World Snooker Championship quarter-finals: Trump tackles Ding duel
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Judd Trump booked his place in the World Snooker Championship quarter-finals with a dominant 13-8 triumph over Hong-Kong’s Marco Fu, and will now face another Asian potter Ding Junhui in a repeat of their 2011 semi-final encounter.
Former Crucible finalist Trump took a 10-6 overnight advantage into his final session with Fu and wasted no time in securing his progression, rallying to an impressive five-frame victory, including a stunning 133 break to cap off a prolific performance.
Although, the world number six, who is odds-on 4/7 with Coral to dump Ding out in the last eight, will surely face a sterner contest against China’s number one cueist.
‘The Chinese Sensation’ is 11/8 to topple ‘the Juddernaut’, while the Bristol-born baize player is a 16/1 chance to record a second successive 13-8 winning margin over his Asian opposition.
Recent history will be on Ding’s side, though, with the 11-time ranking event winner having got the upper hand in the pair’s three most recent meetings, including a 2014 German Masters coup (9-5).
On the way to a stunning world championship final appearance in 2011, brilliant break builder Trump outgunned Ding in the semi-final with an enthralling 17-15 triumph, potting his way to prominence on the sport’s greatest stage.
With four ranking event titles already achieved in his career, including the 2011 UK Championship, and on the 10-year anniversary of turning professional, Trump is a 5/1 third favourite to lift a maiden Crucible crown in Sheffield this year.
Ding will need to get off the mark quickly in this potentially close quarter-final match-up, with Trump displaying plenty of fine form so far in this year’s tournament, and the experienced five-time maximum maker is 23/20 to win the race to four frames.
The clinical Chinese cueist rampantly demolished his English counterpart 9-2 at the 2005 UK Championship, in what was Trump’s debut season as a professional potter, but ‘the Ace in the Pack’ has demonstrated a deadly defensive game to rival any Crucible competitor and is 11/1 to win a deciding frame.
