Wilson advances to face Trump in UK Championship semi-final
World champion Kyren Wilson beat Michael Holt 6-3 to set up a mouthwatering UK Championship semi-final meeting with world number one Judd Trump at the Barbican in York.
With Trump having earlier produced a sublime display of attacking snooker to defeat Zhang Anda 6-2, it means that the current top two ranked players on the globe will renew a growing rivalry on Saturday afternoon.
Both have already won two titles this season, with both of Wilson's – the Xi'an Grand Prix and last month's Northern Ireland open – coming at the expense of Trump.
"It does not get better than world number one and two going at it," said Wilson.
"I'm miles off in terms in points but in terms of results and titles and consistency we are both right up there. It has been a good battle and he's brought the best out in me recently. He's the world number one for a reason and he will want to prove a point."
Trump will also relish the encounter as he added: "It is important that new rivalries come through and flourish. It's great for snooker. It's a bit of a shame that we could not meet in the final but it was just the way the seedings went."
Wilson made breaks of 52 and 72 to establish a 3-0 lead against Holt, however, his win was far from plain sailing against a gutsy opponent who was playing in his first quarter-final at the event since 1999.
World number 98 Holt knocked in a break of 64 on his way to taking the fourth frame and then fought back to get within a frame after trailing 4-1.
With the momentum of the match seemingly swaying towards the underdog, Wilson constructed a timely 67 and potted 12 reds and 11 blacks in a maximum attempt that ended on 89 as he secured his win.
Meanwhile, Barry Hawkins made five half centuries as he wrapped up a comfortable 6-2 victory over Shaun Murphy and will now play Mark Allen, who defeated Jack Lisowski 6-3.
Has Trump installed himself as favourite?
Trump, whose only title in this Triple Crown event came in 2011, opened up with an 89 break to win the first frame in less than 10 minutes.
He continued in the same vein with exhilarating breaks of 126, 120 and 131 in a rampant performance to lead 4-0 at the mid-session interval.
Having reached 527 points without reply in the fifth frame, Trump looked on course to eclipse Ronnie O'Sullivan's record of 556, set in 2014 against Ricky Walden, before missing a red to the right corner on 61.
Zhang exuberantly celebrated finally potting a ball but Trump still won the frame and, although his opponent took the next two, the Englishman then sealed victory with his fourth century of the match.
And having played down suggestions he is the favourite to win this year's event, Trump's performance against Zhang only underlined that he is the man to beat.
Zhang's opportunities to score in the first four frames were restricted to just two attempts at difficult long pots, while his opponent, who has won 29 ranking events, did not look like he was going to miss a shot in an almost flawless five-frame stretch.
"It felt a lot better than yesterday and the day before," Trump told BBC Sport.
"The first frame is so important for me if I can get in and get into a rhythm and he left me a quite easy chance. I knew my form wasn't far away and maybe I've been too cagey.
"I was more relaxed. As soon as the first frame goes like that I won't turn anything down. I'm always disappointed to miss a ball. To go 5-0, I was very disappointed with that. One thing I pride myself on is not to miss for a long period of time."
Hawkins' resurgence continues
Hawkins made five half centuries as he wrapped up a comfortable 6-2 victory over Murphy.
The world number 20, who had to come through two qualifying matches to reach the televised stages, had already defeated reigning champion O'Sullivan and David Gilbert, and was in impressive form as he reached only his second ever semi-final at the tournament.
While Murphy knocked in breaks of 108 and 92 to draw level from 2-0 down, Hawkins accelerated clear after the interval and scored 162 unanswered points to win the final two frames.
While Trump always exudes confidence in his own abilities given his winning record, Hawkins has always appeared less self-assured.
The 45-year-old is yet to land one of snooker's Triple Crown events despite repeatedly reaching the later stages on numerous occasions - including one world final and two Masters finals.
But he appears to be enjoying a resurgence after slipping down the rankings from a spot in the coveted top 16.
"After beating Ronnie [O’Sullivan] in the first round why should I worry about playing anybody?" said Hawkins.
"It is probably the best I have felt for a very long time. When the curtain went up I felt that if I got a chance I would take it."
