Trump On Top In China
Judd Trump reached the semi-final of the Bank of Beijing sponsored China Open with a convincing five-frames-to-one victory over 2009 champion, Peter Ebdon.
The Bristol born youngster has been tipped as a ‘Major’ winner for a number of years and for many has taken longer than expected to really establish himself among the game’s elite. However, it is easy to forget that he is still only 21.
Now based at the Grove Academy in Romford, Trump is beginning to find a level of consistency that has been lacking for the past couple of seasons.
Wins against Marco Fu and Mark Davis set up his match with Ebdon, who beat world champion Neil Robertson en route to the last eight.
Trump came flying out of the blocks, making a 130 break in the opener and quickly followed up with runs of 52, 62 and 61 to open a four-nil lead at the mid-session interval.
Former world champion, Ebdon rallied with a pair of 54 breaks in the next but only served to delay the inevitable as the world number 24 finished off with another half-century.
In the semi-final, he will face 2005 world champion, Shaun Murphy who beat John Higgins for the first time in a major ranking tournament since the Scot fell to Steve Davis at Sheffield last April.
Murphy’s form has steadily improved and victory in the Player Tour Championship will have given him a confidence as the world championship looms.
World number one Higgins won the opening frame but Murphy took the next two with breaks of 78 and 53.
Higgins drew level at the interval with a 61 but when they resumed it was all one-way traffic as the Manchester-based Murphy eased into the last four with breaks of 108, 54 and 81.
