Player of the year so far Judd Trump defeated Shaun Murphy 6-4 at the Cazoo Champion of Champions after falling behind 3-1, ensuring he would win a fourth title in less than two months.

Trump is now chasing more hardware, even though Stephen Maguire ended his winning run at the International Championship after he lost three straight trophies at the English Open, Wuhan Open, and Northern Ireland Open.

The cueman from Bristol advances to face Barry Hawkins on Friday in the semi-finals held in Bolton.

Murphy won a superb group final, taking the first two frames with breaks of 107 and 67. Prior to Murphy taking the lead 3-1, Trump made a critical 73 clearance to take the third. Following the break, world No. 2 Trump rallied with victories of 84, 54, and 56 to take a 4-3 lead. Subsequently, in the crucial eighth game, he overcame a 67-1 deficit by getting the necessary snookers and winning 5-3.

Murphy took the ninth on the colors, but Trump ended the match with a 107 in the following round.

 

 

Earlier in the group semi-finals, Murphy defeated Gary Wilson 4-1 with a 107 while Trump defeated Baipat Siripaporn, the world women’s champion, 4-0 with a top run of 115.

View the complete global schedule of viewing locations here.

A restricted quantity of tickets, priced at £15 per session, are still accessible for purchase throughout the week.

READ MORE

HIGGINS BEATS DING WITH MASTERCLASS on November 15, 2023

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 13th red rattled in the jaws of a pocket.

Ding 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. In the other group match, Ding edged out International Championship winner Zhang Anda 4-3, despite being hauled back from 3-0 to 3-3.

ALLEN TO START DEFENCE ON OPENING DAY IN YORK

The lineup for the MrQ UK Championship in York has been announced. Mark Allen will start his title defense on Saturday, November 25, in the afternoon.

The York Barbican will host the tournament from November 25 to December 3. The top 16 seeds’ schedule has now been made public:

25 November, Saturday, 1pm
Qualifier versus Mark Allen
Williams Mark vs. qualifier

7 p.m.
Qualifier versus Kyren Wilson
Qualifier versus Tom Ford

November 26, Sunday, 1 p.m.
Qualifer versus Luca Brecel
Zhang Anda vs. the winner

7 p.m.
Qualifier versus Shaun Murphy
Qualifier versus Ali Carter

November 27, Monday, 1 p.m.
Trump v. qualifier in Judd
Qualifier versus Barry Hawkins

7 p.m.
Qualifier versus Mark Selby
Qualifier versus Jack Lisowski

Tuesday, Nov. 28 at 1:00 PM
Qualifier versus Ronnie O’Sullivan
Qualifier versus John Higgins