Judd Trump pinched a tight deciding frame as he came from behind to beat fellow Englishman Chris Wakelin and reach the semi-finals of the Wuhan Open.

Wakelin, who beat Chinese home favourite Ding Junhui in the previous round, continued his impressive form to establish a 2-0 lead, helped by a break of 97 in the first frame.

Trump edged the third but Wakelin closed out the fourth to hold a 3-1 lead, before the defending champion made 54 and 58 in the next two frames to level.

Wakelin regained the lead in the following frame but Trump clinched victory by taking the next two for a thrilling 5-4 win, snatching the close-fought decider on the colours.

“It was frustrating at times and especially in that last frame, where it looked like he was going to fluke a couple of balls and end up winning,” said Trump.

“In the end, I took my chance and played a really good shot on the brown to knock the pink out.

“You are just relying on your opponent to miss [in those situations]. He did that in the last frame. There was a bit of pressure out there and he took his eye off the brown looking for an angle to get the pink out.”

Earlier, England’s Shaun Murphy fell to a 5-1 defeat against China’s Xiao Guodong.

Carlos Prates has gone from a Dana White’s Contender Series signee to a UFC main eventer after just three fights.

At UFC Fight Night 247 on Nov. 9 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Prates (20-6 MMA, 3-0 UFC) will get his first headlining opportunity. The hard-hitting Brazilian welterweight will share the main stage with a mainstay in the rankings, Neil Magny. Two sources confirmed the news with MMA Junkie following a first report from MMA Fighting.

Prates, 31, was signed to the UFC after impressing on DWCS last August with a second-round knockout of Mitch Ramirez. He made his UFC debut in February, and picked up another second-round finish, earning his first Performance of the Night bonus for stopping Trevin Giles.

Four months later, Prates stopped Charles Radtke in the opening round to earn his second POTN award. The bonus machine Prates took another fight two months later, where he earned his third $50,000 check in his first UFC main card slot for stopping Li Jingliang at UFC 305 – a victory that extended his current winning streak to 10.

Prates previously agreed to face Randy Brown at UFC 309, but the fight fell through.

Looking to hault his momentum will be UFC welterweight wins leader Magny (29-12 MMA, 22-11 UFC). “The Haitian Sensation” has traded wins and losses over his last eight appearances as he has struggled to build momentum of his own.

In his most recent outing, Michael Morales stopped the 37-year-old welterweight in the first round at UFC on ESPN 62. Prior to the setback, Magny came through as a sizable underdog against Mike Malott at UFC 297, finishing the fight in a wild third round comeback.

With the addition, the current UFC Fight Night 247 lineup includes:

• Neil Magny vs. Carlos Prates
• Cody Garbrandt vs. Miles Johns
• Luana Pinheiro vs. Gillian Robertson
• Mansur Abdul-Malik vs. Dusko Todorovic
• Melissa Mullins vs. Montserrat Rendon
• Tresean Gore vs. Antonio Trocoli
• Bernardo Sopaj vs. Ricky Turcios
• Denise Gomes vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz
• Reinier de Ridder vs. Gerald Meerschaert
• Nicolas Dalby vs. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos
• Da’Mon Blackshear vs. Cody Stamann
• Gaston Bolanos vs. Cortavious Romious

ALTHOUGH this was the night when England’s embarrassment of riches in attack was put on full show, here was a stark reminder that the nation remains unbelievably thin in quality at the back.

Central defenders, full-backs and even the goalkeeper. Right across the board, England have some major issues.

2

2

Advertisement

John Stones captained England for the first time in the absence of Harry Kane and this is not a night he will look back at with any fondness.

Stones was one of three players – along with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Cole Palmer – who could have done better for Greece’s opening goal through Vangelis Pavlidis.

Along with Levi Colwill, he was also lucky that Pavlidis’ strike towards the end was ruled offside as both players were at fault.

Yet right at the end, when Pavlidis struck again for the winner, Stones – along with Rico Lewis – could have done much better.

The options for Lee Carsley – and whoever takes this team forward over the next two years – are not exactly mind-blowing when it comes to strength in depth across the back.

Over the last couple of years, we should have seen this issue coming. But there has been too much focus on what we could do at the other end of the pitch.

This was Stones’ 82nd cap, meaning he has now overtaken former defender Rio Ferdinand in England appearances. He is now joint 17th on the all-time list with Raheem Sterling.

The Yorkshireman is even more important to the England team than Ferdinand ever was purely because the former Manchester United defender had John Terry, Sol Campbell, Ledley King and Jamie Carragher as international colleagues.

BEST FREE BET SIGN UP OFFERS FOR UK BOOKMAKERS

With Harry Maguire axed from the squad before suffering an injury, and Ezri Konsa also forced to withdraw with a knock, Stones played next to Chelsea’s Levi Colwill who did OK.

Yet Stones’ lack of games for Manchester City is a huge worry and this could harm England over the next two seasons.

He enjoyed a decent Euros in Germany even though this followed the most difficult season of his club career when form and injuries limited him to just 12 starts in the Premier League.

And this season, despite playing a part in other competitions for Pep Guardiola, Stones has only started one top-flight match this term.

There were times against the Greeks when Stones found himself exposed as England did their Harlem Globetrotters impression.

It was a mix-up between Stones and Jordan Pickford which presented a chance to Tasos Bakasetas yet Colwill dashed back to deliver a heroic goal-line clearance.

But as for the goals – along with the disallowed ones – Wembley witnessed some Car-crash.

Here was the proof, not that we needed it, that left-back is also a huge problem.

Although happy to play there, Lewis considers himself as a midfielder. Colwill can also play in that spot but he is more comfortable in central defence.

Even at right-back, where we seemed to be spoilt for choice, there are concerns.

Carsley clearly considers Alexander-Arnold as the team’s first-choice right-back even though Gareth Southgate listed him as a midfielder.

Alexander-Arnold, though, was guilty of allowing Pavlidis to brush past him too easily for the opening goal and it was not the only time he was caught out.

Kyle Walker, who did not make the England squad last month, will probably start against Finland but he will be 36 at the next World Cup.

While Pickford has been England’s best keeper by some distance over the years, he was properly dodgy in this Greek humiliation.

Yet the alternatives are Dean Henderson and Nick Pope, along with Aaron Ramsdale. All are decent keepers but neither are going to challenge the Everton keeper.

Now, there is a real chance England might have to go into a Nations League play-off in March as they might not win the group.

Neil Magny and Carlos Prates will collide in a welterweight battle of generations in the main event of UFC Vegas 100 at the UFC APEX on Nov. 9, multiple people with knowledge of the situation told MMA Fighting.

A veteran of 33 octagon appearances, Magny (29-12) enters the cage looking to rebound from a first-round stoppage defeat to Michael Morales in August, alternating wins and losses for over two years.

The 37-year-old fighter last won in January of 2024, a third-round stoppage against Mike Malott, and holds victories against the likes of Robbie Lawler, Jingliang Li, Carlos Condit, Hector Lombard and Johny Hendricks throughout his UFC career.

With a record of 20-6 in the sport and riding a 12-fight winning streak with 11 finishes, Prates has impressed so far under the UFC banner with three bonus-winning stoppages over Trevin Giles, Charles Radtke and Jingliang Li in 2024.

Damon Martin contributed to this report

Hallgrimsson, who replaced Stephen Kenny as manager, was happy with the performance but said there was room for improvement.

“We can be happy with a lot of things in the performance. I thought in the first half, there was one mistake and we were punished,” he added.

“I thought we played pretty good at the end of the first half and we kind of built on that in the second half.

“It wasn’t a perfect match, they had two chances and we could have been punished again.”

After leaking goals in their opening two matches, Hallgrimsson was pleased with how much his side restricted Finland, who were also without a win heading into the match in Helsinki.

“We didn’t give them a lot of goalscoring chances. We gave it to them, it’s not like they played through us.

“Overall, I think we should be happy with the performance.”

The former Iceland manager also said he was pleased with how Collins, who was handed the armband for the match, responded after his error.

“You cannot do anything about mistakes, that is something that happens.

“We cannot criticise anyone for making a mistake, but we were pretty happy with what we were doing, especially at the end of the first half.”

The Republic of Ireland are next in action on Sunday away to Greece, who stunned England to maintain their perfect Nations League record.

“It is a difficult game in three days,” warned Hallgrimsson.

“There were some tired legs on the pitch. We need to start thinking about Greece.”

LAS VEGAS – Grant Dawson is the biggest betting favorite at UFC Fight Night 244 on Saturday.

And while that typically might be a badge of honor heading into a fight for a fighter, Dawson (12-2-1 MMA, 9-1-1 UFC) wishes the MMA collective would pump the brakes a bit on his roughly 4-1 favorite status against Rafa Garcia (16-3 MMA, 4-3 UFC) at the UFC Apex.

“I think he’s a very, very tough opponent, and not to put myself down or anything like that – I think the betting line is absolutely insane,” Dawson said at Wednesday’s media day. “I think he’s a lot better than the betting line is showing, which kind of sucks. If I go out there and dominate him, it doesn’t look good for me. And if I go out there and have a close fight, I just beat a really, really good guy – and I don’t even get the credit for beating a really good guy that way (because of the odds).”

And while Dawson surmised Garcia’s 18-month layoff, which included a knee surgery, is playing a part in making him the card’s biggest underdog, he also knows his own major success is a big factor.

“I think people know how good I am. I think people are underestimating how good he is,” he said.

Dawson is fighting just a year past what stands as his only UFC loss – a 33-second knockout against Bobby Green. It was one of 2023’s biggest stunners and his first loss in more than seven years.

The lightweight thinks that put a big crimp in his plans to become a UFC champion, but he’s left with no choice but to work his way back to contention, where he was knocking on the door when Green stunned him.

“I want to be a world champion, and I totally get that exciting guys get to skip that line,” Dawson said. “But there’s a lot of really exciting guys that never got the belt because they lose fights they shouldn’t. It’s a game of inches in this sport. It is a game of inches, and if you make one mistake … We saw it against Bobby Green. I made one mistake and he made me pay for it. It set my career back probably two, three years, and I’ve got to fight my way back now.”

After his loss to Green, he bounced back in June this year with a decision win over Joe Solecki. He thought the next name might be someone he could use to make his claim for spot in the rankings, but he hopes he might find himself in the top 15 next week, anyway.

“I was thinking that my next fight was going to be in the top 15, but I definitely think that this is a segue into the top 15,” Dawson said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if on Monday I was ranked after beating Garcia. I think he’s top-15 worthy.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 244.