Trump is yet to even drop a single frame at the venue in Shanghai, having now produced four 5-0 victories, adding to wins over Alfie Burden and Ben Woollaston earlier in the week by thrashing Stephen Maguire and Luca Brecel on a bumper Thursday of action. Against Maguire, his opponent had chances in the opening two frames but could not force a way through, and after falling 2-0 behind he would not register another point in the contest. Runs of 80 and 108 would help Trump into the last eight.
That was followed in the evening with the victory against in-form Belgian Brecel. He had come from 3-2 and 4-3 behind to beat Graeme Dott in the round of 16, and looked like taking the opener against Trump until missing the final black. Trump would eventually double it into the bottom corner and did not look back. Fantastic break-building that produced contributions of 66, 87, 92 and 114 in the final four frames saw Trump race into Friday's semi-finals, while Brecel could only manage another six points after missing frame ball in the first.
Meanwhile, O'Sullivan's day began with a whitewash of Barry Hawkins. Runs of 51, 67, 78, 87 and 90 made sure there was a 50+ break in every frame from the recent English Open winner and put him into the quarter-finals with ease. In that match he would face Mark Williams after the Welshman saw off world number one Mark Selby in the last 16. Selby started well, making a break of 114 on the way to a 2-1 lead. A brilliant counter-punch of 108 had Williams level and a run of 57 soon had him in front at 3-2. Selby levelled at 3-3, but breaks of 66 and 85 in the final two frames helped Williams to finish the job.
However, he was unable to offer the same challenge to O'Sullivan after losing the opener on a re-spotted black after being ahead in that frame. He certainly had his chances scoring at least 30 points in each of the first four frames but he would lose them all, the highlight for the Rocket being a run of 96 that saw him go into the interval 4-0 in front. A run of 62 in the fifth frame ensured Williams avoided a whitewash but he would go no further as O'Sullivan sealed his semi-final place in the sixth.
O'Sullivan will now face John Higgins for the third time in a month, after John Higgins also had two easy enough victories on day four in Shanghai. The Scotsman started out against Liang Wenbo in the last 16, someone he had never previously been beaten by in eight attempts. It was not to be ninth time lucky for the Chinese number two, and he quickly fell 2-0 adrift though did win the third with a run of 56. Contributions of 51 and 59 helped Higgins to win the frames either side of the interval and lead 4-1 and despite a break of 105 in the sixth frame, it was soon all over with Higgins making 67 in the seventh to secure victory.
He would face Martin Gould in the quarter-finals after Gould scored a nice 5-2 victory against Marco Fu that featured high breaks of 124 and 84. It did not start well though for the Englishman as he fell 2-0 adrift, though he did get the third frame on the board with two 50+ contributions. He had a chance to win the fourth frame and level at 2-2 but when Higgins took it to lead 3-1 at the interval this seemed to kill the match. The fifth and sixth frames followed for the Scot after the break and he was into the semi-finals a 5-1 winner, despite not managing a break of above 50 in the contest.
The final man into the semi-finals is Jack Lisowski who is in the first full ranking semi-final of his career. His furious Thursday started with a tight 5-4 win over Mark Allen. It was Allen that was to be left disappointed after losing from 4-2 up and making three centuries of 100, 102 and 115 in those opening six frames. A 54 in the seventh kept Lisowski in the hunt while Allen's best chance to win came in frame eight, and when that came a went a 62 in the decider proved enough for the Englishman to cross the line
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| Allen was not at all happy with how he lost his match to Lisowski |
Then in the quarter-finals he took on Norweigian Kurt Maflin, who had earlier beaten Mei Xiwen 5-2, and Maflin made a strong start by taking the first frame with a run of 65 and then went 50 points ahead in the second frame. Lisowski would come back to take it and level the scores, and did not look back until he was 4-1 in front, with a run of 82 in the fourth and a century straight after the interval. He had a chance to seal victory in the fifth but his earlier 57 break was cancelled out by a Maflin clearance of 77, a swift 70 then saw him close to 3-4 and out the pressure on the left-hander. He was equal to it though, dominating frame eight to secure what is already the best run of his career.
Last 16 Results:
Kurt Maflin 5-2 Mei Xiwen
Jack Lisowski 5-4 Mark Allen
Judd Trump 5-0 Stephen Magurie
Luca Brecel 5-4 Graeme Dott
John Higgins 5-2 Liang Wenbo
Martin Gould 5-2 Marco Fu
Ronnie O'Sullivan 5-0 Barry Hawkins
Mark Williams 5-3 Mark Selby
Quarter-Final Results:
Jack Lisowski 5-3 Kurt Maflin
Judd Trump 5-0 Luca Brecel
John Higgins 5-1 Martin Gould
Ronnie O'Sullivan 5-1 Mark Williams
Semi-Final Draw:
Judd Trump Vs Jack Lisowski
Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs John Higgins
The first semi-final on Friday will see Judd Trump take on his good friend Jack Lisowski. In seven previous meetings, Lisowski has in fact won four of those including the most recent at the English Open last month. He has been playing well for the best part of the month and it is no surprise at all to see him make his maiden semi-final here. It would also be no surprise if he kept the run going and won the whole tournament such is how well he is playing and scoring presently.
Judd Trump though is proving an even tougher nut to crack than usual this week. In four matches he has not dropped a frame though this will present the biggest test of the week over the best-of-11 frames if Lisowski gets off to a good start. There is a lot of pressure on Lisowski playing on the TV (something he said in Barnsley he is not quite as comfortable with as he would like) and in the biggest match of his life. A win could open all sorts of doors for Lisowski and be the massive breakthrough he needs. While for Trump, it would be his fifth ranking final of 2017 and his seventh since the start of the 2016/2017 season which is a phenomenal display. It would also offer a third chance for Trump to win the Shanghai Masters, having been runner-up in 2012 and 2015.
Then later in the day, John Higgins would face Ronnie O'Sullivan for the third time this season in all competitions, but is still searching for his first victory. Wins for O'Sullivan at the Hong Kong Masters invitational, and the English Open came in deciding frames, but last week's best-of-11 frame quarter-final in Coventry saw O'Sullivan dish out an embarrassing 6-0 loss to the Scotsman. That will surely spur Higgins on to avenge that defeat but with O'Sullivan in sublime form it is a very difficult proposition.
Despite the short turnaround and having to play two matches a day on both Wednesday and Thursday, O'Sullivan has made it to this stage for the loss of just four frames and just looks to be picking up from his performances at the Champion of Champions and English Open. Higgins has had some good victories himself though his scoring does not look to be at the same level as O'Sullivan's if you compare Thursday's match sheets. Higgins failed to make a break of above 50 against Martin Gould and did not register a break over 70 in any of the ten frames won on the day. The interesting point in this match will be whether there is any psychological scarring from the 6-0 defeat last week for Higgins or if that result instead offers the inspiration to beat O'Sullivan here.
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