Yesterday was the last day of the first round – the round of 32 – at the 2024 UK Championship in York.

Here are the reports by WST on what happened at the table:

Afternoon session

TRUMP BOUNCES BACK TO BEAT ROBERTSON

World number one Judd Trump rallied from behind to beat Neil Robertson 6-3 and set up a second round showdown with John Higgins at the Victorian Plumbing UK Championship. 

The meeting between 29-time ranking tournament winner Trump and 24-time ranking event champion Robertson was slated by many as the tie of the first round.

The blockbuster clash turned out to be a cagey encounter, with both players wary of the immense break building power of the other. Victory for Trump serves as revenge for a recent loss at the Champion of Champions, where Australia’s three-time UK Champion Robertson prevailed 6-4. 

Trump is aiming to end a 13-year run without a title in this tournament. He captured his first Triple Crown event win here in York back in 2011, when he defeated Mark Allen to lift the famous trophy. Since then he has fallen at the last hurdle in the 2014 and 2020 finals to Ronnie O’Sullivan and Robertson respectively.

The Englishman has enjoyed an incredible run to the top of the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings this year. His relentless levels of consistency saw him make at least the quarter-finals of every event he’s entered until this month’s International Championship. He’s picked up titles at the Shanghai Masters and the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters so far this season. 

Defeat for Robertson leaves him perilously placed in 16th position on the provisional seedings. The top 16 at the end of this event will earn a place at the Johnstone’s Paint Masters in January. His closest current rival is this year’s Crucible runner-up Jak Jones. He trails by just £150 and will overtake Robertson if he beats Michael Holt in the last 16. 

Leading 2-1 after a fragmented first three frames, Robertson hammered home a run of 107 to take the fourth and lead 3-1 at the mid-session interval. 

Trump regrouped after the break and went on a blitz which saw him turn the tie on its head. Runs of 73, 126 and 67 helped Trump to string together a burst of five consecutive frames to come from behind and emerge victorious. 

“It was a difficult game at the start, but I managed to turn it around and play some good stuff at the end. I played my best stuff in the last four frames and that was really pleasing,” said 2019 World Champion Trump.

“These draws are extremely tough nowadays. A lot of the big names get through with the draw like it is and the qualifiers. Neil has a bit of a false ranking and he is going to get tough players in the first round. I’ve been a bit unfortunate in the past few years. In this event and the World Championship, I seem to get the 17th and 18th seed all the time. When you beat someone like that it gives you a lot of confidence. 

“I’ve not quite hit the heights recently, but it has taken some special performances to stop me. I just need to get that bit of luck or inspiration from somewhere. When that all comes together I’m very tough to beat. That can happen at any moment and as long as I’m in the tournament that can still happen.

“You are playing all-time greats nearly every round. It is always difficult but I have a good record against John recently. I hope I can go out there and play like I did towards the end of that game against Neil.”

On the other table, four-time World Champion Higgins produced a vintage display to whitewash last season’s Rookie of the Year He Guoqiang 6-0. 

The illustrious Scot hasn’t found the UK Championship to be a happy hunting ground in recent years, but he’s hoping to rectify that this week. Despite having won the event three times, he hasn’t been beyond the quarter-finals since picking up the title back in 2010. On that occasion he scored a sensational victory, coming from 9-5 down to beat Mark Williams 10-9 in the final. 

Higgins is seeking to end a title drought which extends back to the 2021 Players Championship. In the intervening period he’s been to five ranking finals, without picking up silverware. Most recently, Higgins reached this season’s British Open final, where he lost out 10-5 to Mark Selby. 

The Glaswegian made light work of He this afternoon, firing home runs of 110, 92, 72 and 64 on his way to wrapping up victory in just one hour and fifty minutes. 

Higgins said: “I loved it out there. Coming down the stairs was absolutely fantastic. It is back to being like what the UK Championship was when I first turned professional. I’m delighted. 

“It was touch and go if I was going to be a seed here. A couple of months ago I was wondering if I was going to be a qualifier. The juices are always flowing. I always come to a tournament with some optimism. It might be blind optimism, but I’m doing the same again and I’ll see where it can take me.“

Evening session

BRILLIANT BINGHAM RALLIES TO STUN WILLIAMS

Stuart Bingham staged a magnificent fightback to edge out Mark Williams 6-5 and make the second round of the Victorian Plumbing UK Championship in York. 

The Englishman looked to be heading for the exit when Welshman Williams moved 5-2 ahead. However, after an opening seven frames where both players struggled to produce their best, 2015 Crucible king Bingham summoned a brilliant blitz to pip three-time World Champion Williams at the post. 

Both players arrived in York under contrasting circumstances. Bingham had to negotiate qualifying to earn his place in the final stages, while world number six Williams arrived riding the crest of a wave after winning the Champion of Champions for the first time in his career. 

Victory earns Bingham a last 16 tie against Zhang Anda as he continues his quest to complete the Triple Crown with a maiden UK Championship win. Defeat for two-time UK Champion Williams means he will have to wait for a first UK title since 2002. 

Both players were missing balls in the early part of the match, but it was Williams who gained the strongest foothold. The 26-time ranking event winner top scored with 72 on his way to the verge of victory at 5-2. 

Bingham embarked on a 147 attempt in the eighth, stringing together a run of 57 before missing the eighth black. Eventually he left Williams requiring snookers. He got two and a free ball, which allowed the 49-year-old back into the frame. Williams had a chance to tie and force a respot. However, a swerved long range pot on the green was enough to keep Bingham alive at 5-3. 

The Basildon cueman continued to push and turned up the heat on Williams with runs of 79 and 82 to force an unlikely final frame decider. It was Bingham with the momentum and breaks of 32 and 36 saw him boss the final frame and secure a magnificent fightback win. 

Bingham said: “He struggled as much as I did early on. I was gifting him a few frames, but I knew my game was in there somewhere. I just tried to be patient. It felt embarrassing some of the misses. I’m more shocked than anyone that I’m victorious. 

“Finally something clicked. From 5-2 I didn’t really put a foot wrong. I had a bit of luck here and there. I played a safety shot and it went in. I made a 70 odd off that. Even that was a bit embarrassing. It was just one of those matches. 

“I could see him struggling and I thought I needed to get my head together. I know I’ve been playing well. It was nice to win a match from 5-2 down against someone like Mark.“

None of the players I watched yesterday played really well actually and maybe the conditions are not helping as this article by Phil Haigh suggests:

Judd Trump and Neil Robertson slam ‘unplayable’ UK Championship conditions

Phil Haigh

Both Judd Trump and Neil Robertson were left frustrated and disappointed with playing conditions at the UK Championship after their first round clash.

Trump win five frames on the spin to claim the match 6-3, turning his form around from early struggles to a much more impressive finish.

The two former world champions were struggling for their best for much of the contest, though, and both felt the table was extremely difficult.

Asked if the conditions were the worst he has faced, Trump said: ‘I’ve played in some bad ones, but that’s close. 

‘It’s disappointing because it always seems to be the big events over here. The World Championship is the same. I’ve always struggled here because the tables are so heavy.

‘The cushions out there, you can’t ever get them to play that bad on a practice table! So I don’t know what it is. Hopefully they can change them. I think all the players have been struggling.’

Trump, who faces John Higgins next in the last 16, added on Eurosport: ‘I did my best both sessions, as well as I could play in the conditions.

‘We both found it tough. It’s difficult when you can’t perform to your best out there in a big event. We both struggled with the conditions. I just tried to not give up and hopefully it would turn around and that’s kind of what happened after the interval.

‘The cushions were just very bouncy, very heavy. It was hard to stop the white. It’s tough because it gets you down. You want to go out there and play your best, but it’s difficult when the conditions don’t allow that. It’s nice to say that after winning. It’s tough for both players.’

Robertson told a post-match press conference: ‘To be honest with you the table was pretty much as unplayable as it gets for professional conditions. Being such a tough sport anyway it can make either player look stupid. It was as tough as I’ve ever played.

‘It’s not the table-fitters fault or anything like that, the arena felt fine, I don’t understand. It’s really frustrating because that’s about as hard conditions as I’ve played on as a professional.’

The Australian added: ‘Probably the only two people who can be critical of our play is myself and Judd. Unless you’re out there and you know how hard the conditions are playing today…that was tough.

‘We were laughing about it really. He’s almost missed a red off the break-off, that tells you hard things were out there. 

‘It was just tough, a tough game. I thought he has to take a lot of credit for how he came back, the last few frames he potted some great balls and kept breaks going really well. There’s nothing negative to come out of it, it was just a really tough game for both of us.’

A WST spokesperson said: ‘We always strive to provide the best possible conditions and welcome feedback from players.

‘The recent weather has seen a large volume of rainfall and high humidity around the country. This can negatively influence the conditions.’

Trump did manage to make breaks of 73, 126 and 67 in the final four frames of the match as he eventually got a handle on the table.

His blockbuster last 16 clash with Higgins, a repeat of two World Championship finals, will be on Thursday in York.

Whatever WST says, fact is that Neal Foulds in commentary yesterday repeatedly came up with sentences like this “He could attempt this ball along the top cushion, and normally it should not be too difficult … but not this week, not the way this cushions play … “. I’m not sure if those comments were triggered solely by what he observed or if he had got feedback from the players, but clearly, he was not impressed with the way those cushions reacted. I know by personal experience that the weather in York can be very cold and humid at this time of the year and obviously that can’t be helped. Still it’s a shame, for the players (obviously) and for those who watch as well.

This is Zhang 147, shared by ES on their Youtube channel:

As well as Zhang and Ronnie’s reactions to it: