We’re down to the last four players in this year’s World Snooker Championships, with the world number one Judd Trump looking unstoppable in his bid to become a two-time World Champion.
Having gone into the final session of his quarter-final match level on 8-8 with fellow former winner Luca Brecel yesterday, Trump made light work of the “Belgium bullet” by racking up five consecutive and unanswered frames to book his place in the semi-finals.
Trump will face three-time champion Mark Williams, who could still be feeling the effects of his grueling and epic last-eight battle with fellow class of 92′ member John Higgins. Williams survived a missed match ball by Higgins to win a nerve-jangling deciding frame at the Crucible arena yesterday.
During this year’s tournament, Trump has broken the century mark for centuries in a season for the second time in his career, bagging himself a £100k bonus in the process. The Englishman made four more 100+ breaks during his quarter-final victory and is now on the cusp of breaking Neil Robertson’s long-standing record of 104 century breaks in a single campaign.
On current form, it’s very difficult to see past Trump as the most likely winner of this year’s title, with the 2019 champion now the hot favourite in the outright market at 7/10.
Despite overcoming Chinese up-and-comer Si Jiahui 13-9 last night, Ronnie O’Sullivan continues to bemoan his game as he seeks to make history by becoming the most successful player in World Championship history by way of an eighth Crucible title.
While overly negative analysis is nothing new from the “Rocket”, O’Sullivan hasn’t looked entirely in tune with his new cue, particularly when attempting to play the thinner safety shots during this year’s competition.
The Londoner must now overcome another Chinese opponent in the semi-finals with Zhao Xintong standing in the “Rockets” way of a place in the final. The 28-year-old makes for a very dangerous opponent for O’Sullivan, given he came through the qualifiers for this year’s event, meaning his game should by now be fine-tuned and his confidence high.
However, there is also a nagging suspicion that perhaps all those matches and hours around the table are beginning to catch up with Zhao, who has struggled with his break building in recent matches. The former UK Open champion failed to put together a single century break in either of his last two matches.
This will be O’Sullivan’s 14th semi-final appearance, and that experience should stand to him as they move to the one-table setting in Sheffield.
Snooker fans the world over would love to see an O’Sullivan v Trump final, and they may just get their wish.
VERDICT: Judd Trump outright (7/10) +3pts.