Trump wins thrilling Shanghai Masters semifinal
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E-mail Xinhua, September 23, 2012
Judd Trump beat Mark Williams 6-4 on Saturday to reach the final of the Shanghai Masters snooker tournament.
A high quality semifinal featured 11 breaks over 50 in the ten frames as well as plenty of drama. Williams ensured an exciting finish by coming from 5-1 down to 5-4, before Trump sealed victory to set up a final with John Higgins, who eased past Shaun Murphy 6-3.
Breaks of 62 and 82 gave Trump the first two frames and he looked set to add the third until he broke down on 53. Williams, who has won six ranking titles in Asia, made a 79 clearance, but didn't keep that form for the next three frames as Trump fired in runs of 76, 62 and 82 to lead 5-1 after just 58 minutes.
He was cruising towards victory in the next until he missed a red to a center pocket on 53, and Welshman Williams cleared with 66. The next frame came down to the colors and Williams missed frame-ball blue with the rest, but Trump was unlucky to go in-off when potting the blue and his opponent took advantage to close to 5-3.
In frame nine, Williams trapped his opponent in a tough snooker behind the green which helped him move 27 points ahead with two reds left. And he got the better of a safety battle before adding enough points to keep the fight-back going.
But when Williams missed a tough long red in the tenth frame, it gave Trump the chance he needed and he held his nerve with a match-winning 58.
"I felt I played a lot better and I dominated the match to go 5-1 up," said Trump. "Then Mark turned things around and every time I thought I had him in trouble, he got out of it. It was getting tense at 5-4 so I was really pleased to get over the line. I'm here to win it and I fancy my chances in the final. I'd say John Higgins is slight favorite in the second semifinal tonight but it will be close."
Williams said: "It was a good match though he played 20 times better than me for the first six frames. I only just managed to stay in it. After that he was twitching a bit and started to look under pressure. I never got a chance in the tenth frame otherwise it could have gone either way. I just tried my best and nearly got out of jail."
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