Snooker news - Judd Trump and Neil Robertson set for £200,000 duel in Gibraltar

Updated 04/03/2020 at 08:09 GMT

The winner of next week’s Gibraltar Open will collect a £50,000 first prize, but for Judd Trump and Neil Robertson a juicy £150,000 side stake is also on the line on the Rock.

Neil Robertson congratulates Judd Trump on a brilliant win.

Image credit: Reuters

Robertson leads the BetVictor European Series having amassed £115,000 from three events so far with world champion Judd Trump £35,000 behind in second place.

Trump and Robertson, officially one and two in the world rankings, are seeded to meet in the last four in Gibraltar which would give Trump the chance to catch and overtake Australia’s leading player by claiming the title.

Gibraltar Open

Trump raises the Gibraltar Open trophy to an imaginary crowd

00:01:03

13/04/2020 at 13:03

Winning the European Series will secure either man a £150,000 bonus ahead of the Tour Championship in Llandudno (March 17-22).

Robertson won the first of the European series with a 9-0 whitewash of Zhou Yeulong in the European Masters final before Trump downed Robertson 9-6 in the German Masters final.

Robertson jokes with Trump - Judd might want to reward himself with some time off!

Both players opted out of the Shoot-Out, the third event of the series and won by Englishman Michael Holt, setting up a rousing finale in Gibraltar with the final on March 15.

'The Hitman hits big!' - Holt downs Zhou in Shoot Out final

The Gibraltar Open will also decide who participates in the Tour Championship with the top eight on the one-year list competing.

Trump, Robertson, Shaun Murphy, Mark Selby, Ding Junhui and Yan Bingtao have already qualified for the penultimate ranking event before the World Championship with Mark Allen and John Higgins hoping to join them.

Stephen Maguire is £6,500 behind Higgins in ninth place in the one-year list, and must at least reach the final in Gibraltar to have a chance of catching his fellow Scotsman with a runners-up place worth £20,000.

Graeme Dott, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, Kyren Wilson, Joe Perry and Mark Williams all need to win the event to deny Allen or Higgins a place in the Tour Championship.