Trump Sees Off Murphy Challenge

Judd Trump booked his spot in the semi-finals of the Hong Kong Masters with a 5-3 win over Shaun Murphy on Friday.

World number three Trump will now face Ronnie O’Sullivan or John Higgins at the eight-man invitation event.

Trump stormed into a 3-0 lead with top breaks of 83 and 100 then Murphy pulled one back. Trump won the fifth frame for 4-1 and led 56-6 in the sixth, but Murphy battled back to snatch it on the colours. A run of 76 from Murphy in frame seven saw him close to 4-3 and raise his hopes of a fight back.

But Trump compiled a superb 92 in the next to seal victory.

“i played ok, I missed a few chances when among the balls,” said Trump. “This is one of the first tournaments of the season so everyone is a bit rusty. It was important for me to get a good start. Shaun made some good breaks to get to 4-3 so I was happy to make a break in the last frame.

“The arena is very big and the fans were good, we feel very welcome here. Marco Fu will be the man to beat this week because of the support he gets.”