We know that Kyren Wilson is in the final of the Players Championship on Sunday and on Saturday evening his opponent will be revealed when the world number one Judd Trump faces John Higgins in the second semi-final in Telford.
These two men already know that they will skip the first round of the Tour Championship at the end of the month so the focus for both is winning the tournament and adding to their growing collection of silverware this term.
Judd Trump
It was hard to make out how well Judd Trump was playing at the opening point of this tournament. He looked in good touch since the UK Championship which he won but he was finding someone too good or was just slightly below his best and was found out and that was the case in Hong Kong as well where he was seen off by Stuart Bingham in the semi-final. He eased past Lei Peifan in the first round here but then demolished Shaun Murphy in the quarter final.
I think it is only right for it to be pointed out that Murphy was nothing like the player who won The Masters in that match but that wasn’t anything Trump had to worry about. He had to beat what was in front of him and he did it with the minimum of fuss. That will have given him confidence but I do think that if he is going to go on and claim the title he will need to improve from that showing overall. He clearly has that in him though.
John Higgins
It is nothing new to see John Higgins at this stage of a tournament and the fact that he recently won an event will give him the confidence and the belief that he deserves to be back here and you would imagine he will give a very good account of himself as a result of that. The Scot looks to be hitting form at just the right time, not just for his World Open win and this week, but with an eye no doubt already on the Tour Championship and the World Championship where he will be a contender at both.
Higgins hasn’t flowed like we know he can this week. He has been involved in a couple of battles and had to come through a pair of deciding frames to take his place in this semi-final. That means he is battle-hardened but it is also an indication that he hasn’t been at his best so far. He has been the favourite for both of those matches though and he certainly isn’t here. Higgins might feel an air of playing with the house money here too given that he was 5-2 down in the quarter final so it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Scottish legend suddenly produced his best here.
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Head-to-head
These two men are certainly no strangers to facing off against each other. They have done so on 34 previous occasions and it is Judd Trump who holds a 19-15 lead in those battles. He has a much more emphatic lead in the frame count though where his advantage is 191-155. Trump is on a run of having won the last five meetings between these two and he has also won their only previous match at this tournament. Trump also has a 7-3 lead in the 10 matches they have played over the best of 11 frames, winning the last seven. Trump is also 5-2 up in their past semi-finals too so history is firmly on the side of the world number one.
Betting
The general feeling going into this semi-final is that John Higgins is waiting to be put out of his misery and while that might turn out to be the case, I can’t ignore the fact that already this month he has won a tournament, beat Ali Carter and Kyren Wilson at the World Grand Prix and come through against two competent opponents here. I don’t think Higgins wins this but as an outsider with little to lose given all he has secured for the remainder of 2025 in the last few weeks, I think Higgins will put up a challenge.
On the flip side of that, while Judd Trump has cruised through to this semi-final, I’m not convinced he has been as good as the scores have suggested. He only made two frame winning breaks in the six frames he won against a Shaun Murphy who just didn’t show up for their quarter final on Thursday evening. I still think Trump is the likely winner here but I think he is going to get drawn into a battle. The last four matches between these two over this distance have ended 6-4 or 6-5, including their clash at the UK Championship in December. That is the score I think this ends too.
Tips
Back Over 9.5 frames for a 3/10 stake at 2.20 with Betfair
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