Group 1 Results
Group Semi-Finals
Judd Trump 4-1 David Lilley
33-54, 78-18, 72-18, 80-27 (72), 55-53
Stephen Maguire 2-4 Ryan Day
0-84 (80), 3-88 (73), 88-0 (88), 14-73, 72-19, 7-68
FINAL
Judd Trump 6-0 Ryan Day
116-1 (104), 67-18 (67), 79-0, 115-4 (68), 65-49, 61-9 (61)
Judd Trump is the first player into the semi-finals of the 2021 Cazoo Champion of Champions after beating Ryan Day in the Group 1 final 6-0 in Bolton.
Trump faced off against World Seniors Champion David Lilley in the opening encounter of the tournament, coming through a 4-1 victor.
The Ace in the Pack’s win set up an evening clash with Day, who had overcome Stephen Maguire 4-2 to book his place in the group final.
Day, the 2021 Snooker Shoot-Out champion, showed glimpses of magic against Maguire, but Trump never allowed a chance in their evening clash.
Trump opened the match with the first century of the tournament, delivering a clearance of 104. That lead was soon doubled after Trump composed a break of 67 to make it 2-0. Day never got going in the contest and it was Trump who continued to apply the heat going into the interval 4-0 up, after breaks of 68 and 47 in the fourth. Trump claimed the fifth when play resumed and then completed the whitewash with a break of 61
“You do not get many 6-0s against these top players. When I go 5-0 up, I always think this is too good to be true, something’s going to happen. To get through, it was very comfortable in the end. I will probably need to stay at that sort of level and standard if I am going to progress in the tournament,” said Trump.
“This is a really good event. You come here and know you play both games in one day. If you get through, you know you’re straight in the deep end. It’s nice to have a couple of days off, watch all the games and get some practice. It’ll be a special atmosphere for the semi-finals.
“You’re under a little pressure in the first game, you want to get through. It’s a short distance. You do not want to be going home early doors. It took me a little time to get used to the table conditions and once I got warmed up and tonight was a lot better.”
Trump will now play in the first semi-final on Friday against the winner of Group 4 which includes Neil Robertson, Mark Williams, Kyren Wilson, and Jordan Brown. He said: “This event is special. If you look down the winners, it’s always the big names and top players who have won this. Mark Allen produced an amazing standard in the last year. We’ve seen some great finals with Ronnie O’Sullivan and the one with me and Neil. It’s one to try and tick off the list. It would be a real special one for me.”
He was also pleased with this year’s Cazoo Champion of Champions attire with the exclusive performance fit polo shirts made by Onboard Sportswear: “I think that’s why I played so well tonight. I felt a lot more relaxed. I felt a lot freer. You’re not tied up in heavy clothing and stuff getting in the way and no bow tie getting in the way. This is more like the sort of thing we wear in practice. You’re a lot more relaxed and I think it comes out in the way I play.”
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