The 2025 UK Championship continues this weekend at the Barbican Centre with the semi-finals next on the agenda in York.
The quarter-finals wrapped up on Friday with just two victories now separating the remaining players from the campaign’s first Triple Crown title.
All four contenders have previously etched their names onto the UK Championship trophy, combining for eight triumphs at the prestigious tournament in total.
They each represent former world champions as well, underlining the pedigree that’ll be on display as they hunt down that coveted ยฃ250,000 top prize.
Here is a rundown of the upcoming UK Championship ties in the semi-finals.
2025 UK Championship Semi-Finals
Judd Trump vs Neil Robertson
Judd Trump looked to be in a spot of bother when he trailed Ding 2-0 and his opponent in among the balls again in the third frame.
But the latter missed a relatively straightforward red, and the pair’s quarter-final tie completely turned on its head thereafter.
Reigning UK champion Trump reeled off the following six frames on the spin to get back to the semi-final stage at the Barbican Centre.
The world number one hasn’t been at his best throughout this week’s tournament but is fighting hard as he challenges for a first piece of silverware since his triumph in York a year ago.
Next up will be another blockbuster showdown against Neil Robertson, who held off a spirited fight back from Pang Junxu to prevail with a 6-4 scorline.
Robertson and Trump boast five UK crowns between them, contesting a memorable 2020 final that concluded in dramatic fashion on the final colours of a deciding frame.
Robertson already has a big trophy from the 2025/26 snooker season after sealing victory at the lucrative Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters, but the Aussie would love to add another Triple Crown title to his collection.
Trump, though, leads the head-to-head stats with 26 wins to Robertson’s 18, and the Englishman won their most recent tie over 11 frames at the Shanghai Masters in July.
UK Championship roll of honour
| Year | Champion | Year | Champion |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Patsy Fagan | 1978 | Doug Mounjoy |
| 1979 | John Virgo | 1980 | Steve Davis |
| 1981 | Steve Davis | 1982 | Terry Griffiths |
| 1983 | Alex Higgins | 1984 | Steve Davis |
| 1985 | Steve Davis | 1986 | Steve Davis |
| 1987 | Steve Davis | 1988 | Doug Mountjoy |
| 1989 | Stephen Hendry | 1990 | Stephen Hendry |
| 1991 | John Parrott | 1992 | Jimmy White |
| 1993 | Ronnie O’Sullivan | 1994 | Stephen Hendry |
| 1995 | Stephen Hendry | 1996 | Stephen Hendry |
| 1997 | Ronnie O’Sullivan | 1998 | John Higgins |
| 1999 | Mark Williams | 2000 | John Higgins |
| 2001 | Ronnie O’Sullivan | 2002 | Mark Williams |
| 2003 | Matthew Stevens | 2004 | Stephen Maguire |
| 2005 | Ding Junhui | 2006 | Peter Ebdon |
| 2007 | Ronnie O’Sullivan | 2008 | Shaun Murphy |
| 2009 | Ding Junhui | 2010 | John Higgins |
| 2011 | Judd Trump | 2012 | Mark Selby |
| 2013 | Neil Robertson | 2014 | Ronnie O’Sullivan |
| 2015 | Neil Robertson | 2016 | Mark Selby |
| 2017 | Ronnie O’Sullivan | 2018 | Ronnie O’Sullivan |
| 2019 | Ding Junhui | 2020 | Neil Robertson |
| 2021 | Zhao Xintong | 2022 | Mark Allen |
| 2023 | Ronnie O’Sullivan | 2024 | Judd Trump |
Mark Selby vs Shaun Murphy
Another bruising semi-final clash at the UK Championship will see Englishmen Mark Selby and Shaun Murphy rekindle their three-decade-old rivalry.
The duo would know each other well since their junior days back in the 1990s, and here they are still challenging for the game’s top honours.
Selby, a recent winner of the Champion of Champions, reached the last four with a 6-2 triumph over Barry Hawkins while Murphy ousted Zhang Anda 6-3.
In a season where every event has been won by a different player, the Magician has arguably been the most consistent of anybody overall.
A frequent flyer at the latter stages of tournaments, Murphy emerged successfully at the British Open and also reached the final of the Xi’an Grand Prix.
The 43 year-old began the calendar year with his magnificent glory at the Masters, and he could end 2025 with another major trophy in his hands.
Selby, though, is a nine-time Triple Crown champion who, throughout his career, has predominantly become stronger and stronger the deeper he’s gone in a tournament.
Murphy and Selby have met twice this year and both games were one-sided – Selby winning 6-0 in Shanghai before Murphy gained revenge with a 6-1 hiding in Cheltenham.
2025 UK Championship draw and schedule
Round 1 (bo11)
(Times in UTC/GMT)
Judd Trump 6-4 Stephen Maguire
Si Jiahui 6-0 Ryan Day
Ding Junhui 6-4 Xu Si
Mark Allen 1-6 Scott Donaldson
Mark Williams 6-4 David Gilbert
Xiao Guodong 2-6 Pang Junxu
Wu Yize 6-4 Michael Holt
Neil Robertson 6-2 Julien Leclercq
Kyren Wilson 4-6 Elliot Slessor
Barry Hawkins 6-4 David Lilley
Mark Selby 6-2 Lei Peifan
Ronnie O’Sullivan 4-6 Zhou Yuelong
John Higgins 6-2 Ben Woollaston
Shaun Murphy 6-2 Lyu Haotian
Gary Wilson 5-6 Zhang Anda
Zhao Xintong 6-1 Long Zehuang
Round 2 (bo11)
Judd Trump 6-3 Si Jiahui
Ding Junhui 6-5 Scott Donaldson
Mark Williams 3-6 Pang Junxu
Wu Yize 1-6 Neil Robertson
Elliot Slessor 0-6 Barry Hawkins
Mark Selby 6-2 Zhou Yuelong
John Higgins 5-6 Shaun Murphy
Zhang Anda 6-2 Zhao Xintong
Quarter-Finals (bo11)
Judd Trump 6-2 Ding Junhui
Pang Junxu 4-6 Neil Robertson
Barry Hawkins 2-6 Mark Selby
Shaun Murphy 6-3 Zhang Anda
Semi-Finals (bo11)
Saturday, 1pm UTC/GMT
Judd Trump vs Neil Robertson
Saturday, 7pm UTC/GMT
Mark Selby vs Shaun Murphy
How to watch the 2025 UK Championship
There are several ways to watch live action of those involved in the 2025 UK Championship draw. Here is a full list of global broadcasters:
UK and Ireland
BBC
TNT Sports and discovery+
Mainland Europe
Eurosport and locally relevant streaming platforms
(discovery+ in Germany, Italy and Austria and HBO Max in all other markets)
China
CCTV5
Huya.com
CBSA-WPBSA Academy WeChat Channel
CBSA-WPBSA Academy Douyin
Macau China
CCTV5
Hong Kong China
Now TV
Malaysia and Brunei
Astro SuperSport
Thailand
True Sport
Taiwan
Sportcast
Philippines
Tap
Mongolia
N Sports
All other territories
WST Play
It is excellent in my opinion that the UK Championship seems to be getting back into it’s stride again as a genuine “major”: reformatting it to the World Championship format and regaining longer form matches throughout has done it a good service. I like the open draw tournaments and the shorter frame matches, even the multi table venue idea sometimes, but I also like having some tournaments that have a genuine elitism to them as well, and reviving the UK Championship in this manner seems to have been a success. I’m looking forward to it.
The longer matches haven’t haven’t returned since the format went along similar lines to the World Championship. We’ve not had any two session matches, aside from the final, since 2013.
As I recall, Kyren Wilson conceded the match with plenty of balls on the table and needing only 1 snooker (the difference between the deficit to Slessor and number of points remaining was 1) — it appeared he was annoyed and not in the mood to compete — but he’s one of the players who often has poor body/facial language during a match — David Gilbert, who went thru a long slump, has improved somewhat in that regard — I was pulling for him to win his 1st round match vs Mark Williams, and he came close.
The 2nd round match Higgins vs Murphy should be a good one.
Interesting: exactly 30 years between O’Sullivan’s first and most recent victory in this tournament.
Pang was superb in the last two frames against Mark Williams. He’s the only player left without a ranking title to their name.
John Higgins hasn’t reached a UK semi since 2010.