Mark Williams beat Judd Trump in a multi-session match for the first time in his career with a 10-4 victory in the quarter-finals of the Johnstone's Paint Tour Championship in Manchester.
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Trump has rivalled Ronnie O'Sullivan as player of the season so far, winning five ranking titles, but he was well below his best today and outplayed by a veteran 49-year-old opponent. It's arguably Williams' best result since he lifted the Cazoo British Open title in September and his first win over Trump in a knockout match since the 2018 German Masters.
The Welshman is through to the 65th ranking event semi-final of his career and on Saturday he'll be up against Mark Allen, who came from 8-7 down to score a 10-8 victory over Ding Junhui.
Defeat for Trump ends his hopes of becoming world number one this week, which means that O'Sullivan will top the rankings going into the Cazoo World Championship.
Williams, chasing a 26th career ranking title, said: "It's about time I beat Judd because I have lost a few close matches against him. To beat the player of the season so far 10-4, I can't ask for any more than that, even though he didn't play well. My game is as good as it could be given where I am in my career. It's not going to get better now, I'll just try to keep it going for as long as I can. This is a nice stepping stone ahead of the Crucible."
Leading 5-3 after the first session, three-time World Champion Williams took the first two frames on the colours tonight to extend his cushion to 7-3. In frame 11, he led 48-30 when he missed a simple red to a centre pocket, and Trump cleared to snatch the frame. But that did not prove a turning point as Bristol's Trump failed to take the chances which came his way.
Williams took advantage to stretch his lead to 9-4. In the 14th he missed the blue when he led 42-0, but Trump's hopes ended when he too missed the blue on 11, allowing Williams to wrap up the tie.
Allen is enjoying an outstanding season having won the Champion of Champions, BetVictor Shoot Out and Johnstone's Paint Players Championship. The Northern Irishman has become perhaps the toughest match-player on the tour, and again showed his tenacity in the closing stages of a tight battle with Ding. World number three Allen is into his 38th ranking event semi-final and is chasing a 12th title.
China's Ding took the opening frame tonight with a break of 71 to lead 6-3, then 38-year-old Allen stormed back with four frames in a row, including a 142 total clearance which is the new front-runner for the £10,000 high break prize. Ding hit back with 82 and 67 to lead 8-7.
Frame 16 was crucial as Ding got the snooker he needed on the last red and looked set to clear for 9-7 until he missed a straight-forward final pink. It came down to a respotted black, and a safety error from Ding left the black over a baulk corner for Allen to convert for 8-8. Momentum behind him, Allen took the last two frames with runs of 56 and 127.
"There were one or two errors but generally I got stronger as the match went on and that's a big positive to take into the next round," said Allen. "The 16th frame was huge because at 8-8 I felt relaxed and my game was in the right shape. It was hard to see from my seat what angle he had on the pink, but he seemed to throw a quick one in, which can happen to anyone under pressure.
"It doesn't matter to me whether it's 4-4 at 1pm or 9-9 at midnight. I feel like I am ready for anything. Last year I lost to Mark Selby in the semis at the Crucible, 17-15 in a late finish, and I genuinely felt as if I could have played all night. I had so much left in the tank. Getting a bit of gym work in before Sheffield will help me get ready. The longer the matches go on, the more I come into my own. I came here to work on a few things technically, and tonight even at 8-8 I stuck with what I have been working on. Now I am in the semis I want to go on and win it.
"The scoreline for Mark Williams tonight was a bit of a surprise but he is one of the all-time greats. I will need to pay well and I always look forward to playing him."