Saturday November 30th 2024
Judd Trump V Kyren Wilson 13:00
The World's top two meet this afternoon in what can only be described as a mouth-watering, heavyweight clash between two players at the peak of their powers at the moment.
The pair have already met this year in two ranking event finals with Wilson coming out on top in both the Xi'an Grand Prix and Northern Ireland Open. There's no doubt a rivalry is brewing.
In overall head-to head's, Trump leads but Wilson has had the better of recent meetings between the pair. In 6 Triple Crown meetings, Trump hold a 4-2 lead over Wilson.
To get to this stage, world number 1 Trump came through tight, cagey affairs with both Neil Robertson and John Higgins before blowing away Zhang Anda with 4 centuries in yesterday's quarter-final.
If re-producing that form today, it's hard to see Wilson stopping him from claiming a place in his 4th UK Championship final.
On the other hand, World Champion Kyren Wilson has only dropped 5 frames on his way to today's semi-final, he has been clinical in seeing off Stephen Maguire, Chris Wakelin and Michael Holt in pursuit of his first UK Championship title.
In a match that is very hard to call, we are in for a treat as the world's top two go head-to head with a winner very hard to call, I think Trump might squeeze through.
Prediction: 6-4 Trump
Barry Hawkins V Mark Allen 19:00
A top class clash awaits for the chance to play Judd Trump in tomorrow's final. Head-to-head in triple crown events favours Hawkins (3-1) with their latest meeting a 6-0 whitewash victory for the Hawk in Alexandra Palace in 2023.
To say the world number 20 has had a tough draw to make this stage is an understatement, he has had to come through against defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan, David Gilbert & Shaun Murphy.
He has looked composed throughout however and even after coming through the qualifiers, will fancy his chances of reaching his first UK Championship final. The 45 year-old has already booked his place in the masters after Christmas following his brilliant run this week.
Facing Hawkins is world number 3 Mark Allen, it's been a rollercoaster of emotions for the Northern Irishman so far this week. He was disappointed with his performance in the opening round against Jackson Page but played excellently in spells during his 2nd round against Wu Yize and last night's 6-3 victory over Jack Lisowski.
He is yet to put the complete performance together but may be peaking at the right time. The Hawk has been so impressive this week but it's hard to look past the 2022 champion Allen as he nears his best.
Prediction: 6-3 Allen
No comments:
Post a Comment