German Masters snooker: Judd Trump makes three centuries in dominant win over Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
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Updated 01/02/2024 at 23:23 GMT
With Ronnie O'Sullivan not in action at the German Masters, Judd Trump was centre stage at the Tempodrom in Berlin. He did not disappoint, delivering a masterclass to beat Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and book his place in the last eight. Next for the world No. 2 is a clash with John Higgins. Stream top snooker action, including the German Masters, live on discovery+, the Eurosport app and at eurosport.com.
‘Something has clicked’ - Trump makes 62nd century of season
Judd Trump produced a snooker masterclass to beat Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 5-2 to reach the quarter-finals of the German Masters, and in so doing he wrapped up the BetVictor Series bonus of £150,000.
Trump has been one of the form players of the season - albeit he had been in the shadow of Ronnie O’Sullivan either side of Christmas - and he delivered a stunning display at the Tempodrom in Berlin on Thursday.
The world No. 2 made three centuries and a break of 80 to dominate Thepchaiya and set up a clash with John Higgins in the last eight.
For all Trump's brilliance, Thepchaiya made the first move with a superb long red and an excellent cut-back black, but was stopped in his tracks as a red he cannoned trickled into the left middle.
It presented Trump with an easy starter, but he could only make 35 before running out of position.
Trump later extricated himself from trouble and picked off the points needed to get the opener on the board.
From there, it was pretty much one-way traffic. Trump picked off a fine opening red in the second and raced through his 62nd century of the season - a 110 - to double his lead.
As well as his excellent potting, other aspects of Trump’s game were in good order and he left Thepchaiya welded to the baulk rail off his break in the third.
Thepchaiya went for the pot but it did not drop. A matter of minutes later, Trump was potting the final black for a 132 total clearance to lead 3-0 in half an hour.
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‘An absolute exhibition’ - Trump makes back-to-back centuries at German Masters
The Thai was restricted to two and half minutes of table time in the opening three frames. He played one shot in the fourth, as Trump sunk a sparkling red from Thepchaiya’s break and made 80 to take a 4-0 lead into the interval after 36 minutes of play.
There was a collector’s item at the start of the fifth: a Trump miss. It was an admittedly difficult black, but it remained above ground and enabled Thepchaiya to snap a 38-minute run without potting a ball.
Thepchaiya had looked good in the first frame only to see luck go against him. It was the same scenario in the fifth, as a horrible miscue when on a run of 53 halted his progress.
It looked set to be his final contribution, but Trump missed again and Thepchaiya emerged from his seat to get a frame on the board.
Trump looked extremely disappointed at failing to wrap up the whitewash, and that continued as Thepchaiya picked off a break of 74 in the sixth.
Thepchaiya chanced his arm in the seventh, but returned to his seat with a rueful smile after a pot did not fall and left a chance for Trump.
It was good play from Thepchaiya as opposed to poor play from Trump that kept the match alive, but Trump shut the contest down with a break of 135 to book his place in the quarter-finals.
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‘Scintillating at times’ - Trump wraps up win over Thepchaiya with third century
The icing on the cake for Trump was that victory secured him the BetVictor Series bonus with over a tournament to spare, as his performances earlier in the season put him out of reach for the rest of the tour.
Elsewhere, Neil Robertson’s decent run at the event came to an end at the hands of Kyren Wilson.
The Australian’s form had been poor in the first half of the season, but he looked good in beating Joe Perry, Jimmy Robertson and Sanderson Lam for the loss of two frames.
Robertson took the opening two frames on Thursday evening, but Wilson knocked in breaks of 115, 72 and 76 to storm into the quarter-finals courtesy of a 5-3 win.
Wilson will face Fan Zhengyi in the quarter-finals following his 5-3 win over Tom Ford.
Meanwhile Sam Craigie held his nerve to knock in a 52 break in the final frame to beat Xu Si 5-4, and his reward is a quarter-final clash with Ali Carter.
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