Zhao Xintong v Judd Trump live stream | British Open 2026 preview
Zhao and Trump face off in Cheltenham (Photo by Zhai Zheng/Xinhua)
Zhao Xintong does battle with Judd Trump in a blockbuster quarter-final clash between two heavyweights at the British Open on Friday.
The undisputed tie of the round at The Centaur in Cheltenham pits the new world number one against the player he replaced at the summit of the WST rankings.
Their most recent encounter also came during a Channel 5-televised event, with Zhao running out a dominant 10-3 winner in April’s Tour Championship final to complete the Players Series slam.
The Cyclone has now prevailed in three of the last four meetings between the players, which also included a 5-1 rout at this stage of the 2022 German Masters.
Zhao, fresh from reaching last week’s Wuhan Open final, has built on that momentum by embarking on his best ever run at the British Open, having never previously progressed beyond the round of 32.
After opening with victories over Oliver Brown and Daniel Wells, the world number one endured two contrasting victories on Thursday.
Zhao took just 40 minutes to complete a 4-0 demolition job of Michael Holt, aided by breaks of 100, 63, 139 and 112 as he outscored his opponent by 429 points to 21. He then came through a late-night battle with Mark Joyce, eventually prevailing 4-2 having led 3-0.
Trump, meanwhile, enjoyed a much smoother Thursday, winning all eight frames he played as Elliot Slessor and David Gilbert were both put to the sword 4-0.
The Shanghai Masters champion had been forced to come from behind to seal 4-2 victories over Dylan Emery and Ricky Walden in his first two matches.
Yet Trump has subsequently gone through the gears to match his best performance at the British Open, where he was also a quarter-finalist two years ago.
The Ace now targets a 76th ranking semi-final appearance but, more importantly, he will relish the opportunity to make a statement against Zhao in his quest to regain that world number one spot.
The match breaks off at 7pm BST on Friday and will be contested over the best of nine frames at The Centaur in Cheltenham.
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