. Page top scored with 117, 68 and 72 as Pang failed to follow up on Tuesday’s win over Ronnie O’Sullivan.
Wuhan Open champion Xiao Guodong saw off Jack Lisowski 6-3, a result which could see him join the elite top 16 for the first time in his career and become a seeded player for the UK Championship later this month. China’s Xiao is now ahead of Neil Robertson in the “Race to York”, which means that Robertson will be heading for the qualifying rounds in Leicester. Breaks of 81, 89, 122 and 91 helped Xiao to beat Lisowski.
Chris Wakelin also has a chance of a top 16 berth if he can reach the final, and he got the better of a high quality contest against Mark Williams, compiling breaks of 72, 112, 98 and 88 in a 6-4 success. Ding Junhui reached his first ranking quarter-final of the season as he beat Jiang Jun with a top break of 109. John Higgins edged out Lyu Haotian 6-5, winning frame ten on a respotted black and the decider with a run of 68. Gary Wilson enjoyed a 6-3 win over Mark Selby, making breaks of 73, 54, 123, 80 and 52.
Thursday’s quarter-finals: Chris Wakelin v John Higgins Jackson Page v Xiao Guodong Xu Si v Gary Wilson Kyren Wilson v Ding Junhui
The afternoon match between John Higgins and Lyu Haotian was pulled off at 5-5. The players had to come back when a table became available in the evening.
As things stand currently, three of the eight remaining players will have to qualify for the 2024 UK Championship: Chris Wakelin, Jackson Page and Xu Si. Only Chris Wakelin can still “mathematically” join the top 16, at the expense of Xiao Guodong.
I watched the Trump v Xu Si match. Xu Si was the better player, he played really well and stayed calm. He’s quite slow going and that probably didn’t suit Judd Trump, especially if he has still not fully adjusted to the huge time difference. It’s hard to keep ones concentration when jet-lagged.
Regarding those the 2024 UK Championship qualifiers … it will be played, like last year, under a tiered format similar to the World Championship qualifiers. This means that 16 amateurs will join the field.
The WPBSA and World Snooker Tour (WST) have today revealed the elite amateur players who have qualified to compete at the 2024 UK Championship through recognised WPBSA pathways.
The historic Triple Crown Series event will again feature a tiered format, which will see the top 16 seeded through to the final stages, to be held at the York Barbican from 23 November – 1 December 2024.
The remaining players will compete in the qualifying rounds in Leicester from 16-21 November, with 16 players set to progress and complete the last 32 line-up.
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Details of how to watch online will be announced this week.
WPBSA Qualifiers
This season’s field will include up to 16 players to have earned their places through new pathway opportunities for elite performers through activities staged and coordinated by the WPBSA Group.
The 16 initially invited players are listed below:
WPBSA Q Tour UK/Europe
Winners from the world’s premier secondary tour to the World Snooker Tour so far this season:
Andres Petrov – WPBSA Q Tour Europe – Event 1 winner
Dylan Emery – WPBSA Q Tour Europe – Event 2 winner
Zhao Xintong – WPBSA Q Tour Europe – Event 3 winner
TBC – WPBSA Q Tour Europe – Event 4 winner
TBC – WPBSA Q Tour Europe – Highest Ranked Player (not including the above)
WSF Championships 2024
Eligible players from the world’s largest international amateur tournaments:
Any players who do not accept their place will be replaced by reserve players from the WPBSA Q Tour Europe Ranking List after Event 4.
I have no doubts that some people will object to Zhao Xintong invitation but I’m not one of them. He has served his ban, he has clearly worked hard to get himself back to form, he has won a “qualifying event” … he is in that list by right. It’s that simple.
One thought on “The 2024 International Championship – Day 4 – Last 16 round … plus 2024 UK Championship infos.”
Xu started very strongly, but then lost his edge, and meekly allowed Trump to level 2-2. I thought the match was over. But somehow, Xu persuaded himself to be positive, and he played very well.
Ding Junhui also played very well, and he was put under a lot of pressure by the teenager Jiang, who plays at the ‘Ding Junhui Academy’ in Sheffield. It’s can’t have been an easy matchup for either of them, but it was an excellent match.
Chris Wakelin and Xiao Guodong were very solid, and they could be in contention to win the tournament, with the loss of some of the top seeds. But Kyren Wilson is still the strong favourite.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
Xu started very strongly, but then lost his edge, and meekly allowed Trump to level 2-2. I thought the match was over. But somehow, Xu persuaded himself to be positive, and he played very well.
Ding Junhui also played very well, and he was put under a lot of pressure by the teenager Jiang, who plays at the ‘Ding Junhui Academy’ in Sheffield. It’s can’t have been an easy matchup for either of them, but it was an excellent match.
Chris Wakelin and Xiao Guodong were very solid, and they could be in contention to win the tournament, with the loss of some of the top seeds. But Kyren Wilson is still the strong favourite.