Trump into Masters semis and sets earnings record
World number one Judd Trump will play world champion Kyren Wilson in the semi-finals of the Masters after both players won their respective quarter-final matches on Friday.
Trump, 35, won five successive frames after the interval to beat China's Ding Junhui 6-3.
By reaching the last four at Alexandra Palace, Trump surpassed Ronnie O'Sullivan's record for the most prize money earned in a season, with his earnings for 2024-25 approaching £1.3m.
The key moment of his quarter-final victory came in the sixth frame when Ding, leading 3-2, did all of the hard work to create another frame-winning opportunity but missed an easy red, with the rest, to the corner pocket.
Trump dominated from that moment and will next face fellow Englishman Wilson, who defeated 2023 world champion Luca Brecel 6-4 in Friday's evening session - despite his preparation being hampered by a bizarre ankle injury sustained while asleep in bed.
England's Shaun Murphy will play Mark Allen of Northern Ireland in the other semi-final (Saturday, 13:15 GMT).
'I'm somewhere near my peak'
Trump and Ding produced a match of high quality in terms of scoring, with seven of their nine frames containing a break of 70 or above.
Ding, the 2011 Masters champion, began in style with well-made contributions of 70 and 74 to take a 2-0 lead.
Trump responded with a 75 to reduce the deficit but, when the two-time Masters winner missed an awkward red to the corner in frame four, Ding capitalised with a 72 clearance.
A 97 break brought Trump back within one frame at 3-2 and he knocked in a half-century following Ding's error in frame six - after which the world number nine had no answer to superb breaks of 125, 62 and 75.
Seven-time world champion O'Sullivan, who withdrew from the Masters on the eve of the tournament on medical grounds, earned about £1.26m during a 2023-24 season in which he won both the UK Championship and the Masters.
Trump will earn at least £75,000 for his run to the semi-finals at Alexandra Palace, with a first prize of £350,000 on offer to the winner on Sunday.
He has already won the Shanghai Masters, the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters and the UK Championship this season and continuing his current form could mean he breaks through the £2m barrier by the end of the campaign.
Trump told BBC Two: "Probably now I'd say I'm somewhere near my peak. I'm a lot better player than I was maybe five or 10 years ago.
"I just think it's the consistency, I'm able to have that inner belief over and over again.
"When I go behind 3-1, I still believe I can do what I did and rattle off five or 10 frames in a row without missing a single ball. That's what you have to do at this level."
'I fell asleep in bed and sprained my ankle - who does that?'
Wilson is the only player among the four semi-finalists who is yet to win the Masters, although he finished as runner-up to Allen in 2018.
The 33-year-old said his quarter-final win was "one of the best" of his career after a strange build-up.
He told BBC Four: "I could make up an extravagant story but literally I fell asleep in bed.
"You know when you're in a hotel and they tuck the quilt into the mattress? My foot has landed in an awkward position for eight hours. I woke up and I couldn't move.
"I fell asleep in bed and sprained my ankle - who does that?"
Despite those pre-match issues, Wilson began in clinical form against Brecel, the man he succeeded as world champion, seizing on the opportunities presented to him by his opponent to forge ahead.
Wilson made five half-centuries during an engaging last-eight tie in which Brecel was never more than two frames behind.
The Belgian, helped by breaks of 96, 84 and 83, reduced his deficit to one frame on four separate occasions.
After missing a chance to wrap up victory in a lengthy ninth frame, Wilson took a gripping 10th - which lasted more than 40 minutes - on the pink to confirm his place in the last four.
