Ronnie O'Sullivan: Beat Judd Trump for the first time in four meetings to reach the semi-finals in Newport
Ronnie O'Sullivan's recent revival continued as he beat Judd Trump for the first time in four meetings to reach the semi-finals of the 888 Welsh Open in Newport.
O'Sullivan won out 5-3 in a high-quality affair against UK Championship victor Trump as he maintained the momentum built up by his success at the Germans Masters earlier in the month.'The Rocket' looked fluent and full of confidence as he became the first player to book his place in the last four where he will face Mark Selby.Trump made the early running as he cut in a long thin red in the opening frame on his way to a 109 break.O'Sullivan responded with a century of his own (101) in the next after a bout of safety play.High-quality contestTrump was first amongst the balls in the third frame but missed a cut into the middle pocket and O'Sullivan took full advantage with a run of 88 to get his nose ahead for the first time.However, O'Sullivan paid the penalty in the final frame before the interval for a poor break-off shot and Trump's 63 proved sufficient as he levelled proceedings.O'Sullivan made Trump pay for missing a black with a superb 139 clearance to restore his lead when play resumed, but the youngster again git himself on terms at 3-3.O'Sullivan then moved to within one frame of the finishing line as he compiled an initial 43 and then made Trump regret missing a straightforward green.It was over 15 minutes later as breaks of 31 and then a decisive 61 sealed the win for O'Sullivan. Next he will face Selby, who overcame StephenMaguire 5-3 in the evening session.Murphy ousts AllenThe other afternoon match was also a close affair with Shaun Murphy edging out Mark Allen 5-4.Murphy, in his fifth major ranking quarter-final of the season, led 3-1 with the help of a 98 in the fourth frame, but UK Championship runner-up Allen responded after the interval.He moved into a 4-3 lead with a 121 break in the fifth frame before Murphy ensured the match would go into a decider.A 70 break left Allen needing three snookers and, although he got two of them, Murphy just got himself over the finishing line.Ding Junhui prevailed in an error-strewn decider to see off Stephen Lee 5-4 in the other quarter-final.Lee passed up a glorious chance to win as he looked to clear up the colours, appearing to blame a mobile phone going off in the crowd as he missed the green and let Ding back in to win.Read more https://www1.skysports.com/snooker/news/12243/7528420/