UK Championship snooker LIVE: Score and updates as Judd Trump in tense battle with John Higgins
World No 1 Trump takes on four-time world champion Higgins with a place in the quarter-finals at the Barbican Centre in York on the line
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Your support makes all the difference.Judd Trump and John Higgins, two of snooker’s biggest stars, face off this afternoon in an intriguing last-16 clash at the UK Championship in York.
Trump, who beat Neil Robertson 6-3 in the first round, is currently world No 1 after winning a remarkable seven tournaments in the past 15 months but is keen to add more major titles to his CV as he tries to win the UK Championship at the Barbican Centre for just the second time, after his 2011 success.
Higgins – who downed He Guoqiang 6-0 in the previous round – is a four-time world champion and three-time UK champion, although it is now almost four years since he last won a ranking event by triumphing at the Players Championship in February 2021. The 49-year-old is one of the greatest snooker players of all time but has a surprisingly appalling recent record at the UK Championship, with three quarter-final losses in the past 14 years his best returns.
The 35-year-old Trump also has the veteran Scot’s number in their recent head-to-head match-ups, winning 10 of the last 11 matches between the pair – starting with an 18-9 victory in the 2019 World Championship final. But writing Higgins off is never a wise move.
Follow all the action from the last-16 clash in our blog below:
Judd Trump 3-2 John Higgins
Frame six begins with John Higgins taking on a long red and missing, leaving Trump an easy red and the chance to get motoring once more.
FRAME TRUMP! Judd Trump 3-2 John Higgins
Tidy so far from Trump, which most of the play today hasn’t been. In his first-round amtch with Neil Robertson, he stepped it up after the mid-session interval - maybe the same again?
He cruises past 50 and is well on his way to winning this frame. And there it is, he moves beyond the snookers required stage and this has been very impressive.
He goes on to make the century, completing a total clearance of 111 and leads 3-2.
Judd Trump 2-2 John Higgins
That sums up this match, really. Higgins misses a red to right middle with the score on just 19. A real missed opportunity.
Trump’s chance now as he strokes in a mid-range red to get things started. He brings a few reds into the open as he pots the first black - nice shot. He quickly surpasses Higgins’s score and this is a very good chance for the world No 1.
Judd Trump 2-2 John Higgins
We’re back after the mid-session interval and underway in frame five. Higgins in first and for once, the reds are nicely clustered in the centre of the table, potentially allowing him to build a decent break. The current highest form either man today is 39.
FRAME HIGGINS! Judd Trump 2-2 John Higgins
Higgins leaves himself a chance at the final red down the left cushion. A smelly shot though... But he’s got it! Rattles both jaws and goes in - gutsy, gutsy pot that.
Surely there are no issues clearing up the colours? They are all pretty well located. And indeed, the four-time world champion makes no mistake!
A break of 40 to clear the table and John Higgins wins frame four to ensure we’re all square at 2-2 at the mid-session interval!
Judd Trump 2-1 John Higgins
Trump back in and he’ll want to finish the frame off at this visit. Tidies up the reds in the middle of the table and he just needs one of the two tricky reds, currently on cushions, to move to a snookers required stage.
But he’s missed the brown, focussing too much on position for the final red. Trump 52-27 ahead but Higgins still in this frame.
Judd Trump 2-1 John Higgins
Trump working mostly with the pink but once he passes 20, he opts to get the black off the bottom cushion with a pot to the right corner. He immediately runs out of positoon though and is left with a tough cut ona red along the bottom cushion - good pot! Although the cue ball runs up to the baulk end of the table.
And the break comes to an end on 30 when the white runs loose and there’s no pot on a red available. Five reds left, all near either side cushion, and Trump leads 38-27.
Judd Trump 2-1 John Higgins
Not a huge surprise, Higgins breaks down once he reaches 27 as he misses a black to the right corner. Trump right in among the balls and there’s plenty of points waiting for him here. He can really put his stamp on the match with a big contribution here. 34 is currently the high breka by either player in this match.
Judd Trump 2-1 John Higgins
Higgins gets in first in frame four. The reds are spread at the business end of the table but a lot of them are blocking each other, meaning it’s not the easiest situation to make a big break.
Neither player has managed to really string together three or four good positioonal shots in a row in this match. Higgins’s break moves to 20 but he finds himself having to pull out increasingly tricky pots. He’s still going with this break for the time being though.
FRAME TRUMP! Judd Trump 2-1 John Higgins
Higgins pulls out a pot on the brown and then the blue. Just pink and black to win the frame but he misses the pink! It’s not an easy pot, with the rest but he leaves the ball in the jaws and it’s simple for Trump.
Judd Trump wins another 40-minute frame to lead 2-1. A lot of work done by Higgins there for no reward.
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