Judd Trump and Mark Selby will face each other at the Barbican today and one of them will lift the trophy tonight. Here is how we got there as reported by WST.
World number one and defending champion Judd Trump prevailed 6-3 in a fiercely contested battle with Australia’s Neil Robertson to make his fifth Victorian Plumbing UK Championship final in York.
The Ace in the Pack was crowned UK Champion for a second time 12 months ago, after defeating Barry Hawkins 10-8 in the title match.
Trump won his maiden Triple Crown triumph here in York back in 2011, beating Mark Allen in the final. However, he has fallen short in the 2014 final to Ronnie O’Sullivan and the 2020 showpiece against Robertson. Both were deciding frame 10-9 losses.
Victory in tomorrow’s final would see Trump join an elite group of players who have defended the UK title. Only Stephen Hendry, Steve Davis and Ronnie O’Sullivan have achieved that feat.
Trump will face either Shaun Murphy or Mark Selby in tomorrow’s title match. The encounter will take place over the best of 19 frames and the winner will pocked £250,000. Englishman Trump is seeking his first crown of 2025, failure will be the first time he hasn’t registered silverware in a calendar year since 2013.
Robertson misses out on a fourth UK Championship title. However, he can look ahead to his last event of the year at the Scottish Open happy with what he’s achieved this season. The £500,000 pay cheque at the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters was the biggest of his career so far.
Breaks of 65 and 82 helped Trump into a 2-1 lead early on, but Robertson headed into the interval the happiest after a stunning 114 restored parity at 2-2.
Play resumed with a marathon 47-minute fifth. After some fragmented tactical exchanges, it was Robertson who eventually stole to lead for the first time at 3-2.
It proved to also be the last time the Melbourne cueman led, with Trump bouncing back quickly from that setback after the interval. Breaks of 72, 53, 68 and 53 helped him to four on the bounce and a 6-3 triumph.
Trump said: “I still felt positive despite losing the fifth frame. A lot of the time this season I’d have put my head down a little bit. I was able to get in early next frame, rattle off a quick frame and I was back in and amongst it.
“It is great to be back in the final again. I feel like these last few weeks and months have been a lot more consistent. I’ve been in a few finals recently but it is never nice to be on the losing end. I need to use that as motivation and determination to come out on the right side.
“I feel good about my game. Everyone picked Mark Selby from the start. I feel like the pressure is on him and he has a tough game against Shaun Murphy first. It has been a brilliant semi-final lineup.”
Mark Selby defeated close friend and on table adversary Shaun Murphy 6-3 to make the final of the Victorian Plumbing UK Championship in York.
This evening marked the 35th meeting between the pair in their illustrious careers. Victory for Selby moves him 20-15 up in the head-to-head standings.
He now progresses to face world number one Judd Trump in a blockbuster best of 19 final tomorrow. The winner will pocket £250,000 and Selby will head into the meeting with high confidence after beating Trump in the recent Champion of Champions final.
Defeat for Murphy means he will have to wait for a first UK title since his maiden win in the event back in 2008. However, it is another strong week for the Magician, who won the British Open earlier in the campaign.
24-time ranking event winner Selby is through to his first UK final since 2016, when he defeated Ronnie O’Sullivan 10-7 in an epic title match. He’s a two-time winner having also won the event back in 2012, when he defeated Murphy in the final.
The match this evening kicked off with a scintillating standard. Selby took the opener with a 74 break, but Murphy hit back immediately with 131 to restore parity.
Breaks of 73 and 104 then helped 42-year-old Selby move into a hefty 4-1 lead. Murphy claimed the next two and forced his way back into contention at 4-3. However, Selby summoned runs of 72, 55 and 127 over the next two frames to force his way over the line. He missed just 12 balls in the entire match.
Selby said: “I felt good from start to finish. I was a little bit edgy at the start but that is understandable. It was a massive game for us both to try and get into a Triple Crown final. At the interval I felt relaxed and thought I was playing decent stuff. Shaun hits the ball as well as anyone I’ve ever played. I knew I needed to play well to win the game.
“It would mean a lot to win. It has been nine years since I’ve been to the UK final. I haven’t done well in the Masters for the last few years either. It would be nice to try and tick it off and get to ten Triple Crown wins.
“I enjoy playing Judd. He is great to watch and very similar to Ronnie. He is exciting to play against and has a lot of support as well. It will be a great occasion tomorrow and I can’t wait to get started.”
Again, I haven’t much to add: those reports are comprehensive enough.
Neil will be disappointed: he lead 3-2 and scored the only century of the match, a 114. That said Judd was very reliable once in the balls. He made a break over 50 in every frame he won. Basically, nearly each time he got in he scored enough to finish the frame, which is truly remarkable.
Shaun also scored the highest break of his match against Mark Selby, a 131. He lost a couple of really close frames before the MSI which is never easy to take. That said, Mark Selby scored really well in that match, he had five breaks over 72, including two centuries. He won most frames he took in one visit, not necessarily the first visit, but one big scoring visit.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 