Here is the report shared by WST about day 8 in Brentwood:

BetVictor English Open Day Eight

Elliot Slessor extended his 100% win rate in deciders this season, prevailing in a final frame for the sixth time and beating world number one Judd Trump 4-3 at the BetVictor English Open in Brentwood. 

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Slessor’s exploits at the recent Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters saw him beat three World Champions, all by a single frame, en route to the semi-finals. The Tyneside cueman defeated John Higgins 5-4 before consecutive 6-5 wins over Stuart Bingham and Mark Williams. He then went out in the last four at the hands of Neil Robertson. Across two seasons, Slessor has now won 13 of his last 18 deciding frames. 

The 31-year-old will now face Mark Allen in the semi-finals. Slessor has reached five ranking semis without tasting success and making a maiden ranking final. Victory tomorrow will earn him a sixth crack at achieving the feat. 

Slessor took the opening two frames this afternoon and then led the third 68-0, before a break of 69 saw Trump claw his way back into contention at 2-1 down. That appeared to be a crucial turning point, with Trump taking the following two frames to lead 3-2. However, runs of 79 and 64 were enough to see Slessor claim two on the bounce and get over the line. Afterwards he admitted his strong desire to capture silverware adds pressure.

“It is tough because my Grandad comes everywhere with me. He’s 74 years old and I know he won’t be here forever. Hopefully he’s here for a long time to come, but he’s more deserving. He has driven me around since I was nine. I would love to be in the position to give him a trophy. The money means nothing compared to what a trophy would mean. I’ll keep knocking on the door, keep trying my best and see what happens,” said world number 23 Slessor. 

“They are all tough games. You never get to this stage and find someone here by fluke. I will give it my all and see how far it takes me.”

Allen came from 3-0 down to overhaul China’s Ding Junhui 4-3. The Pistol rallied with breaks of 52 and 52 en route to his comeback win. Afterwards he admitted that he’s taking nothing for granted in his quest for a return to the winner’s circle, following over a year without a ranking title.

Allen said: “I had a few years of winning quite a lot. I fancied winning all the time  but this game has a way of biting you on the backside sometimes. It isn’t that easy. The serial winners like Ronnie, Hendry, Trump and Selby make it look easy. It isn’t. You have to enjoy every time you can get a victory and not get too down on yourself. I’m a perfectionist and I always will be. I won’t stop trying to find ways of improving.”

Aaron Hill continued his impressive week with a 4-1 win over Jack Lisowski, who conquered World Champion Zhao Xintong yesterday evening. 

Hill has displayed fine form so far this season, which includes a win over Kyren Wilson at the recent Wuhan Open. He made the first maximum break of his career earlier in the tournament here in Brentwood and this evening’s result sees him reach the quarter-finals of a ranking event for the third time in his career. He faces former Crucible finalist Jak Jones, who defeated Ricky Walden 4-3.

Jackson Page came through a final frame against Shaun Murphy to win 4-3 and make the quarter-finals. He can now look forward to a quarter-final meeting with Mark Selby, who was a 4-2 winner over Wu Yize.

Luca Brecel beat Robbie Williams 4-3 and that earns the Belgian a quarter-final clash with China’s Zhou Yuelong, who overcame Barry Hawkins 4-2. 

Again this report is quite exhaustive, unlike the ones WST published earlier in the week.

I watched the Trump v Slessor match. There is not doubt that Judd is going through a “lesser form” period. It’s entirely normal. The players are human beings and none of us is at the top of their form all the time, be it physically, intellectually or emotionally. I must admit that I struggled for a long time to appreciate Elliot. As a younger player he was quite prone to angry reactions, not exactly tantrums but not that far from that either. This can be off-putting for the opponent and often was when he played fellow juniors back in the days. I never knew that his grand father was the one going everywhere with him, what I know though is that his grand mother is his biggest fan on social media and a very charming lady 😊.

Ding once again lost a match from a strong winning position. I didn’t watch his yesterday match, so can’t comment on this occurence. But, in recent years, it happens far too often to be “statistically” normal. What’s behind this, I’m not sure. Maybe carrying all the hopes of his country for years has taken its toll, maybe having done so much to grow snooker in China, he now aspires to more family time and his motivation isn’t what it used to be, or maybe it’s a psychological thing. Maybe, because it’s been happening so often in recent years, negative thoughts creep in as soon as he loses a couple of frames, and those thoughts about losing again from the brink of victory induce a kind of “self fulfilling prophecy” mental process… if that makes sense.