Day 2 in Manchester brought it fair share of drama … here are the reports by WST:

Afternoon session

SELBY QUIT THREAT AFTER WILSON DEFEAT

Four-time Crucible king Mark Selby revealed that he could quit snooker at the end of this season, after a “pathetic” performance in a 10-8 reverse against Gary Wilson in the first round of the Johnstone’s Paint Tour Championship.

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Wilson, who has already won two ranking titles during the best season of his career, goes through to face Zhang Anda in the quarter-finals in Manchester on Wednesday and Thursday afternoon.

But world number five Selby was left dejected by his own game and insisted that the Cazoo World Championship, which starts on April 20th, could be his last event. “From start to finish I was pathetic, I didn’t deserve to win,” said the Leicester cueman. “I tried and battled but it was terrible. If I carry on playing like that, that will be it for me, for sure.

“I felt flat, it’s a big tournament and if you can’t get yourself up for events like this there’s something wrong. I have always said that if I get to the point where I am not enjoying it, it doesn’t matter whether you are number one in the world or number 128, I won’t carry on playing. I am still putting the work in, but if you practise for performances like that it seems pointless. If I put in the same performance in Sheffield, that will be me done.“

Wilson, playing in this event for the first time, took a 5-3 lead in the first session on Monday with top breaks of 95, 98, 78, 101. The first six frames today were shared to leave the Wallsend potter 8-6 in front. In frame 15 he had clear chances to extend his lead, but twice missed the brown to a centre pocket on the brink of 9-6. Selby converted an excellent brown-to-black clearance to close to 8-7.

The 16th also came down to the colours, and this time Wilson cleared from yellow to black to go two up with three to play. Selby pulled one back with a run of 90 and had a chance for 9-9, but missed a red to a centre pocket on 30 in frame 18. That proved his last shot as Wilson finished in style with a 105.

Wilson said: “It wasn’t a great game, we both missed easy chances. It’s still tough to beat someone as good as Mark, though there are not many positives to take from it other than the result. I kept making it difficult for myself and handing him chances to get back into the game. But thankfully I made a good break in the last frame to get over the line. 

“I need to find something before tomorrow. You never know in this game, sometimes you feel as if you don’t know where you career is going, it feels that bad. But the positives are that I have had a great season, I’m in the top 16 and I hope I’m just having a blip I will come through. I will stay chirpy and just crack on.”

Meanwhile, Ali Carter raced into a 7-1 lead over Barry Hawkins in match which finishes on Tuesday night. Hawkins took the opening frame with a break of 84, but scored just 26 points in the next six frames as Carter rattled in breaks of 80, 51, 83, 135 and 94.

The last frame of the session came down to a safety battle on the final pink, and Carter converted a thin cut to a centre pocket to extend his lead. The winner will face Ronnie O’Sullivan over two sessions on Wednesday.

Mark Selby’s battle with depression has been well documented. His childhood was traumatic, his mother abandoned him, he lost his father as a teenager and, recently, he had to support his wife Vikki in her battle against cancer. All that is bound to take its toll on him, it would on anyone no matter how though they are and Mark is though. I hope he gets the support he needs. His health has to be the priority, everything else is secondary. I’m glad that mental health issues are better understood nowadays. Not so long ago this kind of post-match would have attracted comments like “what he is about, he’s got plenty of money … he should get a ‘real job’ , go stack boxes in the supermarket … he doesn’t know what hardship is”. ¹

Evening session

WILLIAMS BEATS FORD WITH PHENOMENAL CLEARANCE

Mark Williams made one of the all-time great deciding frame clearances to beat Tom Ford 10-9 in a thrilling finish at the Johnstone’s Paint Tour Championship.

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Ford looked set for victory at 9-9 until he missed a red to a top corner leading 54-0. Four of the last seven reds, as well as the blue, were tight to cushions, but veteran Williams pulled off a series of tremendous pots in an extraordinary 66 clearance. He goes through to the quarter-finals in Manchester to face Judd Trump on Thursday.

“I don’t know how I did it but that was one of the best clearances I’ve ever made,” said three-time World Champion Williams. “The shot from blue to pink was very difficult but there was no way I was playing safe on any ball. It’s definitely one of my best.

“Tom was by far the better player, he made four centuries and didn’t win, he must have thought he had me. But I’m used to be being up against it. It shows where my game is at if I can play poorly but still win.”

BEST DECIDING FRAME CLEARANCE EVER?

Leading 5-3 after the first session, 49-year-old Williams extended his advantage to 8-4 with top breaks of 112 and 88. Ford stormed back to 8-7 with runs of 138 (the highest break of the event so far) and 133. He had chances in frame 16 but Williams recovered to take it on a respotted black. Ford then made 90 and 63 for 9-9, and seemed in control of the decider until his missed red, which proved crucial. 

British Open champion in September, world number eight Williams is through to his fifth ranking quarter-final of the season. 

There was more drama on the other table as Ali Carter survived a Barry Hawkins fight-back to win 10-8. That sets up an intriguing quarter-final with Ronnie O’Sullivan on Wednesday – their first meeting since the bad-tempered Masters final in January.

Carter led 7-1 after the first session and still looked in charge at 8-3 and 9-5. Hawkins got the better of frame 15 then came from 48-0 down to steal the 16th for 9-7. In the next, Carter led 62-4 with three reds left, but Hawkins got the two snookers he needed on the last red, and eventually won it on a respotted back to close within one frame. But world number nine Carter dominated frame 18 to reach his sixth ranking quarter-final of the season.

“At 7-1 sometimes you feel you have it all to lose,” said the Captain. “Barry came back at me really well and it got a bit sticky in the end. But that makes it a better win – if I had won 10-1 it would have felt like a bit of a non-event. I have gone through the wringer and I can’t wait to get back to the hotel for a glass of wine.

“I am just trying my best, I am enjoying it and looking forward to the challenge tomorrow. It will be an open free-flowing match. I’m not going to put myself under any pressure, I’ll just play and see what happens.“

Mark Williams obviously still can play a bit! However, recently, after trying heyball, he hinted that he migth play more of that and less snooker:

Mark Williams enjoying pool more than snooker as he eyes up more 8-Ball events

Phil Haigh

Mark Williams intends to play a lot more Chinese 8-Ball pool in the months to come, saying he is enjoying the game more than snooker at the moment.

The 49-year-old is still riding high in the snooker world and is in action this week at the Tour Championship, showing how well he is doing as only the top 12 on the one-year ranking list qualify for the event.

However, he has admitted that he doesn’t expect to do well as he has been in China playing in the Joy Cup World Heyball Masters Grand Finals, a huge Chinese 8-Ball event which had a top prize of $700,000 (£557,900).

The Welsh Potting Machine was beaten by one of the greats of the game, Zheng Yubo, in the last 32 in Qinhuangdao but he wants to get back on the pool table as soon as he can, and would love to play Zheng again across both disciplines.

‘I enjoyed every minute of it,’ he said after his last match in China. ‘It’s nice to play the best player in the world, the best Chinese pool player ever. 

‘I knew I wasn’t going to beat him, I didn’t have much chance of winning really because it’s the first time I’ve seen a really top player play like that, I think he missed one ball in the whole match. 

‘But I loved it and if someone can show me how to break off then I can definitely get a lot close to him. I’d love to play more Chinese pool. It would be nice some time this year maybe if me and Yubo can get a challenge match. He plays me at snooker and I play him at Chinese 8 ball again and I’ll practice a bit more. I’ve seen him play snooker, he makes 147s, so I know how good he is. I think that would be a good challenge match. 

‘I probably enjoy playing Chinese 8 ball rather than snooker, to be honest. I just want to play more, I’d like to play more tournaments this year to see if I can get any better.’

…

‘I’m definitely not retiring, but a lot more pool is on the horizon for me,’ he told ITV.

Other snooker players were involved in the event in Qinhuangdao, with the likes of Elliot Slessor and Jimmy Robertson picking up some wins.

Speaking earlier in the season, Williams said he expects more snooker professionals to get involved as and when they can.

‘I think if it doesn’t clash with tournaments I think a lot more (snooker players) will play in it,’ Williams told SportsBoom. ‘I’m going the other way and if a couple of the tournaments do clash with snooker events then I’ll pick the Chinese pool over the snooker tournaments.

‘I enjoy it. It’s the number one game in China. The following that it’s got is massive. The prize money is big, but I don’t think a snooker player has a chance against the top Chinese boys, unless you really practice hard at it.’

And John Higgins is also considering the end of his career after a poor display on Monday, as reported by various media, notably by Eurosport. He hinted that this World Championship could be his “final go“.

1. At least it did when Ronnie was at the start of his career, with both parents in jail, struggling with taking care of his young sister and battling depression and addictions … this is the kind of comments he got. ↩︎

The Tour Championship was never my favourite event, and, this season, that’s truer than ever. I don’t like the move to increase the field to 12 players. Going by reactions on social media, I’m not the only one with that opinion but it is what it is …

Only one match was played to a conclusion yesterday as Mark Allen beat John Higgins by 10-7 .

Here is the report by WST:

ALLEN BATTLES PAST HIGGINS IN MANCHESTER

Mark Allen admitted he was “very proud” of a mature performance as he recovered from a slow start to beat John Higgins 10-7 in the first round of the Johnstone’s Paint Tour Championship, staying on track for a fourth title of the season. 

Allen trailed 4-1 in the early stages but crucially recovered to 4-4 by the end of the first session. It was neck-and-neck tonight up until 6-6, but world number three Allen proved the stronger player at the business end as he pulled away to take three of the last four frames. He goes through to take on Ding Junhui in the quarter-finals on Wednesday night and Thursday night.

Scotland’s Higgins scored 5-2 wins against Allen at both the BetVictor German Masters and BetVictor Welsh Open earlier this year, but this time he could not capitalise on a strong start and he is still waiting for a first ranking title in three years.

Allen took the opening frame of the evening session with a break of 71 before Higgins levelled at 5-5 with a run of 82. Frame 11 came down to a safety battle on the final black, Allen clipping it into a baulk corner to regain the advantage. Back came Higgins with 62 to draw level, only for Allen to respond with a 102 for 7-6. 

In frame 14, Higgins missed the black with two reds left, leading 46-17, and Allen eventually got the better of a safety exchange on the final pink, potting pink and black to go two ahead for the first time. Higgins halved the gap with a break of 86, then Allen’s 93 made it 9-7. In frame 17, Higgins had first chance but made just 20 before missing a straight-forward blue to centre. The Scot later made a safety error and Allen finished in style with a match-winning 100.

“I always look forward to playing John,” said 38-year-old Allen, who currently tops the provisional end of season rankings. “It’s always tough match snooker, good scoring and high quality safety. I’m very proud to have matched him in the safety department and scored better as the match went on.

“A few years ago, from 4-1 down I might have lost the first session 6-2. The things I have been working on with (psychologist) Paul Gaffney have really helped because it has focussed my mind on just playing the next shot and the next frame as well as I can. It was fine margins tonight, I think John played as well as me but I won the close frames. 

“My decision-making is more measured. Some people might call it negative, but I am playing the positive shot based on how I am feeling in that moment. Sometimes it’s better to be patient and wait for a better chance.”

Higgins said: “Mark played very well tonight. I should have been in front this afternoon, I lost a bad frame when I should have made it 5-2. I missed two or three unforgiveable balls tonight. My long game was non-existent, and at this level it’s not good enough against the best players. I’ll just need to dust myself down and prepare for the World Championship. I’ve got a couple of weeks to hopefully get some good practice in.” 

On the other table, Mark Williams earned a 5-3 lead over Tom Ford in a high quality session. Three-time Crucible king Williams took a 3-0 lead with top breaks of 72 and 59, before Ford pulled one back with a 114. After the interval, Williams made it 4-1 with a run of 76, then Ford took two in a row with 73 and 136. In the last of the session, Ford made 40 then Williams cleared with 86 to stay ahead. They resume on Tuesday at 7pm. 

Allen has got lots of negative comments about the changes he’s brought to his approach to the game but the simple fact is that it works. In the last 18 months he has won 6 events . Ok, one of those is the Shoot-out, but still … it can’t be denied that the results have been coming thick and fast and that vindicates the changes he’s made.

One of the reasons I don’t appreciate the Tour Championship that much is because it’s an ITV event and Eurosport isn’t showing this one. The only option for me, living in Greece, is Matchroom Live. It’s not free and in the past the quality of their service has often been awful, but yesterday it worked well all day, I’ll give them that. Still, it means that if, for some reason, I can’t watch a match when it’s “live”, then I can’t watch it at all. In this event, all matches feature top “in form” players and are interesting. It would be nice to be able to watch them all… You will tell me that a few years back we never were able to watch everything, or watch “past” matches unless we recorded them, and that’s true but now is… now and the technology is there to allow it.

Reanne Evans and Luca Brecel have won the 2024 Mixed Doubles event yesterday evening. They beat Rebecca Kenna and Mark Selby in the final. Here is the report by WST:

EVANS AND BRECEL CROWNED IN MANCHESTER

Reanne Evans and Luca Brecel combined to capture the World Mixed Doubles title, beating Mark Selby and Rebecca Kenna 4-2 in the final at Manchester Central.

The duo were this year’s most decorated pair, with Evans having 12 Women’s World Championship titles to her name and Brecel being the current World Champion. However, they only clinched their place in the final courtesy of taking the final frame this afternoon, when they lost 3-1 to Selby and Kenna.

It’s second time lucky for Evans, who was paired with seven-time Crucible king Ronnie O’Sullivan in 2022. On that occasion they missed out on a place in the final by a single frame.

Brecel’s hit and miss season thus far has seen him miss out on next week’s Players Series finale, the Johnstone’s Paint Tour Championship. However, his first piece of silverware of the season will act as a welcome boost heading into the defence of his World Championship title.

Selby and Kenna suffer defeat in the final for a second consecutive season. They were runners-up to Neil Robertson and Mink Nutcharut last time around.

It was Brecel who got this evening’s final up and running with a break of 57 to take the opener. They then added the second to lead 2-0.

Selby had an opportunity to take the third and reduce their arrears, but missed a straightforward final blue. Eventually, he was given another chance and did make it 2-1. That was followed up by a run of 67 by the Leicester cueman to restore parity.

Brecel and Evans moved 3-2 ahead by taking the fifth, before a contribution of 59 from the Belgian in the sixth gave them the title.

“It’s taken 22 years to win a final on television. I know Luca carried me a little bit, but I’ve been playing a long time and it is fantastic to lift a trophy and play in a final like this, alongside all of these great players. The crowd have been fantastic and I’ve really enjoyed myself.”

Reanne Evans

12-time Women’s World Champion

Evans added: “Playing in these sort of events and getting the recognition that the women deserve and the support from these top players is only going to help the women and help the game. Hopefully there is a lot more to come. Bigger and better and always hoping and believing in the future.”

Brecel said: “It was a special occasion to play in this tournament. I was looking forward to it as soon as I knew I was in it. I always felt we had a good chance to win it because we are a really strong team. If we played a bit closer to our normal standards we could have made it a bit easier for ourselves.”

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS

The standard wasn’t always the highest but that is to be expected as the players are not used to this type of format and there is additional pressure because they feel additional responsibility: They don’t want to let their partner down. The crowd was decent all along. Stephen Hendry was surprisingly full of compliments for the women who certainly played their part in this event. In general, their tactical nous was good, but their scoring power is not yet quite at the required level.

The venue looks nice and the cuezone in particular benefitted from a special effort by WST to make it bigger and better.

Matt Huart wasn’t on duty … so he took loads of pictures and shared them on the Women Snooker Facebook page. Well worth a look if you can. They are awesome!

Congratulations Reanne and Luca!

Finally … with Luca in action in the final, there was of course a special interest from the Belgian snooker fans. Amongst them, the owner of the famous Brussel’s Hair Salon “Alexandre de Paris”. I heard that “Alexandre” (not his real name) was so thrilled by Luca and Reanne’s win that he contacted WST and offered his services for next season event. He’s willing to come “on site” to offer every player an original haircut with their hair dyed in the colour of their team. Asked about Luca, he said: “I know that Luca poses a particular challenge, but I like a good challenge! I will be creative!”

Here is WST announcement:

CAZOO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIERS DRAW

Neil Robertson, Jack Lisowski, Stuart Bingham, Stephen Maguire, Si Jiahui, Anthony McGill, Ryan Day and Hossein Vafaei are among the star names in the strongest ever field for the qualifying rounds of the Cazoo World Championship.

The draw and format is now available for the qualifying event, which runs from April 8th to 17th at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield.

CAZOO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIERS DRAW

QUALIFIERS FORMAT

All players seeded outside the top 16 compete in the qualifiers, including the likes of 2010 Crucible king Robertson and Lisowski who have both dropped out of the elite this season. They will both need to win two matches to make it to the Theatre of Dreams for the main event which runs from April 20th to May 6th.

Tickets for the qualifying rounds are on sale now, for just £12 per day – fantastic value for the chance to see a wide array of all-time greats and up-and-coming talents, competing in snooker’s biggest tournament. 

Players starting in the opening round – including 16 invited amateurs – must win four matches to make it to the Crucible. First round ties include six-time world finalist Jimmy White taking on Martin Gould, and new women’s World Champion Bai Yulu up against Jenson Kendrick.

The final round, on April 16th and 17th, is known as Judgement Day, when places at the Crucible will be at stake.

Fans can watch from round one on discovery+ as well as streaming platforms worldwide. Then our Judgement Day production, presented by Rob Walker, Ken Doherty and David Hendon, will be streamed live and free on WST’s YouTube and Facebook channels.

The seeding structure is:

Round one pits players ranked 81-112 against those seeded 113-144
In round two, those 32 winners face players ranked 49-80.
In round three, those 32 winners face players ranked 17-48.
In round four, those 32 winners play each other, with the 16 winners going through to the Crucible.

All matches are best of 19 frames (9/10). Sessions times are 10am, 2,30pm and 7pm for the first three rounds, then 11am and 5pm for Judgement Day.

The draw for the first round at the Crucible will be made on the morning of Thursday April 18th, you can listen on BBC Radio Five Live and watch live on the BBC Sport website. 

This is, in my opinion the best tournament of the season from a fan’s point of view and it’s quite affordable too. Unfortunately for me, life circumstances are such that I can’t attend this year and I’m not sure I will ever again be able to follow it live from the venue.

It’s also a format I like and one I would like to see used in other tournaments as well. The lowest ranked players face matches of progressive level of difficulty, allowing them to learn (and earn) and hopefully win a couple before being pitted against a top player.

For me “the match” of the first round is Bai Yulu v Jenson Kendrick. I believe that Bai has a real chance in this one and that’s nothing from me against Jenson. Another very interesting match will be Ashley Carty v Liam Graham. Liam is very highly rated and I wonder how Ashley, who played at the Crucible before, finds himself low enough in the rankings to need to play in the first round. Fergal O’Brien intends to retire at the end of the season but I would love to see him have agreat “last run”. He faces a tough match against Mustafa Dorgham and whoever wins that match will face Dotty !!! I will also follow the Bulcsú Révész v Sean O’Sullivan and Iulian Boiko v Alex Ursenbacher battles.

Looking at the possible second round matches, Marco Fu and Ken Doherty could face each other. Julien Leclercq could face Hammad Miah – a though draw that – and one win would probably be enough for Julien’s tour survival. Ben Mertens may well face Rod Lawler … tell me about a clash of styles!

Bring it on!

Judd Trump had won the World Open in 2019 – the last time the event was played before the Covid crisis – and, today, he successfully defended the title, beating Ding Junhui by 10-4 in a disappointingly one-sided final¹. He has now 28 ranking titles to his name, same as Steve Davis²

Here is the report by WST

Judd Trump won his 28th ranking title – matching the career tally of Steve Davis – with a 10-4 victory over Ding Junhui in the final of the Huading Nylon World Open in Yushan, China.

Home favourite Ding was outplayed as Trump made two centuries and five more breaks over 50 as he cruised to a fifth ranking title of the season, having previously won the BetVictor English Open, Wuhan Open, BetVictor Northern Ireland Open and BetVictor German Masters. It’s the third time within five years that he has won five (or more) ranking titles in a single campaign, having landed a record six in 2019/20 and five the following season. The only other players to achieve that feat are Hendry (five in 1990/91), Ding (five in 2013/14), Mark Selby (five in 2016/17) and O’Sullivan (five in 2017/18).

Trump and O’Sullivan have been the dominant forces of the 2023/24 season, with five titles apiece (three of O’Sullivan’s have been at invitation events), and the Player of the Year debate could be settled at the Crucible.

The £170,000 top prize brings Trump’s total earnings for 2023/24 to £1,061,000, the third time in his career that he has reached seven figures for the season. O’Sullivan is ahead of him with £1,155,500, already a record, with the lucrative Johnstone’s Paint Tour Championship and Cazoo World Championship still to come. It’s the first time that two players have earned over £1 million in a single season.

Impressively, all of Trump’s five titles this term have come in events with 128-player flat draws, meaning he has had to win seven matches in each of them. Relentlessly determined with strong emphasis on preparation, practice and consistency, world number two Trump shares many qualities with Hendry and Davis, who dominated in past decades. Winning – even when he is not at his best – has become a habit. And his scoring is prolific, with 76 centuries this season; 100 tons for the campaign still a possibility.

Ding missed out on a first ranking title since the 2019 UK Championship, and has now lost both of his finals this season, having finished runner-up to O’Sullivan in York in December. The 36-year-old enjoyed an epic 6-5 win over Neil Robertson in the semi-finals but, with so much expectation from his home crowd, could not replicate that success today. The £73,000 second prize lifts him from ninth to seventh in the official rankings, and he is up to fourth on the one-year list, which means he goes straight into the quarter-finals of the Johnstone’s Paint Tour Championship in Manchester.

Breaks of 88, 59, 79 and 78 helped Trump build a 7-2 lead in the opening session. When they returned, the Bristol cueman quickly stretched his advantage with a run of 130. Ding pulled one back with an 84 only for Trump to edge 9-3 ahead with a 106, his eighth century of the tournament. Ding won the 13th to force a mid-session interval.

On a run of 58 in the 14th, Trump missed a tricky thin cut on a red to a top corner. The frame came down to a safety battle on the last red, and Ding missed a chance from distance, handing his opponent the opportunity to clear to the brown to retain the title, having won this event when it was last staged in 2019.

“Ding had been playing really well this week so I thought it was going to be tough,” said 2019 World Champion Trump. “I managed to dig in during the afternoon and get a good lead, then played my best stuff of the tournament tonight. I didn’t want to give Ding the chance to start winning frames and let the crowd get behind him  When most of the crowd is with your opponent, you have to use that to motivate yourself. 

“As I have got older I have learned not to punish myself when I miss easy balls. I see other players doing that. You are not trying to miss, so there’s no point punishing yourself, you have to forget about it, go back to your chair and wait for your next chance. So much of snooker is in the head, if you can be in the right space mentally then you have a big advantage. I am a lot more consistent in that respect these days. 

“It has been great to get back to China this season, I was excited to get back here. The crowds have been massive this week, snooker is growing and the fans here are very young. It’s really promising for our sport.

“I can relax and enjoy the rest of the season, it has been a dream season for me. I’m looking forward to the two events in Manchester coming up, to be playing in the centre of a major city will feel special.” 

TRUMP’S WINNING MOMENTS

Congratulations Judd Trump

Images shared on Weibo by WST

In the coming days there will be no live professional snooker and I will look at what happened last week on the amateur scene, including in “main tour qualifying route” events.

1. Judd himself played really well but, unfortunately, Ding was far from his best ↩︎
2. Although Steve won the UK Championship before it became ranking so those comparisons are to be taken with some caution ↩︎

Tomorrow’s final in Yushan will be contested by Judd Trump and Ding Junjui. Here are WST reports on what happened today in the semi-finals.

Afternoon session: TRUMP ON TRACK FOR FIFTH TITLE

Judd Trump ended the run of Jackson Page with a 6-2 victory at the semi-final stage of the Huading Nylon World Open in China, moving within one win of a fifth ranking title this season.

World number two Trump will face Neil Robertson or Ding Junhui in the final in Yushan on Sunday, with first to ten frames taking the £170,000 top prize.

If Bristol’s Trump comes out on top, it will be the third time within five years that he has won five (or more) ranking titles in a single campaign, having landed a record six in 2019/20 and five the following season.

The only other players to achieve that feat are Stephen Hendry (five in 1990/91), Ding Junhui (five in 2013/14), Mark Selby (five in 2016/17) and Ronnie O’Sullivan (five in 2017/18).

Trump, who won this event the last time it was staged in 2019, will be playing in the 44th ranking event final of his career and seventh of the season. Victory would give the 34-year-old a 28th career ranking title, moving him level with Steve Davis on the all-time list, behind only O’Sullivan, Hendry and John Higgins.

Welshman Page, who knocked out the likes of John Higgins and Mark Selby, enjoyed the best week of his career so far having never previously been beyond the last 16 of a ranking event. But the 22-year-old was no match for Trump in the second half of today’s encounter. His hopes of qualifying for next month’s Johnstone’s Paint Tour Championship are also over, though Page banks a career-high pay day of £32,500.

Trump opened with a break of 122, his sixth century of the week. The next two frames were shared, then Page made a 72 to level at 2-2. After the interval, Page had chances in every frame, but was not able to capitalise, and Trump took four in a row with a top run of 67. 

“It was a scrappy game, neither of us played well, we both missed a lot of balls,” admitted Trump. “It was Jackson’s first semi-final and he didn’t really settle, my experience probably made the difference. I haven’t played that well this week, I have scraped my way through with sheer determination. But that has been the case at other tournaments I have won this season. Hopefully things click in the final. It has been an incredible season.

“This has been a fantastic tournament, it’s nice to be back here after five years. Coming to Yushan has brought back good memories for me and it’s great to have the chance to win it again.”  

Page’s chances were hampered before the match even started as he cut his finger while taking his cue out of its case. “The buckle of the case ripped the skin on my finger,” he said. “I was praying for it not to bleed, but then it started bleeding. I tried putting a plaster on, but then I couldn’t feel the cue so I had to take it off. It’s not an ideal start in your first semi-final.” 

Not much to add here. It wasn’t a great match and probably the worse Jackson has played all week. It was clear for all to see that the finger injury bothered him at the start of the match and he never really settled.

Evening session: DING’S EPIC WIN SENDS ROBERTSON OUT OF TOP 16

Ding Junhui beat Neil Robertson 6-5 in an almighty battle in the semi-finals of the Huading Nylon World Open, a result which means that Robertson will not be among the top 16 seeds at the Crucible this year.

Australia’s Robertson, who lost form earlier this season but had looked back to his best this week, led 5-4 and had chances in each of the last two frames, but couldn’t take them and instead home favourite Ding goes though to Sunday’s final to face Judd Trump. Crucible king in 2010 and one of the best players of the last two decades, Robertson could have rescued his top 16 status by winning the title this week, but now he will have to go through the qualifying rounds of the Cazoo World Championship for the first time since 2006.

That will not concern Ding as he looks ahead to a huge occasion against Trump in Yushan, with first to ten frames to take the trophy and £170,000 top prize. The world number nine is seeking his first ranking title since the 2019 UK Championship.

Ding himself has had poor spells of form in recent years, but this season has shown a higher level of consistency, and notably reached the final of the MrQ UK Championship, beating Trump 6-4 in the semi-finals before losing to Ronnie O’Sullivan. Victory tomorrow would prove that the 36-year-old is once again a contender for the biggest titles. And he can take confidence from this season’s defeat of Trump in York, as well as the fact that he won their last final, at the 2014 German Masters. Ding will be playing in his 23rd ranking final and looking for his 15th title.

Robertson may reflect that he has looked much sharper this week, having previously failed to reach a ranking event semi-final since the 2022 English Open. He still has next weekend’s World Mixed Doubles to play in, before heading to the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield, needing two wins to reach the Crucible. Today’s result also ends his hopes of playing in the Johnstone’s Paint Tour Championship – John Higgins hangs on to the 12th and last slot for that event in Manchester.

Breaks of 68 and 118 helped Robertson to an early 3-1 lead, before Ding fought back to lead 4-3 with top runs of 75 and 51. In frame eight, Robertson made a 55 clearance for 4-4, then he regained the lead with a 128, his eighth century of the tournament. 

In the ninth, he was among the balls on 36 when he missed an awkward red to a top corner, bridging over another ball, and Ding responded with 68 for 5-5. First chance in the decider came Robertson’s way, and he made 53 but was unlucky not to land on a red when nudging the cluster as he potted the pink. Ding clawed his way back to 56-44, and when his opponent made a safety error on the last red, he took the chance to clear before thumping the cushion with his fist in celebration. 

“I can’t feel my legs, there was so much pressure on me,” said Ding, who beat Kyren Wilson in the final of this event in 2017. “When I got the chance in the last frame, I thought I was going to win, but there was pressure on every shot. When I potted the pink I tried to enjoy the moment. 

“From the first match this week I have tried to stay calm and concentrate. I have played a few great matches, then today I didn’t play that well, but winning is always good. Judd is always consistent and he is confident of winning any tournament.“

Robertson wrote on X: “Tough one to take, especially battling on various fronts out there. Found the focus again at 3-4 down and played three brilliant frames but wasn’t meant to be, just a centimetre out here or there on match ball and couldn’t get through. Well done to Ding it was a great atmosphere. My game is in fantastic shape and I look forward to the rest of the season. Thanks everyone for all the support.”   

This was obviously a match where both players were under huge pressure, albeit for different reasons. Ding playing in China has always to cope with huge expectations. Neil Robertson was trying to avoid having to qualify for the Crucible. To make in even harder for both, the crowd was quite “lively”, noisy … phones were going off, cans of fizzy drinks were opened … all sorts. They were not hostile towards Neil though and applauded his good shots but it wasn’t ideal especially with what was at stakes. I have rarely seen Ding showing strong emotions after a win, but today he did… he punched the table with his fist really hard. It’s obvious that this victory meant a lot to him. I have no doubts that he will give it all, and more, tomorrow.

In other news… WST shared this lovely little video on social media… players, including Ronnie, visiting the World Billiards Museum