I will confess that I abandoned watching the first semi-final in Bolton yesterday at the MSI, not because I didn’t want to watch Judd – he was playing very well – but because at that point it looked like this would end on a 6-0 score without any opposition from Barry Hawkins. Barry looked totally out of sorts, his potting was not great, his safety game was poor and nothing worked for him. We have a two hours difference with the UK where I am, the day before I had stayed up very late, I was tired and … I simply had enough of it.

Of course, Barry played better and fought back as soon as I hit the sack… typical! 🙃

Anyway … here is the report shared on the event official website:

Judd Trump has eyes on second Champion of Champions title after beating Barry Hawkins 6-3

JUDD TRUMP was made to fight for his place in Sunday’s final of the Cazoo Champion of Champions after racing into a 5-0 lead.

Needing just one more frame in the best of 11 semi-final, Trump was pegged back by Barry Hawkins who won three straight frames of his own.

The Hawk was unable to maintain the revival, however, and Trump closed out the next to seal the match 6-3.

Trump is one win away from his second Champion of Champions title, and this year’s prize of £150,000. He will face the winner of Saturday’s semi-final between Mark Allen and John Higgins.

“I had to stay patient to get over the line,” said Trump. “It got a bit nervy after the interval but it was important to keep my head out there.

“There can be times when it gets tough, but if you have a two or three frame advantage you have to remember you are still the favourite. You forget what has gone before and take each frame one at a time.

“This is an event that suits me – the dress code, the format, everything plays into my hands and I feel relaxed in this event and at home with the format. I feel like it brings out the best in me.”

Sunday will be Trump’s fifth final of the season – and we are barely at the halfway point. It will also be his third consecutive Champion of Champions final.

It was safety first at the start of the match and it was nearly 20 minutes before the first red and colour combination was potted, by Trump. The frame was then determined by who capitalised on his opponent’s mistakes, and Trump edged it on the black.

The World Number 2 won the second frame with a break of 69 and went slightly better to win the third with a break of 71.

Hawkins’ safety play was below par, and he found himself 4-0 down at the break.

Ace in the Pack Trump almost landed the first century of the semi-final in the first frame after the break – missing when he was on 99, but he still moved to within one frame of victory. In the four frames that followed the opener, Hawk scored just 32 points in total.

The Hawk made him wait by finally winning a frame to make it 5-1, and he followed up by taking the next two.

Trump, the pre-tournament favourite, finally clipped The Hawk’s wings to close it out, but Hawkins still went home with a £30,000 prize.

… in other news …

I’m 100% with Jason on this…

And Nick Metcalfe’s reaction after watching Ronnie’s documentary

Yesterday Judd Trump became the fourth and last man to book his spot in the semi-finals in Bolton.

Here is the report shared on the event official website:

Judd Trump the Ace in the Pack as he beats Shaun Murphy in thriller to reach Cazoo Champion of Champions semi-finals

Judd Trump showed why he is known as the Ace in the Pack as he came from 2-0 and 3-1 down to beat Shaun Murphy 6-4 and book his place in the Cazoo Champion of Champions semi-finals.

The World Number 2 demonstrated why was the pre-tournament favourite, playing a positional shot in the seventh frame which he rated among his top three best ever shots, as he potted the yellow and opened up a red at the same time.

Trump had to fight for his win to set up a semi-final showdown with Barry Hawkins on Friday night, unlike his earlier Group 3 opener in which he brushed aside Baipat Siripaporn 4-0.

Murphy delivered an early masterclass as he raced into a 2-0 lead. After Trump hit the first break, The Magician potted a long red and took the frame with a break of 107.

It was more than 20 minutes before Trump potted his first ball, and Murphy took his chance again to win the second frame 90-5.

The best of 11 Group final was looking ominous until Murphy missed a straightforward red in the next frame which allowed Trump to pull one back with a clearance of 73. But Murphy won a safety battle to lead 3-1 at the break.

Trump showed why he was the man to beat as he won the next two frames to level the match. He then played some of the best positional snooker in the business – including that yellow – to come from behind and edge the frame to lead for the first time.

Trump went from strength to strength and came back in the next frame from needing snookers to win it on the black and move to within one frame of victory.

This was the most exciting of the four Group finals and Murphy refused to give up, and he came from behind to win the ninth frame and reduce Trump’s lead to 5-4.

That was the end of the fightback, however, as Trump booked his fifth successive Champion of Champions final with a closing 107 break.

“I didn’t feel great out there, I felt a bit nervy, a bit rusty, but I managed to produce some good clearances and just dig in and turn it around,” said Trump. “I have played a few good shots in my time but in terms of position, that yellow is in the top three, but I will let everyone judge it on social media.

“When they go in, it gives you the inspiration to go on and do well in the tournament.”

Trump had safely negotiated the potential banana skin of facing Thailand’s rank outsider Siripaporn earlier in the day.

It was always going to be a tough ask for the women’s World Champion, in her first year on the world tour, facing the man with three ranking tournaments under his belt.

Although she made some impressive pots, it was a routine 4-0 win for 2021 Champion of Champion Trump, whose highlight was closing the match with a final frame break of 115.

The other Group match was not as close as predicted, as Murphy made the most of some mistakes from Tyneside Terror Gary Wilson to ease through 4-1 in the best of seven format.

Murphy also closed out the match with a century, notching a 107 break in the fifth frame.

The winner of the Trump-Hawkins semi-final will face either Mark Allen or John Higgins in Sunday’s final, as they meet in the other semi on Saturday night.

There is no doubt that Judd has evolved a lot both as a player and a person over the last years. There was a time when he came across as pretty arrogant, in my eyes at least, would complain about bad luck whenever he lost, and go for stupid shots when things weren’t going his way: in short … the typical spoiled brat attitude. He was only young and supremely talented which can be a bad combination at times! He has matured a lot … and well, like a fine wine. He now has the complete game, without losing his attacking nous. He’s a lot more considerate when talking about his rivals and “bad luck” quotes are a thing of the past.

As for Shaun Murphy … there were shot choices yesterday making me wonder about his thought process.

In other news…

The 2023 IBSF Championships are still underway in Doha, Qatar. This time, I didn’t find the usual website, with all the draws and results as well as the videos. Yes, it’s presentation was outdated and rather ugly, but it had everything.

However you will find some articles and news here.

There are also results and news to be found on their Facebook page

Check videos – including live streaming – and results on Dariuz Goral YouTube channel

(Big thanks to Lewis for reminding me this one!)

And the most extraordinary news came from Facebook where Peter Williams shared that yesterday afternoon, Ray Reardon, aged 91, made a 100 break on the “tight table” in his club!

It was John Higgins who emerged the winner on day 3 in Bolton and here is the report shared on the event official website:

Heroic Higgins books place in Cazoo Champion of Champions semi-finals with win over Ding Junhui

JOHN HIGGINS produced the best snooker of the Cazoo Champion of Champions so far to storm into the semi-finals.

The Wizard of Wishaw swept aside Ding Junhui 6-1 in the Group 1 final at Bolton’s Toughsheet Stadium, to set up a tournament semi-final against Mark Allen on Saturday night.

The snooker was of the highest quality and Higgins had the crowd buzzing in the opening frame as he edged towards a maximum 147 break.

At 48-years-old, he would have been the oldest man in snooker history to make a maximum, but his bid came undone when he was on 96 and the 13^th red rattled in the jaws of a pocket.

Ding, nicknamed Enter The Dragon, hit back immediately with a 106 break to level the match, before Higgins regained the lead with a break of 83.

Higgins, who has been a professional for 31 years, didn’t look back after that as he reeled off the next four frames with breaks of 80 or higher to book his third Champion of Champions semi-final appearance.

Higgins, who lost only one frame all day, said: “I felt good out there today and I really enjoyed it. It’s a brilliant venue and I can’t wait to come back on Saturday.

“Me and Mark always have great matches. Last time he pipped me 9-8 in the Northern Ireland final so maybe I owe him one back. I can’t wait to play him.”

Higgins was firing on all cylinders from Wednesday’s first break, beating Chris Wakelin 4-0 in the Group 1 opener as he opened with a 70 and never looked back.

Wakelin, who had not beaten Higgins in three attempts, looked out-of-sorts in his first appearance at the Champion of Champions, and never recovered from missing an important pink in the second frame.

The other best of seven frames Group match was the battle of the two Chinese stars, with man of the moment, Zhang Anda, looking to book a clash against his idol, Scotsman Higgins.

Arriving on the back of his weekend International Championship victory, he fought back brilliantly from 3-0 down to level against Ding – who was a last-minute replacement for Ronnie O’Sullivan.

However, he was finally beaten in a thrilling decider on the final black.

This report doesn’t do justice to one of the best, and most extraordinary best of 7 match you can ever see. Indeed the match between Zhang Anda and Ding Junhui delivered huge drama and, in particular, one absolutely superb clearance by Zhang Anda.

Here it is, shared by Matchroom Multisport on their YouTube Channel:

There was a huge crowd in attendance, likely attracted by the prospect to watch Ronnie. The fans were served an absolute treat and showed their appreciation with a standing ovation and the end of the match. Both players were chased for autographs. They deserved it! Zhang could have suffered a “hang-over” after winning his first ranking tittle, Ding had to fly from China at the very last moment. All credits to them both.

Alan McManus and Neal Foulds were lost for words in the studio after the match.

Yes, Higgins won the group, playing very well, but Ding was probably very tired in that match, after the thrill of the afternoon and the long last minute trip. Zhang also had traveled late after his triumph in Tianjin. What the Chinese lads produced was something very special. Congratulations to them.

WST has now published the draws and formats for the 2023 UK Championship, both qualifiers and main event:

Allen To Start Defence On Opening Day In York

The draw for the MrQ UK Championship in York has been made, with Mark Allen to begin the defence of his title on the opening afternoon on Saturday November 25.

The tournament runs from November 25 to December 3 at the York Barbican. The schedule for top 16 seeds has now been announced:

Saturday November 25
1pm
Mark Allen v qualifier
Mark Williams v qualifier

7pm
Kyren Wilson v qualifier
Tom Ford v qualifier

Sunday November 26
1pm
Luca Brecel v qualifier
Zhang Anda v qualifier

7pm
Shaun Murphy v qualifier
Ali Carter v qualifier

Monday November 27
1pm
Judd Trump v qualifier
Barry Hawkins v qualifier

7pm
Mark Selby v qualifier
Jack Lisowski v qualifier

Tuesday November 28
1pm
Ronnie O’Sullivan v qualifier
John Higgins v qualifier

7pm
Neil Robertson v qualifier
Robert Milkins v qualifier

CLICK HERE FOR THE FINAL STAGES DRAW

CLICK HERE FOR THE FINAL STAGES FORMAT

…

Northern Ireland’s Allen beat Ding Junhui 10-7 in the final at the Barbican last year to win the title for the first time. This year’s event promises to be a classic, with many all-time greats in the field as well as in-form Zhang Anda and Tom Ford who have leapt into the top 16 for the first time.

The 16 seeds will be joined by 16 players who come through the qualifying rounds in Leicester, which run from November 18 to 23. Star names among the 128 players heading for the qualifiers include three-time UK Champion Ding, Stephen Maguire, Stuart Bingham, Hossein Vafaei, Ryan Day, Si Jiahui, Jimmy White and Ken Doherty.

CLICK HERE FOR THE QUALIFIERS DRAW

CLICK HERE FOR THE QUALIFIERS FORMAT

…

Or watch the drama unfold during all six days of the qualifying rounds, from November 18th to 23rd, live on discovery+ or the Eurosport App (depending on your location), as well as the last four days on WST’s Facebook and YouTube channels.

The last two days of the qualifying event, on November 22nd and 23rd, will be ‘Judgement Day’ as players battle for coveted places in the final stages. The random draw for the final stages will be made on Thursday 23^rd.

First of all, I’m glad to see Ronnie’s name in the draw. I wasn’t sure he would enter it but of course this is one of the “triple crown” events in a city he likes and that surely helps.

Next, this is a format I like. The lowest ranked players are not immediately facing a top player and get more winnable matches to start with. Of course, they have to win more matches to get to the venue, but they have the opportunity to get some useful experience, ranking points and money before facing the big boys. Also, it’s longer matches, which allows more time to settle.

Yesterday Barry Hawkins booked his lace in the semi-finals with a convincing display.

Here is the report shared on the event official website:

DOMINANT DAY FOR BARRY HAWKINS WHO SOARS INTO CAZOO CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS SEMI-FINALS

BARRY HAWKINS blew away the opposition on Tuesday as he stormed into his first Cazoo Champion of Champions semi-final.

“The Hawk” followed up his 4-0 victory over World Champion Luca Brecel in the afternoon Group 2 opener by soaring past Robert Milkins 6-2 in the evening.

Hawkins was too clinical for “The Milkman”, who had pulled of a shock in the afternoon with a solid 4-2 triumph over veteran Mark Williams.

Victory for Hawkins, 44, in the best of 11 tie set up a possible semi showdown with Judd Trump on Friday, assuming the tournament favourite comes through Group 3 on Thursday.

“I’m delighted to get through that group because all the groups here are tough with tournament winners,” said Hawkins. “I know Judd is the man of the moment and probably favourite to get through, but they are all great players in the other group. It’s a short format in the first match so it could be anyone who gets through.

“I’m playing again on Friday, and I am sticking around because it is too far for me to go home and travel back on Thursday, ready to play Friday. I’ll get some practice here and there and just chill.”

After scoring two centuries on his way to the Group final, Hawkins didn’t have it all his own way as he had to come back from needing two snookers to take the opening frame 56-52, but he never looked back as he took the next three frames to lead 4-0 at the interval.

Hawkins lost his first frame of the day when the players returned, but claimed the next, before Milkins pulled another one back with a break of 81. The fightback ended there, however, as his in-form opponent won the next frame to wrap up victory.

Earlier in the day it was a miserable fifth appearance in this tournament for “Belgian Bullet” Brecel as Hawkins opened and closed their match by breaking through the ton barrier.

He won the opening frame with a break of 128, and the fourth with a break of 108 in the best of seven tie.

The other semi-final was a war of attrition as Milkins won the first and third frames against Williams but was pegged back each time, before pulling away from “The Welsh Potting Machine”.

Wednesday’s Group 1 action at Bolton’s Toughsheet Stadium will take place without Ronnie O’Sullivan, after “The Rocket” withdrew from the tournament on Tuesday morning and was replaced by China’s Ding Junhui.

The group contains another Chinese star and snooker’s man of the moment, Zhang Anda, fresh from his weekend triumph in the International Championship.

Luca Brecel was utterly awful yesterday, as he has been since the start of the season … when he actually played. It’s been the pattern ever since I’ve known him as a junior. Every time he has a huge success, he goes walkabout… Disappointing but unsurprising.

Milkins played well in beating Willo, but was poor, really poor, against Hawkins before the MSI. He had lost the lengthy first frame, when really he should have won it, and that appeared to affect him. His body language was negative and his concentration had gone. He improved after the interval but he had left himself too much to do.

Here is the report as shared on the event website:

MARK ALLEN MARCHES INTO CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS SEMI-FINALS

MARK ALLEN booked his place in the Champion of Champions semi-finals with a 6-2 victory over Ali Carter on Monday evening.

The Northern Irishman followed up his 4-1 win over Jimmy White in the afternoon to progress from Group 4 in the tournament at Bolton’s Toughsheet Community Stadium.

Allen, 37, raced into a 3-0 lead over Carter with the help of century breaks in the first and third frames – opening with a break of 135 in less than 10 minutes.

The second frame was much tighter, before the colours fell kindly for Allen to clean up and he ran out winner by 71-42. A break of 104 then sealed the third frame.

Carter found his rhythm in frame four as two confident breaks helped him to a 112-4 win, but a crisp 70 break in the fifth frame restored Allen’s three-frame cushion. He moved to within one frame of victory when he took the next 71-36.

Allen, the 2022 UK Champion and World Grand Prix winner, had to wait for victory as Carter won the seventh frame with a brilliant 143 clearance. It was the best of the day and the 397^th century of his career.

Allen crossed the finish line when he took the next frame with a comfortable 98-5 win.

“I feel like I’ve turned a corner, but I am still not where I want to be,” said Allen. “It would be nice to win a tournament when playing well, and I am getting closer.

“I’ve been working hard on the mental side of my game and I have improved. I am more controlled now.”

Allen was flying home on Saturday morning to rest and will play the winner of Group 1, which includes defending champion Ronnie O’Sullivan, on Saturday.

In the afternoon’s best of seven frame matches, the curtain raiser saw Allen beat White in the battle of the left-handers.

The opening frame saw White bounce back from five “fouls and misses” on the same red after being snookered. The duo were tied on 58 points when “The Whirlwind” won it with a great pot of the black.

Veteran White, a 500-1 outsider, struggled with the speed of the table and that was to be his only highlight as Allen ran away with it, winning the second frame with a break of 76 and the third with a break of 84, before edging a tight fourth frame 62-45.

By then, “The Pistol” Allen was firing on all cylinders and finished the job with a break of 108 to clinch victory.

In the other Group match Carter, 44, from Essex, was appearing in this tournament for the first time since 2016, having qualified by winning the German Masters. He pulled of something of a surprise in when he beat Mark Selby 4-3.

Carter took the opening frame 75-34, and “The Captain” was in control of the second before missing a straightforward pink into the middle, allowing Selby to level with a narrow win of 65-56.

There was no joking around from “The Jester” as Selby took a 2-1 lead thanks to a break which ended just short of a century when he missed a difficult yellow.

An early foul in frame four when Selby potted the cueball allowed Carter to build a 48 break, and then return to win the frame with a second break of 76 which cleared the table and levelled the tie.

It was then Carter’s turn to pot the cueball when he was 35-0 ahead and Selby stepped up to take the frame 87-35 and lead 3-2.

Carter ensured the match went to a deciding frame when he won the sixth with the first ton of the tie, clocking up an impressive 121. He then clinched victory by taking the final frame 83-47.

Tomorrow sees world champion Luca Brecel take on European Masters winner Barry Hawkins before British Open winner Mark Williams faces Welsh Open champion Robert Milkins live on ITV4 in the UK.

Nothing much to add really. Allen played well all day, Carter and Selby served the fans an excellent match. The arena looks really great.

The T-shirts divided the fans, some find them terrible, others find them nice … me, I think they’re OK.

… and Ronnie has decided to withdraw from the event …

Not really surprised either … with a possible disciplinary hearing coming over comments he made, he won’t be in the best of mindset, and, maybe, resting his elbow ahead of the UK Championship isn’t such a bad idea.