The stage is set for a thrilling contest in the inaugural Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters final on Saturday with top seed and tournament favorite Judd Trump taking on Mark Williams for the title live from the Green Halls, Riyadh.
On the penultimate day of this year’s Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters, billed as ‘The Battle on the Baize’, the two players reached the final after coming through sensational last four contests on Friday.
Snooker fans in attendance and millions more tuning in around the globe enjoyed a brace of classic semi-finals – starting with Trump versus Shaun Murphy, the 2005 world champion.
After Trump stormed into a 3-0 lead, Murphy closed the gap, taking the fourth frame with a 65 break before clinching the fifth on the final black ball. Trump twice regained a two-frame advantage thereafter, leading 4-2 and 5-3 before Murphy leveled the match at 5-5 to force a decider. In a hugely tense final frame where both had opportunities to take frame and match, Trump capitalized on an uncharacteristic Murphy miss on the last green to seal victory and reach a 46th ranking event final.
Reflecting on his classic contest with Murphy, Trump said: “That was a very tough semi-final. He fought back well and at one point looked like he would win. I let it slip away at times and when you miss those chances sometimes you get punished. I managed to get over the line in the end with a bit of drama and I’m looking forward to tomorrow. It will be a great occasion and a great final for the fans.”
Awaiting ‘The Ace in the Pack’ in Saturday’s Best-of-19 showpiece is Wales’ Mark Williams, who defeated Chinese wonderkid Si Jiahui. The world no.9 reeled off four successive frames after going one behind to the 22-year-old, leading 4-1 before eventually closing out the match 6-3. In another high-quality semi-final, Williams – who will appear in the 42nd ranking event final of his career – made four half-century breaks with his opponent knocking in breaks of 109 and 136.
The first ever Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters final takes place over two sessions on Saturday, starting from 2 pm and 8 pm, crowning the inaugural champion of snooker’s first international major in Riyadh.
For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit https://webook.com/en/snooker-masters-2024.
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