The opening semi-final of the 2021 Champion of Champions takes place in Bolton on Friday evening as two men who have come close to getting their hands on this trophy without doing so meet when Judd Trump faces Kyren Wilson.
There has been a bit of a rivalry forming between these two over the last few years so neither man will want to lose to the other and let them have their place in the final. We should be in for quite some evening of snooker.
Judd Trump
I don’t think anyone tuned into this tournament when it started who expected Judd Trump to fail in his mission to make it into this semi-final. I’m not saying he had an easy group but I don’t think it is being disrespectful to suggest it was the easiest of the sections on show. Even then, Trump made hard work of his first match against David Lilley. He came through 4-1 but he didn’t look overly convincing it has to be said.
On top of that, although he beat Ryan Day 6-0 in his group final, he only made one break over 70 and didn’t really have to work that hard for his chances. To say the Welshman never showed up for that match would be something of an understatement. I think Trump is going to need an improvement if he is going to come out on top in this semi-final but if you look at what went before this event, he wasn’t in the best form then so maybe he just isn’t quite firing on all cylinders.
Kyren Wilson
It was the second day of the tournament when Kyren Wilson entered proceedings. You only had to look at his section to know he was in the tougher section of these two semi-finalists. He might have got lucky with his first round draw against Jordan Brown, and to be fair although he won 4-2 you’d be pushing it to say Wilson played well in the match, although he could rightly argue that he made three 50 breaks in that contest.
If he was poor in the afternoon he was nothing of the sort in the evening when he took Neil Robertson out of the competition. Wilson beat the English Open champion 6-4 and smashed in three centuries and a 98 in the process in what was a high quality contest. I sensed Wilson was coming into form heading into this tournament and we saw him rise to the occasion on Tuesday. He will secretly fancy his chances of coming out on top in this match.
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Head to Head
These two men have met on 17 previous occasions and it might surprise some to know that while Trump leads, he is only ahead 9-8 and in frames that equates to a 73-71 advantage so he certainly hasn’t dominated their previous battles. He has however won their last four meetings if you include the best of three in the Pro Series earlier in the year. If not then it is 8-8 overall. The pair have met in just one previous semi-final which was a high profile one as it was at the 2018 Masters where Wilson won in a deciding frame. They have met over the best of 11 on five occasions and Wilson actually leads those matches 3-2. There isn’t much in history to separate these two though.
Betting
I’m already on Kyren Wilson at effectively 11/2 to win this match because I backed him outright and having really liked what I saw from him on Tuesday I’m not ready to let that outright bet go just yet. I think he wins this but clearly there is no need to back him again when I’m already on him to do just that. There is something about Trump which is concerning me at the minute. In all competitions this season Trump has played 21 matches and won 70 frames in those outings but only eight of them have been won with a century break. He usually scores much heavier than that.
Wilson has also played 21 matches this term but has only won 66 frames in those matches yet he has 15 centuries to his name, including three in his semi-final win. That says that the 13/10 on Wilson to make the highest break has plenty of legs to it. He is scoring centuries at effectively double the rate of his opponent and with fans back Trump is trying to entertain the crowds so the naughty snooker has returned which could deprive him of a few points at the end of a break. Wilson will look to clear the table at every opportunity so I’ll back him to have the highest break.
Tips
Back K.Wilson Highest Break for a 3/10 stake at 2.30 with William Hill
Back him here:
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