2024 UK Snooker Championship Semi-Finals: Matches, schedule, preview

The final four in this £1.2 million Triple Crown event features the world’s top three ranked players, and a qualifier who is one of the best players ever not to have won one of professional snooker’s three biggest titles.

We preview Saturday’s action as the trophy and £250,000 top prize moves closer.

Judd Trump v Kyren Wilson - from 13:00GMT

An absolute blockbuster to look forward to on Saturday afternoon as World Number One Judd Trump and World Champion Kyren Wilson add another chapter to their decorated rivalry.

These two have faced each other in a plethora of memorable match-ups down the years, including two big encounters this season already - Wilson defeated Trump in the finals of both the 2024 Xi’an Grand Prix and 2024 Northern Ireland Open ranking events.

In terms of the overall head-to-head record, though, Trump leads.

Trump - who is aiming for his fifth Triple Crown title and his second UK crown - is into his sixth semi-final of the 2024/25 campaign and his fifth UK semi-final. The runaway leader in the global standings won the invitational Shanghai Masters and inaugural Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters.

Earlier this term, Trump became the third player to make 1,000 century breaks in professional competition, and if he reaches the final in York, he will have passed £1 million prize money for the season already.

‘The Ace in the Pack’ endured slow starts in his opening two wins; stringing together five frames in-a-row to defeat Neil Robertson 6-3 before ousting John Higgins 6-5 in the round of 16. The latter result meant he has now won all six deciding frames that he has been involved in this campaign.

In his quarter-final, though, against Zhang Anda, Trump was sensational in a 6-2 victory, compiling four century breaks - three of which were consecutive - and at one stage he amassed 527 points without reply.

World number two Wilson is still on course to become only the seventh player in history to secure World and UK Championship glories within the same calendar year.

Wilson has relinquished just five frames across his three matches, so far, although he did resist a rally from Michael Holt in the last eight, kicking on to take the final two frames in a 6-3 success.

This is the second time that Wilson has made the semis of the UK Championship.

Barry Hawkins v Mark Allen - from 19:00GMT

The last remaining qualifier in the field, Hawkins’ efforts in this Championship - which have already seen him win five matches and eliminate reigning champion Ronnie O’Sullivan along the way - will put him back inside the world’s top 16 following the conclusion of the event, and a ticket to the Masters at the Alexandra Palace in the new year.

One of the greatest players never to have won a Triple Crown event, this is the second time that ‘The Hawk’ has made the final four of this competition.

The world number 20 coming into this tournament, Hawkins had a steady season with quarter-final finishes at the Xi’an Grand Prix and English Open, but he has found his best form in the most prestigious event of the season, so far. At the main venue, Hawkins has dismissed O’Sullivan, pipped David Gilbert in a decider, and then won four consecutive frames from 2-2 to deny Shaun Murphy in the last eight.

Champion here two years ago, world number three Allen is making a brilliant defence of those ranking points.

The Northern Irishman was very downbeat about his performance during his first round 6-4 win over Jackson Page, but has been much better since then with impressive triumphs over Wu Yize (6-4) and Jack Lisowski (6-3). In each of those last two games, Allen recovered from two frame deficits.

This will be Allen’s third semi-final of the season and his sixth appearance in the last four of the UK Championship.

In terms of previous meetings, Allen leads the head-to-head stats, although Hawkins has come out on top from their two most recent ties.

The penultimate win was a 6-0 whitewash at the 2023 Masters, and the last was earlier this season at the last 16 stage of the Xi'an Grand Prix.

For full details on the 2024 UK Championship, including the draw, results, prize money breakdown, format and how to watch, please visit our tournament information centre here.