Judd Trump rattled off six straight frames to beat Kieron Wilson 6-2 and book a place in the UK Championship final for the first time since 2020. The world No. 1 capitalized on the mistakes of his underachieving opponent to gain some revenge for defeats in the finals in Xi’an and Belfast this season.
While Trump has produced nothing like the form he showed when he displaced Gian Anda in the last eightthis proved to be more than enough to line him up for another attempt at the prestigious trophy he lifted in 2011.
Asked if the recent big losses were on his mind, Trump told BBC Sport: “You can’t think you’ve lost the last two times because you have no hope of winning. It was a bit of a rough start and I thought, ‘Here I go again.’ We both thought each other was there for the taking, so I just tried to play my own game and keep it tight.”
It was Trump who looked out of sorts in the early exchanges as Wilson, the world champion, made a steadier start, taking the first two frames in far from flawless fashion.
The mistakes continued in frame three when some clever snooker allowed Trump to reduce the deficit and a break of 100 in frame four leveled him at the interval.
Suddenly it was Wilson who looked vulnerable and he came out on the wrong end of sharp exchanges in the next two frames to leave Trump in command at 4-2 ahead.
A slip in the next gave Trump the chance to break from 65 and move one frame away from victory and he finished the job in clinical fashion with his second century of the competition to cross the line.
“I feel like my Triple Crown record is pretty good,” Trump insisted. “I’ve been to a lot of finals and semi-finals, but the difference between winning and losing a final is that they forget. This final game is so important so it’s all about getting over the line.”
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In the final, Trump will face Barry Hawkins. Hawkins beat Mark Allen 6-5 in a grueling early morning final. The pair were locked at 5-5 at 12.45am on Sunday morning, engaging in a race to safety as fans struggled to keep their eyes open. Hawkins fought his way back from 4-2 down to take the final frame after both players had chances to reach the final.