UK Championship results: Judd Trump beats Si Jiahui to reach last eight

World number one Judd Trump earned an «edgy» 6-3 victory over Si Jiahui to move into the quarter-finals of the UK Championship in York.

The Englishman crafted a top break of 117 and pinched the fourth frame on the black with a break of 65 on his way to a 4-1 lead.

Si, who reached the World Championship semi-finals in 2023, responded with runs of 61 and 58 to get back to 4-3.

However, Trump, who has yet to win any silverware in 2025, took an error-strewn eighth frame and ensured he progressed with a composed 50 break in the next.

The defending champion will face Si’s Chinese compatriot Ding Junhui or Scotland’s Scott Donaldson in the last eight.

«It was very edgy. I don’t quite have that belief at the moment,» Trump told BBC Sport.

«At the start I was confident. At 4-1 there were a couple of bad shots and after that because I have not been winning, I just became a little bit hesitant and looking for trouble a little bit.

«I feel good with that cue. The table was perfect. If you are a tiny bit off they don’t go in.»

In terms of finding a winning brand of snooker, Trump is confident he can hit his best form again.

«I don’t feel far off it. There is no expectation on me,» he said. «I am quietly confident and things have been progressing in the right way the last few tournaments.»

Across the auditorium, Mark Selby underlined his status as one of the favourites as he continued his bid to win a third UK crown with a 6-2 win over Zhou Yuelong.

Earlier on Wednesday, Neil Robertson cruised to a 6-1 win over Wu Yize and will next face Pang Junxu, who defeated two-time winner Mark Williams 6-3.

China’s Wu knocked in a break of 62 as he took the opening frame against Robertson.

But it was largely one-way traffic after that as the Australian took control.

Robertson, 43, who has been crowned UK champion three times previously, compiled breaks of 51, 65, 75 and 68 as he reeled off the next five frames.

Wu, who won the International Championship last month, appeared to struggle throughout with the table conditions, with Robertson overturning a 48-point deficit to win the seventh frame and complete his victory.

Robertson, who at one stage dropped to 28th in the world during a dreadful run of form in 2023 and 2024, has appeared rejuvenated in recent times.

Back up to third in the world rankings, he is also currently top of snooker’s one-year list for prize money, having won the lucrative Saudi Arabia Masters earlier this term.

While several players have complained about table conditions, Robertson says that tighter pockets have been more in keeping with his first 10 years as a professional and provide a fairer test.

«I feel as though the last 10 years there have been much more events with much bigger pockets,» Robertson said on BBC Two.

«You have a group of players who can play great even on those pockets and a group that can’t play great on those pockets. What I’ve seen is a lot of misses that I used to see in my first 10 years as a professional.

«There are too many matches where people make three or four centuries and you think ‘did they actually reach that level of quality?’.

«They are keeping everyone honest. There will be a lot of professionals at home thinking ‘thanks Neil for speaking out’. It has been an issue in the game that players have been talking about, especially [at tournaments held] in China where people are having inflated results.»

Selby’s credentials are well established. As a multi-title winner at this event, the World Championship and the Masters, nobody would be surprised to see him lift the trophy on Sunday.

Against Zhou he opened up with a 73 but was then forced to dig deep and stay focused.

The 27-year-old Zhou checked out of his hotel before achieving a last-32 win over Ronnie O’Sullivan, such were his low expectations for that match.

A repeat performance against Selby was a tall order, but Zhou delivered the highlight of the evening with a sublime run of 132 to go 2-1 ahead.

Selby went 62 minutes and 50 seconds without potting a ball at one point before getting back to 2-2.

From that point onwards, the Leicester man took complete control.

He jokingly looked at his watch after winning a prolonged fifth frame that lasted over 53 minutes before knocking in runs of 71, 75 and 56 to set up a last-eight meeting with Elliot Slessor or Barry Hawkins.

«At 2-2 I was over the moon. After 3-2 I felt like I controlled the match and played some decent stuff,» Selby said.

While Zhou this time could check out of York for another year, his Chinese compatriot Pang remains in the hunt.

Pang, who lost 6-1 in his only previous meeting with Welshman Williams, was given a standing ovation after rounding off his win this time with a superb break of 116.

After the players split the opening two frames, the 25-year-old from China won the next three.

Williams, who made two centuries, briefly rallied to get back to 4-3, but the 50-year-old inadvertently knocked in a red while potting the pink to hand his opponent the advantage in the next, and was then punished for missing a long red in the ninth frame.

«I played pretty poor. That’s how it is now – I either play well or terrible,» said Williams.

«I have no grumbles. He was the better player.»