Ronnie O’Sullivan v Judd Trump LIVE: Snooker updates as stars clash in Saudi semi-final
The two sporting icons square off in the Riyadh Season World Masters of Snooker, with a place in tonight’s final up for grabs
Ronnie O’Sullivan will look to keep his impressive start to the year going when he takes on Judd Trump in the semi-final of the World Masters of Snooker in Riyadh this afternoon.
The 12-man event is the inaugural tournament to be held in Saudi Arabia, featuring a prize pot of £788,000 and a controversial new Golden Ball worth an additional 20 points, extending the maximum possible break to 167.
O’Sullivan who has already won The Masters and the UK Championship among other events this year, breezed past John Higgins 4-0 in his quarter-final match to reach the final four.
Trump, meanwhile, who lost to O’Sullivan in the World Grand Prix final, will hope to enact revenge having won 4-3 in a tight encounter against Shaun Murphy in his quarter-final match.
Follow all the action from Saudi Arabia below:
Ronnie O’Sullivan 4-1 Judd Trump
That ends our coverage of the World Masters of Snooker for today. Ronnie O’Sullivan is back in action this evening, at around 8pm UK time to face Luca Brecel in the final.
Ronnie O’Sullivan not happy with form despite reaching final in Saudi Arabia
Ronnie O’Sullivan saw room for improvement despite reaching the final of the inaugural World Masters of Snooker by beating Judd Trump 4-1.
The world number one’s victory set up a clash with world champion Luca Brecel later on Wednesday evening in Saudi Arabia.
But O’Sullivan, who produced a break of 123 in the third frame before winning the next two to seal his place in the final, was not happy with his display.
He told Eurosport: “It wasn’t great. Judd was probably the worst I’ve ever seen him play - I think I dragged him down to my level.
“I played really well last night (in a 4-0 win over John Higgins), I had a bit of expectation coming in here, thinking I can put two matches together playing well, but that’s put that out the window.”
In the other semi-final, Brecel recorded four breaks over 70 to sink Mark Allen 4-2.
It continued a welcome return to form for the Belgian, who last month at the Welsh Open reached his first ranking quarter-final since his Crucible win.
Brecel compiled a break of 125 in the fourth frame to keep Allen at bay, although the Northern Irishman contributed to a high-quality contest with breaks of 121 and 133 in the third and fifth frames respectively.
Brecel told Eurosport: “I played good, I felt good. Every week, I seem to play a little bit better.
“Wales was the first step. I now feel very good about myself. Mark is so tough to beat. Every frame he plays the same way, and it’s very difficult to play against.”
(PA Sports Staff)
Ronnie O’Sullivan 4-1 Judd Trump
O’Sullivan takes advantage of a couple of errors from Trump to blitz through the fifth frame and take the match! The writing was on the wall early on in the frame for Trump who has been underpar in this semi-final.
O’Sullivane makes if five wins in a row over Trump and sets up a meeting with Luca Brecel in the final. Can he beat the world champion and take the spoils in Saudi Arabia?
Ronnie O’Sullivan 3-1 Judd Trump
O’Sullivan takes the frame! Trump misses the blue which would have given him the frame and O’Sullivan takes out the blue and pink to nick it.
He’s two up and one away from winning now.
Ronnie O’Sullivan 2-1 Judd Trump
A tricky shot for O’Sullivan, bouncing of two cushions to try and hit the yellow means he fouls twice in a row. Trump takes out the yellow but misses the green as he continues to struggle.
Trump trails by 3.
Ronnie O’Sullivan 2-1 Judd Trump
A break of 24 gets O’Sullivan level with Trump. He opens up a slender lead with a couple of blacks and a red dropping for him. An awkward bounce off the cushion means he has to play safe.
The break ends at 39.
Ronnie O’Sullivan 2-1 Judd Trump
This has been a strange match.
Mistakes from both players are affording the other to take advantage but neither one has as of yet. Trump leads 32-8 but O’Sullivan has a second opportunity to take control of the frame.
If he wins this one he’ll be one away from winning the match and Trump will be under serious pressure.
Ronnie O’Sullivan 2-1 Judd Trump
A break of 20 from Trump comes to an end with the Englishman hiding the cueball behind the brown at the top end of the table. O’Sullivan fouls and gives away four points but manages to nail the safety shot next up.
Trump leads by 24 but decides to go safe as he’s trailing in the match. Tense moments these.
Ronnie O’Sullivan 2-1 Judd Trump
Oh no. O’Sullivan has started this fourth frame very sluggishly. A foul gives Trump four points then there’s a red left open for the bottom left pocket.
Instead, Trump plants a red at the tip of the triangle which also spreads the table. Brilliant shot, it’s his frame to lose from here already.
Ronnie O’Sullivan 2-1 Judd Trump
Wonderful stuff from O’Sullivan who finishes out of position after rolling in the black. He screws hard off the back of the next red to set up the next colour and looks to methodically take apart the rest of the reds.
After a break of 45, a red catches the jaw but drops after hovering over the top of the pocket. A couple more colours and O’Sullivan’s break goes up to 61.
A red, the blue and another red put O’Sullivan over the threshold to win the frame and when the black drops too the century break is on.
There it is! O’Sullivan goes past 100, finishes with a break of 123 and takes a 2-1 lead in the match.
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