Trump Through In Shanghai
World Champion Judd Trump saw off a David Gilbert fightback to secure his place in the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters after a 6-4 win.
Trump is competing in his second event of the 2019/20 campaign. Last month he lifted silverware with victory at the International Championship in Daqing, where he thrashed Shaun Murphy 10-3 in the final.
The win in Daqing also saw him dislodge Ronnie O’Sullivan at the summit of the world rankings. Trump has now won 13 matches on the bounce, in a run which extends back to the last 64 of the China Open in April. On that occasion he lost out 6-5 against Robbie Williams.
Trump is also aiming to claim the Shanghai Masters title, and the £200,000 top prize that now goes with it, for the first time. He has already come extremely close on two occasions, having lost 10-9 in the final twice. The first came against John Higgins in 2012 and the second in 2015 against Kyren Wilson.
This afternoon Trump had surged into a 4-1 advantage, before Gilbert clawed his way back into the tie. Breaks of 111 and 62 helped the Tamworth cueist to move within a frame at 4-3.
However, Gilbert then crucially failed to convert a chance to restore parity. He had required snookers in the eighth frame, but was presented an opportunity to clear with a free ball. He broke down and Trump moved one from victory.
Gilbert pulled a frame back, but Trump wasn’t to be denied. He ruthlessly capitalised on a touch of good fortune, making a superb break of 103 from a fluked red to seal the win. Trump will face Mark Allen next.
Trump said: “These periods of form don’t come around all of the time. There will be only a handful of times in your career that you win over ten matches in a row. You just have to enjoy it and practise even harder. At some point you will get beat, but you just have to keep the confidence going for as long as possible.
“It is always good to win any event. You want to try and tick off every tournament. This is one where I’ve reached the final a couple of times and just come short. Shanghai is a place where I’ve always had a big fanbase and it would be nice to win in front of them.”
Allen earned his quarter-final place with a hard fought 6-5 win over China’s Liang Wenbo.
The Pistol had trailed 3-1 and 5-4 and needed to dig deep to emerge with the result. He summoned an important break of 72 to force a decider. Both players had chances to win in the subsequent frame, but it was Allen who eventually came through.
Neil Robertson produced a tremendous display to down home favourite Ding Junhui 6-3. The Thunder from Down Under fired in breaks of 72, 82, 101, 69, 79 and 71 on his way to this evening’s victory.
He will face Barry Hawkins in the last eight. The Hawk got there with his second consecutive 6-5 victory after beating Yan Bingtao in round one. Hawkins pipped four-time World Champion John Higgins on the final ball tonight to emerge with the deciding frame victory.