Trump through to UK Championship quarters with ‘edgy’ win

Judd Trump, the world’s number one, defeated Si Jiahui 6-3 to advance to the quarter-finals of the UK Championship in York.

On his way to a 4-1 lead, the Englishman crafted a top break of 117 and pinched the fourth frame to the black with a break of 65.

Si, who reached the 2023 World Championship semi-finals, rallied with runs of 61 and 58 to regain 4-3.

Trump, who hasn’t won any silverware in 2025, made the most of an eighth frame’s shoddy editing and secured his position with a judicious 50 break the following.

In the final eight, Scott Donaldson of Scotland or Si’s Chinese compatriot Ding Junhui will face off.

It was very edgy, I thought. Trump told BBC Sport, “I don’t quite believe that,” at the moment.

“I was initially confident. There were a few bad shots at 4-1, and I started to feel a little hesitant and trying to find some trouble afterward because I wasn’t winning.

With that cue, I feel good. The arrangement was flawless. They don’t go in if you’re a little off. “

Trump is confident that he can return to his best form in order to find a winning style of snooker.

I don’t feel a lot of it, I say. He said, “I have no expectations for me.” I have a feeling of confidence that things have been going well over the past few tournaments.

With a 6-2 victory over Zhou Yuelong, Mark Selby continued his quest for a third UK crown and highlighted his position as one of the favorites in the auditorium.

Wu, from China, broke 62 with a first frame against Robertson.

However, as the Australians took control, it was mostly one-way traffic.

Robertson, 43, who has previously won the UK title three times, drew breaks of 51, 65, 75, and 68 as he reeled off the next five frames.

Wu, who won the International Championship last month, appeared to struggle with the table conditions throughout, with Robertson overcoming a 48-point deficit to win the seventh frame and seal his victory.

Robertson has appeared revived in recent years despite initially falling to 28th in the world in 2023 and 2024 after a terrible run of form.

He is currently at the top of the snooker one-year list for prize money, having previously won the lucrative Saudi Arabia Masters earlier this year, and he is now third overall in the world rankings.

Robertson claims that tighter pockets have fostered a fairer test and are more in line with his first ten years as a professional despite the complaints of several players about the table.

Robertson said on BBC Two, “I believe there have been much more events with much bigger pockets over the past ten years.”

You have a group of players who are great even in those pockets and a group who aren’t great in those pockets, the statement reads. Many of the mistakes I saw in my first ten years as a professional have now come to mind.

“There are too many matches where three or four people go on to win, and you wonder whether they actually reached that level of quality?” ‘.

Selby has solid credentials. Nobody would be surprised to see him win the trophy on Sunday because he won the World Championship and the Masters with multiple titles at this competition.

He opened with a 73 before being forced to concentrate and dig deep.

Due to the low expectations that the 27-year-old Zhou had for the game, he checked out of his hotel before winning in the last 32 match against Ronnie O’Sullivan.

Although it was difficult to get a repeat of Zhou’s 132 runs to put a 2-1 lead on the night, Zhou delivered the highlight of the evening.

Selby stayed at 2-2 after 62 minutes and 50 seconds without even potting a ball.

The Leicester man then seized complete control.

After a protracted fifth frame that lasted more than 53 minutes, he jokingly glanced at his watch before allowing 71, 75, and 56 runs to set up a last-eight meeting with Barry Hawkins or Elliot Slessor.

“I was over the moon at 2-2.” I felt like I had some decent playing and control of the game after the score of 3-2, “Selby said.

Zhou may decide to leave York this time, but Pang, his Chinese compatriot, is still on the lookout.

Pang, who had only met Welshman Williams once before, lost 6-1 to him, who had a standing ovation after posting a superb 116-point break to cap off his victory.

The 25-year-old Chinese won the final three frames after the players split the opening two.

Williams, who had two centuries, managed to rally briefly to win 4-3, but the 50-year-old unintentionally knocked in a red while potting the pink, which gave his opponent the lead in the subsequent frame, and was then punished for missing a long red in the ninth frame.

I played pretty poorly, I guess. I either play well or I’m terrible, Williams said.