Trump v Robertson LIVE: Score and updates from blockbuster UK Championship snooker clash

The players are introduced by human Energizer bunny Rob Walker and we’re about to ge underway. Remember, it’s a best of 11, so a race to six frames. They’ll have a mid-session interval after four frames.

Let’s turn our attention back to today’s match between Judd Trump and Neil Robertson. The pair have squared off 27 times (excluding Championship League matches) and Trump holds the slight edge with 15 wins to 12.

Robertson won their most recent encounter at the Champion of Champions two weeks ago, when he triumphed 6-4, which avenged a 6-3 loss at the Saudi Arabia Masters earlier in the summer.

They actually met in the final of the 2020 UK Championship, amid the supporter-less, Covid bubble of Milton Keynes and Robertson won an epic 10-9 on the final pink after 1am.

Throw in a captivating, swashbuckling, seemingly effortless style of play that means The Rocket’s reputation as a sporting genius has long since transcended snooker’s narrow confines, and GOAT status is undisputed.

So perhaps it should come as no surprise that, in an exclusive interview with The Independent, he reveals that he yearns to be more like those who came before him.

A downbeat Mark Allen labelled his own form as “depressing” after beating Jackson Page 6-4 in the first round of the UK Championship.

Allen sealed the win with an impressive clearance from the green, but managed a highest break of just 56 in a low-quality contest in York.

“It’s actually quite depressing to be honest, the way I’m playing at the minute,” the world number three told the BBC. “It’s not much fun. I’m trying so hard and I just can’t play. I’ve always backed myself under pressure but there’s something technical that’s not right because I’m missing so many easy balls.

“It’s hard to take any positives out of that, other than the fact that I got six frames. I’ve been trying so hard the last few months and it’s really getting me down because things are really good at the minute in my life and snooker’s just awful. Absolutely awful.”

World champion Kyren Wilson shrugged off a headache and concerns over the speed of the tables to sweep past Stephen Maguire 6-0 in the first round of the UK Championship.

Wilson dominated what had been a scrappy afternoon session at the Barbican Centre in York to take a 4-0 lead – with neither player able to build a half-century break.

After the interval Wilson – who has won two ranking titles already this season – finally found some rhythm as a run of 71 put him within a frame of victory.

After Maguire, who won the 2004 UK Championship title, missed another chance to build a response, Wilson, already 27 in front, took the opportunity to clear up to the pink.

Standing in Trump’s way is Neil Robertson. The Australian has been similarly prolific throughout his career, racking up 24 ranking event titles to sit seventh on the all-time list (Trump is fourth).

The 42-year-old recently dropped out of the world’s top 16 meaning he had to qualify for York, which he did so by squeaking past Oli Lines 6-5 before downing Matthew Stevens 6-2. That match sharpness could come in handy.

Robertson is a three-time UK champion and even as a qualifier, is more than capable of getting on a run and winning the event. He ended a 29-month title drought at the recent English Open, so is back towards his best.

This should be an absolute cracker this afternoon. In one corner, we have Judd Trump who has been snooker’s most consistent force over the past couple of seasons.

He’s currently world No 1, and hundreds of thousands of pounds ahead of his rivals on that list due to racking up seven tournament victories in the last 15 months.

Of course, the knock on Trump will always be that he doesn’t win enough of ‘the big ones’. He ‘only’ has four victories at snooker’s triple crown events (the World Championship, UK Championship and Masters) and he is trying to win the UK Champs here in York this week for just the second time, after his 2011 success.

Welcome to The Independent’s coverage of the UK Snooker Championship in York, where Judd Trump faces Neil Robertson in a tasty first-round clash this afternoon.

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