Ding pushed to the edge as Trump shines at Crucible

Trump – who reached the final in 2011 and semi-finals in 2013 – needs just one more frame this morning to clinch a last-four spot as he leads Ding 12-4.

The world No 6 dominated in the morning, racing into a 6-0 lead, before third seed Ding – who has lived in Sheffield for over a decade – finally got on the scoreboard in his adopted home town to collect the last two frames of the session.

A heavy scoring run of 45, 54, 82, 94, 108 and 76 put 25-year-old Trump in control, but Ding gifted him two of those opportunities, failing to capitalise on his chances as breaks of 48 and 54 were insufficient to kill the frame off at one visit.

Trailing 6-0, Ding could have been forgiven for wilting, but in frame seven it was Trump who faltered on a 42 break, allowing Ding to clear up to make it 6-1.

Ding then produced his best break of the morning sesssion, 72, to give him a lifeline going into last night’s resumption.

Having battled back from 4-0 against Mark Davis, then 5-1 to John Higgins, in the first two rounds, Ding was in familiar territory.

Trump, though, was not giving up his advantage, with an opening 102 in the evening session from the World Grand Prix winner.

Ding scrapped away, but the Bristol potter was in sparkling form, finishing the evening with back-to-back century breaks of 127 and 116.

On the opposite table, Crucible debutant Anthony McGill, the world No 32, was up against 2005 world champion Shaun Murphy.

Having knocked out defending champion Mark Selby, the Scot was kept seated as world 
No 8 Murphy produced back-to-back centuries to go 2-0 ahead.

But McGill kept his head as the pair shared the morning’s opening eight frames.

The duo were still locked together at 6-6 last night, but after the mid-session interval, Masters champion Murphy stepped up a gear to take a 9-7 overnight lead, the highlight being a 127 clearance. Their match concludes this afternoon.

In the other quarter-finals, Stuart Bingham leads five-time Crucible winner Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-3, the same scoreline by which Neil Robertson – the 2010 world champion – trails Barry Hawkins.