Judd Trump booked his place in the semi-finals of the BGC Masters with a 6-2 victory over Ronnie O'Sullivan at Alexandra Palace.
Young pretender hammers former world champion in north London
Judd Trump booked his place in the semi-finals of the BGC Masters with a 6-2 victory over Ronnie O'Sullivan at Alexandra Palace.
The game's rising star surged into a 4-0 interval lead and although O'Sullivan reeled off a tournament best 141 after the break Trump remained on top.
O'Sullivan failed to live up to the promise of his first-round win over reigning champion Ding Junhui, but the inexorable rise of Trump continues with Neil Robertson or Mark Williams awaiting in the final four.
The match got off to a scrappy start with neither player able to find their rhythm, but the frame eventually went the way of Trump with a 39.
O'Sullivan's safety play let him down in the next to open the way for Trump to rattle off an assured break that broke down at 66. O'Sullivan attempted to play on but a missed red spelled the end of his efforts as Trump moved 2-0 ahead.
Missed red
The Bristolian missed a red early in the third to clear the way for O'Sullivan to finally put a break together, reaching 49 before running out of options.
His attempted safety was not aggressive enough, however, and Trump needed no second invitation to surge back into the frame, a 78 clearance further extending his lead.
And Trump picked up where he left off in the next frame, a brilliant break of 140 - at the time the highest of the tournament so far - handing him a 4-0 lead.
O'Sullivan finally got off the mark with a 67 in the first frame after the break, but Trump responded in the next, three modest breaks putting him in charge after O'Sullivan had broken down on 28.
With Trump 55-28 ahead, the frame came down to an exchange of safety shots on the green, but when O'Sullivan left the ball over the hole, Trump had an easy chance to tuck it away and move to within a frame of victory.
O'Sullivan delayed Trump's celebrations with a supreme performance in the next frame, reeling off a break of 141 to stay alive at 5-2.
The 36-year-old looked like he might pull back even closer in the next when he made a good start only to break down on 54, which gave Trump just enough points on the table to clear up and book his place in the semis.
Tough
"I didn't really expect to be 4-0 up at the interval, but I knew he still seemed interested and I knew it was going to be tough," said Trump.
"When he came back out after the break he didn't really look like missing, he was creating a lot of opportunities for himself. But I didn't really miss a lot today, and when he did miss I made some good clearances.
"I played pretty well, better than I played in the first round. My potting was good and that's what got me over the line.
"Ronnie has done everything he wanted to do in the game. He's enjoyed himself on and off the table, he has entertained the crowd for 20 years now and everyone still loves him. For however long he plays the game he will be the fans favourite.
"I just want to go my own way and do things a little bit different to people in the past, I want my own identity. I don't want to be seen as the next Ronnie O'Sullivan, I want to be seen as Judd Trump, not the person who copied Ronnie O'Sullivan.
