Trump Into Champion Of Champions Final
Judd Trump reached the final of the Cazoo Champion of Champions by beating Mark Selby 6-3 at the University of Bolton Stadium.
In the first meeting between the pair in a ranking event since 2019, it promised to be an enthralling night in Bolton. Trump took the first frame with relative ease, making 89 to leave Selby in his chair. Selby came back to take the second though and restored parity at 1-1.
Trump’s took the third to regain the lead, before heading into the interval with a two frame cushion after a smart break of 74 made it 3-1. Some real quality was shown from both at the restart, as Selby found his groove to make 66 to trail by one.
The sixth frame was full of everything the fans in Bolton had come to expect of the contest with precision safety play from both on show with the yellow subject to plenty of table miles in the process. Selby did edge it though, to level back at 3-3.
A beautiful splitting of the pack from defending champion Trump in the seventh opened up the table for a break of 83 which saw him edge ahead. The best was still to come from Trump who would be sending the crowd home happy with a break of 114 to green moving him one away from the final. He then claimed the ninth frame to get over the line a 6-3 victory.
“It was a tricky game. It always is against Mark. At times, I managed to get a good lead at 3-1 but after the interval, I played a bad shot and I let him in straight away. He was able to dictate the game from then and then he fluked the ball at 3-2. Against the best, it’s always best to keep a two frame cushion, you feel a little more comfortable. It was important for me to get the balls open, the frames were starting to go slow. I felt I had to start to dictate play and break the balls up (the seventh frame),” said Trump.
I will look forward to another amazing final. This is a tournament I love playing in. I love coming here. The atmosphere is always brilliant. The crowd is brilliant. It’s nice to be involved in the final again.”
Tomorrow’s semi-final sees Ronnie O’Sullivan meet Fan Zhengyi for the chance to play in Trump in Sunday’s best of 19 final. Action tomorrow is live on ITV3 from 6:45 pm. Watch on DAZN in the USA, Canada, Brazil, Spain, and Italy as well as on Viaplay in Scandinavia and the Baltics and Matchroom.Live if you are in a country without a broadcaster. See the full list of where to watch here.
Please note – tomorrow’s coverage in the UK will be on ITV3.