UK Masters: Judd Trump leaves Ronnie O’Sullivan all at sea

Trump, the game’s rising star and reigning UK champion, raced into a 4-0 lead at the mid-session interval in the best-of-11 encounter.

Although O’Sullivan looked better after the resumption – hitting a tournament-best break of 141, Trump always had plenty in reserve and picked up the remaining frames required for a 6-2 victory. His century break aside, four-time champion O’Sullivan failed to stem the inexorable rise of Trump continues, and he will play Neil Robertson or Mark Williams in the final four.

The match got off to a scrappy start with neither player able to find their rhythm, but the frame eventually went the way of Trump with a 39. O’Sullivan’s safety play let him down in the next to open the way for Trump to rattle off an assured break that broke down at 66 but was enough to move 2-0 ahead.

The Bristolian missed a red early in the third to clear the way for O’Sullivan to finally put a break together, reaching 49 before running out of options. His attempted safety was not aggressive enough, however, and Trump needed no second invitation to surge back into the frame, a 78 clearance further extending his lead. Trump picked up where he left off in the next frame, a brilliant break of 140 handing him a 4-0 lead. O’Sullivan finally got off the mark with a 67 in the first frame after the break, but Trump responded in the next, three modest breaks putting him in charge after O’Sullivan had broken down on 28.

With Trump 55-28 ahead, the frame came down to an exchange of safety shots on the green, but when O’Sullivan left the ball over the hole, Trump had an easy chance to tuck it away and move to within a frame of victory.

O’Sullivan delayed Trump’s celebrations with a supreme performance in the next frame, reeling off a break of 141 to stay alive at 5-2. The 36-year-old’s fightback faltered in the next frame though, when he made a good start only to break down on 54, which gave Trump just enough points on the table to clear up and win.“I’ve come into it full of confidence and thinking I can win it, and the players are more under pressure playing me now than I am playing them, and they all really want to beat me now.” Trump said.