Nerveless Trump entertains and takes early lead

The last Englishman standing in Sheffield was almost staging his own shot of the championship competition in the opening session as he built a 5-3 advantage over China’s big hope for Crucible glory.

There was a stunning red played at high pace with deep screw along a side cushion which had the audience gasping, a phenomenal long brown, and an exquisitely cut red to set up a frame-winning break. The left-hander also played an aggressive pot right-handed, making light of awkward bridging, in the closing frame.

Trump had made a promise to entertain and he made good on it.

World Snooker chiefs have experimented with variants of the game in order to draw in a new audience, but Trump in full flow takes some beating as a spectacle.

The 21-year-old seemed not to have a worry in the world as he set about attacking Sheffield-based Ding who, like Trump, is contesting a Crucible semi-final for the first time.

Since knocking out defending champion Neil Robertson in the first round, Trump has slain Martin Gould in round two and Graeme Dott in the quarter-finals.

Merciless, a lethal potting machine, and utterly fearless, he was relishing the one-table situation which comes into play at the last-four stage.

One table was removed from the theatre on Wednesday night, with the other moved to centre stage.

Trump said: “I’ve got the whole crowd to entertain now, which is going to be good, rather than having just half the arena to myself.”

Ding, who the previous night knocked out Mark Selby, had plenty of support in yesterday’s crowd.

He lives in Sheffield throughout the snooker season, and his break of 102 to take the opening frame indicated he had settled down well.

But then Trump took over, and over the next three frames he delivered a masterclass, the youngster from Bristol playing one breathtaking shot after another.

He responded to Ding’s century with a dazzling 110, featuring his startling side-cushion red and the brown.

Trump won the China Open at the start of April and has gained such confidence he admitted to feeling “invincible” after trouncing Dott.

The break he made to clinch frame three against Ding was just 42, but it was surely as good a 42 as there has been at the World Championship.

Each shot seemed more impressive than the last. There were echoes of Alex Higgins’s famous 69 break in the 1982 semi-final against Jimmy White about it. He cut in a remarkable red to keep the break going and cleared to the pink to edge ahead.

Ding turned down a long red in the fourth frame which might have given him an opportunity to draw level at the interval, but Trump was not so cautious and rammed in an opener from a greater distance before snookering his opponent behind the pink.

It was the right shot. Ding hit the last remaining red but clipped it over the green pocket and Trump feasted on the leftovers, a break of 32 giving him a two-frame cushion.

Ding won frame five, as the standard slipped a touch after the mid-session interval, Trump responded with 51 in the sixth to restore his two-frame lead, only to have it cut again by his opponent, who was clinging on.

It would have been harsh on Trump had he not led after the session, and a break of 59, including his brassy right-handed shot, made sure that he did.

They resume this morning, play eight more frames in the evening, and providing there is no runaway winner in the best-of-33 contest, will play to a finish tomorrow afternoon.

John Higgins says he is feeling his father’s arm around him as he steps up his challenge for a fourth world title.

The Scot lost father John snr in February after a battle with cancer, and paid an emotional tribute to him after winning the Welsh Open later in the month.

Higgins’s career has been guided by his father, and it continues to be after his death.

“It’s inspiring me,” the 35-year-old said. “It’s the first time I’ve been down here when he’s not been here but he’s watching down. He was a big character and I know he’s here as well.”

Higgins last night had two centuries, 135 and 120, but trailed twice former champion Mark Williams 5-3 in their semi-final, which is scheduled to conclude tomorrow evening.

Whatever happens on the table in the next four days, Williams will replace Higgins as world No 1 for the start of next season, and the Welshman would love to do so by joining his current opponent and Ronnie O’Sullivan on three Crucible titles.

The 36-year-old from Cwm had runs of 72 and 74. He will share Higgins’s view that visits to the Crucible challenge the endurance of even the leading players such as the Scot, the champion of 1998, 2007 and 2009.

“It’s a test of everything,” Higgins said. “It’s a test of whether you can get your sleep at night. Your whole nervous system is in meltdown for 17 days. It’s just how you handle it.

“Experience only gets you so far, you’ve got to have ability to go with it. You look at Judd Trump who’s got no experience here and he’s blitzing everyone.”