Judd Trump (Photo by Martin Rulsch)
World number one Judd Trump eased past Hossein Vafaei with a 5-1 victory to reach the semi-finals of the World Open in Yushan, where he faces a blockbuster tie with Thepchaiya Un-Nooh.
The Ace in the Pack has enjoyed a routine week thus far and has only conceded seven frames in his five matches so far. Victory this evening sees Trump progress to the 74th ranking event semi-final of his career.
Trump claimed victory last month at the German Masters in Berlin, beating Shaun Murphy in the final. That ended a silverware drought which saw him go without a tournament win in 2025. His run this week, coupled with semi-final appearances at the Masters and the Players Championship will give him heart for a massive end of the season to come.
Breaks of 88 and 109 gave Trump the opening two frames, before Vafaei pegged him back to 2-1 with 68 in the third. Crucially a tightly contested fourth went the way of the Englishman to leave him 3-1 up at the mid-session.
When play resumed, Trump took two on the bounce, including a break of 113, to emerge victorious. He and Un-Nooh join Ronnie O’Sullivan, fresh off his historic 153 break, and Wu Yize in the last four.
“It was a massive fourth frame to go 3-1 up at the interval. After that I played really solidly to get over the line,” said 31-time ranking event winner Trump.
“I feel sharp. I’ve practised hard. There are four very good semi-final opponents, two amazing games and I’m looking forward to the semi-finals now.
“It has been a good six months. Since getting to the final of Northern Ireland everything has been very consistent. I feel back to somewhere near my best. I think the only thing I’d have done differently is win a few deciding frames. That could have been the difference for having an unbelievable season.
“Thepchaiya seems to have breezed through the draw. He is obviously scoring well and he puts you under a lot of pressure. He is so attacking and just takes everything on. He is a little bit different to the other players. My safety is going to have to be top notch to keep him out.”
Former Shoot Out winner Un-Nooh thrashed Gary Wilson 5-1 to book his semi-final slot. Victory for Un-Nooh keeps alive his hopes of qualifying for the Sportsbet.io Tour Championship. He needs to win the event to make it into the event. Defeat for Wilson ends his chances of qualifying for both Manchester and automatically gaining a place at the Crucible.
