2024 Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters Final Preview: Judd Trump v Mark Williams

A total of 144 players began this much debated and discussed new ranking event - which was originally scheduled to be held in October 2020 before the Covid-19 Pandemic delayed it - eight days ago, and despite nine of the world's top 16 players losing their opening match in round five, the title contest features two of the sport's most decorated champions, ever.

Between them, Trump and Williams have won a total of 54 ranking events.

How Judd Trump got to the Saudi Snooker Masters Final

Regardless of Saturday's result at the Green Halls, Judd Trump will leave Riyadh having strengthened his place at the top of the world rankings. However, should he lift the trophy, it could set Trump up as the world number one for a significant amount of time.

It seems a long time ago, but Trump was checking his mobile phone for flights home during the mid-session interval of his opening match with Wu Yize as he trailed 4-0. However, 'The Ace in the Pack' conjured up a remarkable recovery, stringing together five consecutive frames to somehow keep his title hopes alive in the Middle East.

He followed that escape with victories over Jack Lisowski (6-1) and Neil Robertson (6-3), before ousting Shaun Murphy (6-5) on the colours in a deciding frame of an enthralling semi-final tussle.

Trump will prepare for his 46th career ranking event final; victory over Williams would give him ranking trophy number 29 and put him above Steve Davis on the all-time list of most wins in that category.

In total, it will be the 35-year-old's 11th final on the World Snooker Tour in just over 12 months. So far in this 2024/25 season, Trump has won 14 out of 15 matches, and this will be his third final is as many tournaments he has entered. Already this campaign he has claimed the Shanghai Masters invitational title for the first time and last month he made the final of the inaugural Xi'an Grand Prix.

Another theme to follow in the final is that Trump could become only the second player in history to reach 1,000 career century breaks in professional competition. He is currently on 997.

Mark Williams’ path to the Saudi Snooker Masters Final

Victory for Williams in Saudi would push him up to fourth in the world rankings, and despite due to turn 50 in March, he will soon be a serious contender for the world number one spot with relatively little prize money from his rankings to defend this season.

Williams has yet to face a current top 16 player in Riyadh, but like Trump, he could have been packing his bags early on as he needed a deciding frame to deny Thepchaiya Un-Nooh in his first outing of the competition.

The three-time World Champion was 2-2 with Stuart Bingham in the last 16 before stringing together four consecutive frames for a 6-2 win; he then extending his winning streak in the event to 10 frames as he whitewashed Jimmy Robertson, 6-0.

'The Welsh Potting Machine's' first appearance on the main table in the Green Halls came during his 6-3 victory over Si Jiahui in the semi-finals. In comparison, all of Trump's matches have been on the main table.

If Williams lifts the silverware, it will be his third ranking title inside 12 months having won the British Open last October and Tour Championship in April.

Judd Trump v Mark Williams Head-to-Head Record

In all competitions - even counting the relatively short-formatted Championship League - Trump comfortably leads their career head-to-head with an impressive record of 22-10.

Their first meeting came in qualifying for the 2008 Bahrain Championship - the last professional ranking event to be held in the Middle East - which Trump won.

Down the years, in the majority of their biggest matches, Trump has enjoyed a bigger slice of success. This includes their memorable semi-final clash at the 2022 World Championship that went all the way to a deciding frame.

This will be only the second time they have faced each other in a traditional final (not involving a group format), but first in a ranked event. At the Alexandra Palace in London, Trump defeated Williams 10-8 in the final of the 2023 Masters.

In the most recent times, Williams denied Trump 10-4 in the quarter-finals of the Tour Championship (April) en route to the title, however, Trump won their latest fixture, 6-2, in the last 16 of the Shanghai Masters (July) on his way to that trophy.

The final of the 2024 Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters takes place on Saturday 7th September across two sessions (start times of approximately 12:00BST and 18:00BST). The match is the best of 19 frames.

For the draw, results and other important details, please visit our 2024 Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters Tournament Information Centre, here.