Hereafter you’ll find the reports shared by WST about day 3 at Ally Pally:

JUDD REMAINS ON TARGET FOR ‘TRUMP SLAM’

Judd Trump moved a step closer to an unprecedented clean sweep of all four major titles as he hammered Barry Hawkins 6-1 to reach the quarter-finals of the Johnstone’s Paint Masters.

Having already won the new Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters and Victorian Plumbing UK Championship this term, Trump needs to add the title this week and then the World Championship in the Spring to become the first player to land all four in a single season. On today’s evidence he will be hard to stop as he swept past Hawkins in just 106 minutes.

He is just one match away from a new record for prize money in a single season, as his tally for 2024/25 stands at £1,260,200, just shy of Ronnie O’Sullivan’s target of £1,265,500 set last season. If Trump beats Ding Junhui on Friday at Alexandra Palace to reach the semi-finals, he will bank a further £35,000 and set a new record with four months of the campaign still to come. 

The world number one is also setting a new bar for consistency as he has now reached at least the quarter-finals of 19 of the last 20 tournaments he has contested. Clearly the man to beat, he is aiming for a third Masters title having previously lifted the trophy in 2019 and 2023. 

Hawkins, who lost narrowly 10-8 to Trump in last month’s UK final in York, had first chance in the opening frame today but, leading 14-0, knocked in a red when splitting the pack off the blue. Trump took control and a 3-0 lead with top breaks of 59 and 47. Once again in frame four, Hawkins was on 33 when he opened the pack and a red dropped in, and again his opponent punished him with a 60 clearance for 4-0.

In the fifth, Hawkins was on 12 when he missed the pink to a centre pocket, and Trump’s 56 helped him extend his lead. World number 12 Hawkins at least avoided a whitewash thanks to a run of 70 in the sixth. But a rapid 112 from Trump in the next completed the scoreline. 

“I was expecting a really tough game, 6-4 or 6-5 either way,” admitted 35-year-old Trump. “Barry and I have had some great battles here. Today I didn’t do a lot wrong and punished his mistakes, I didn’t miss anything easy. In those games it’s important to keep your foot down, keep your concentration and not give away any easy chances. 

“This event keeps getting better. More people see it on the TV and want to experience it live. It makes the players feel so important, everyone wants to play their best. It’s probably my favourite event on the calendar, I get excited about it for a month before. 

“It’s great for snooker to have Ding back somewhere near his best. There have been times when he has struggled a bit, he has the weight of China on his shoulders so it’s not easy to do what he has done. Every game he plays at the moment seems to be a thriller but I hope it’s not too close when we play! I love playing him, he’s one of the nicest people on the tour.”

Hawkins said: “I didn’t think I had done that much wrong in the first four frames. Judd is playing some great stuff and every time I made a mistake he capitalised.

ALLEN TOO STRONG FOR DEBUTANT SI

Mark Allen became the sixth former champion to reach the quarter-finals of this year’s Johnstone’s Paint Masters as he beat debutant Si Jiahui 6-2 with a fine display in London. 

China’s 22-year-old Si is recognised as one of snooker’s best young talents and has leapt into the world’s top 16, but Allen’s vast experience was too much for him at Alexandra Palace as the Northern Irishman controlled most of the contest and ran out a comfortable winner. He will face Mark Selby on Thursday evening and so far all six players into the quarter-finals are former winners of the title, as Judd Trump meets Ding Junhui and Neil Robertson takes on Shaun Murphy. 

World number four Allen comes into this week full of confidence having won the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship just before Christmas and he looked sharp tonight, making a century and three more breaks over 70 as he marched into the quarter-finals of this event for the tenth time.

The opening frame lasted 40 minutes and came down to a safety exchange on the last red, Allen trapping his opponent in a snooker and taking the chance that followed to go 1-0 up. Si showed his quality with a superb break of 103 to level, before Allen compiled runs of 111 and 70 to lead 3-1 at the interval.

A run of 60 helped Si pulled one back, but Allen responded with an excellent break of 94 then dominated frame seven for 5-2. World number 13 Si had a clear scoring chance in the eighth but made just 6 before missing a simple red to a top corner, and Allen finished strongly with a break of 80.

“I played well, my safety was very good and I made it tough for him,” said Allen. “If he had potted ridiculous long ones and made breaks then so be it, but as it turned out I felt played better than him.

“He played so well at the Crucible (in 2023) so he is not scared of the big occasion. I just needed to play my game and make it hard for him. He pushed the boat out a bit because he probably didn’t fancy getting into safety battles. There was one at 3-2 when he went for a plant, when he had an easy safety. At that stage he was back in the game so there was no need for him to go for it, that was a bit of inexperience. 

“I can always improve and that’s why I work so hard in practice. But I have to enjoy those kind of performances. These are the events I want to win because it’s the best of the best. I always look forward to playing Mark Selby, I have a good record against him. Hopefully it will be a repeat of last year (when Allen won 6-5) which was high quality. Nearly every time we play our matches are close.“

Overall I didn’t particularly enjoy what I saw yesterday. Maybe I wasn’t in the mood but I’m not sure that my mood was the issue. Both matches were pretty one-sided and, well before the MSI, their outcome looked inevitable. There was no suspense, no real “tension”.

Judd Trump was excellent as he has been in most of his matches this season. Barry on the other hand was not at his best and was never given much opportunity to really settle and improve. When he eventually won a frame, the sixth, he did it with a good 70, but it was far too late.

The Mark Allen v Si Jiahui match was a high scoring affair. They had 6 breaks over 60 between them, including one century each. In the first two first frames, Si looked dangerous. After that, he he was largely outplayed in the safety department. Allen ruthlessly punished most of his opponent’s safety mistakes and there were far too many of them. This is a side of Si’s game that needs improvement! Even when Si won frame 5, the first after the MSI, with a good 60, I never had the feeling he could beat Allen on this form and in this mood.

Today is the last day of the first round. I expect Kyren to beat Zhang but I wouldn’t bet a caramel over the outcome of the evening match. It will largely depend on what kind of Luca will be on show. He’s equally capable to win by 6-0 and to lose by 6-0.

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