Judd Trump secured his spot in the final of the UK Championship with a 6-2 victory over Kyren Wilson, marking his first appearance in the final since 2020. The world number one capitalized on his opponent's errors to gain a measure of revenge for previous defeats in finals this season in Xian and Belfast. Although Trump's performance was not as dominant as his earlier match against Zhang Anda, it was sufficient to set him up for another chance at the prestigious trophy he won in 2011.
When asked if his recent high-profile losses had affected his mindset, Trump told BBC Sport: “You can’t go into the match thinking you’ve lost the last two times, because you’ve got no hope of winning.” He admitted to a slow start, saying, “I was thinking ‘Here I go again’. I think we both thought each other was there for the taking, so I just tried to play my own game and keep it tight.”
Trump appeared out of sorts in the early stages as Wilson, the world champion, took the first two frames, albeit not without errors. However, Trump narrowed the gap in frame three with a clever snooker and leveled the match at the mid-session interval with a break of 100 in frame four. Wilson then seemed vulnerable, losing the next two frames in scrappy exchanges, putting Trump 4-2 ahead.
A missed shot in the next frame allowed Trump to craft a break of 65, moving him one frame from victory. He sealed the win with his second century of the match, demonstrating clinical precision. Trump, who will face either Mark Allen or Barry Hawkins in Sunday’s final, defended his record in ‘triple crown’ events, stating, “I feel like my record in the triple crowns is actually pretty good. I’ve reached loads of finals and semi-finals, but the difference between winning and losing in a final is that you get forgotten about. That final game is so important, so it’s all about getting over the line.”
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