Judd Trump beats Shaun Murphy in semi-final to set up World Grand Prix final showdown with Mark Allen in Cheltenham
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Updated 21/01/2023 at 22:15 GMT
Judd Trump reached the World Grand Prix final after he convincingly beat Shaun Murphy 6-2 on Saturday night. Trump will play Mark Allen in Sunday’s best-of-19 frame final in Cheltenham - where the final will be held for the first time in three years - after the 37-year-old knocked out Noppon Saengkham in Friday’s last-four clash. Stream top snooker action live on Eurosport and discovery+
'I’ve never missed so many easy balls' – Trump surprised with Masters victory
Judd Trump beat Shaun Murphy 6-2 to reach the World Grand Prix final in Cheltenham.
The former world No. 1 dictated most of the game, and despite a tournament-best 140 break from Murphy in the third frame, comfortably set up a tie with Mark Allen in the final.
Trump took the early advantage claiming the opening frame and threatened to run away with the second with a carefree and confident approach, but a miss on the red as he tried to force an angle for the blue gave Murphy hope when he likely feared the worst.
Murphy gave Trump a way back into the frame with a few safety errors, which Trump capitalised on to take a 2-0 lead as alarm bells rang for Murphy early on, who conceded having potted one ball in two frames.
However, he settled into the match in the third frame with a break of 140, a new high break of the tournament, to close the gap.
Trump dealt Murphy a sickening blow to regain his two-frame advantage when he profited from Murphy’s complacency in the fourth.
Despite coming off a 140 break, he missed an easy red along the top cushion, and from there Trump doled out heavy punishment to lead 3-1 in a form that showed why he’s the Masters Champion.
3-1 quickly became 4-1 as Trump produced a 112 break and stamped his authority on the semi-final, putting one foot in the final against Allen.
Murphy was down, but not out, and quickly needed to rediscover the form that got him into a 47th semi-final at a major ranking event, which he managed in the sixth frame to reduce Trump’s commanding lead to two.
A key blunder from the 2005 World Champion, who failed to sink the brown in a competitive frame gifted Trump a 5-2 lead, as he picked off brown, blue and pink to pinch the seventh frame.
Trump eased into the final with a break of 69 in the final frame and set up a mouth-watering best-of-19 clash with Allen on Sunday.
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