Judd Trump booked his place in the World Grand Prix final with an impressive 6-1 thrashing of six-time world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan.
Back-to-back centuries in frames five and six proved key as Trump turned a 3-1 lead into a 5-1 advantage before he finished off O’Sullivan at the first time of asking.
Trump edged a tight opening frame after O’Sullivan got the two snookers he needed to put himself in the box seat, only for a foul to hand the initiative back to his opponent.
It's all over.
@judd147t has beaten rival Ronnie O'Sullivan 6-1 to reach the final of the Matchroom World Grand Prix!
TWO centuries tonight for the world number one, who'll face either Mark Selby or Jack Lisowski on Sunday #SnookerOutOfThisWorld @ITV4 pic.twitter.com/qTVs3az2iL— World Snooker Tour (@WeAreWST) December 18, 2020
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Trump won the next two, making a break of 59 in frame two, as he moved 3-0 in front before O’Sullivan hit back with a break of 71.
Trump, though, was in impressive form and runs of 100 and 107 took him to within a frame of victory, which he sealed with a break of 69 to book his spot in Sunday’s final
O’Sullivan admitted afterwards he could not live with Trump’s “near-perfect” performance.
He said on ITV: “I didn’t feel like I was on my game and, even if I would have been on my game, maybe I still wouldn’t have given him a game.
“He was scoring for fun, very good safety and there’s not a lot you can do about it when your opponent plays near-perfect snooker.”
Trump described his display as “pretty solid all around”.
The winner of last week’s Scottish Open, Mark Selby, booked his place in the semi-finals with a 5-3 win over Hossein Vafaei.
He will take on Jack Lisowski in the last four after he racked up breaks of 111 and 109 on his way to a 5-3 victory over Zhao Xintong.
