Judd Trump and Jackson Page scored quarter-final victories at the Huading Nylon World Open to set up a last four meeting in Yushan.
World number two and defending champion Trump earned his passage with a 5-2 defeat of Kyren Wilson.
Trump won the World Open the last time it was held in Yushan back in 2019, beating Thepchaiya Un-Nooh in the final.
The 34-year-old is hunting a fifth ranking title in what has already been a remarkable season. He won back-to-back events at the English Open, Wuhan Open and Northern Ireland Open last year and added the German Masters to his title tally last month.
With the scores locked at 2-2 this afternoon, Trump crucially claimed the fifth on the black to set up a charge for the line. Breaks of 59 and 63 helped him to take the following two frames and run out a 5-2 victor.
“There seems to be players I have a good record against recently. Kyren is one of them. It always helps when you know what you have to do. You have to turn up and be solid against him. It makes my job easy knowing I have to go out and play well.”
Judd Trump
27-time Ranking Event Winner
Trump added: “I feel quite refreshed. Saudi was a disappointing performance, I didn’t play well out there. I scraped through my first game and felt a little bit rusty, although I was still practising but hadn’t played in that many tournaments over the last month and a half. It is nice to get a run here and I feel a lot more excited to play snooker than the last three or four seasons.
“I think Jackson has played brilliantly well. He’s scored heavily. From what I’ve seen, him and Ding have been the players of the tournament. He was on the next table to me there and seemed to be flying round the table. When you are young and playing well in this kind of scenario there is no better feeling. I’m the grumpy old man now trying to stop him.”
Welsh 22-year-old Page secured his progression with a 5-2 defeat of Elliot Slessor.
Page has produced sublime snooker so far this week, beating the likes of John Higgins and Mark Selby along the way. He came out to Yushan with his tour survival under threat, but has now extinguished any of those fears.
The world number 52 fired in breaks of 90, 140, 78, 76 and 87 during this afternoon’s tie. Page averaged just 16.9 seconds a shot as he blitzed to victory.
When Jackson Page first appeared on the main tour, many were impressed by his talent and expected him to take the game by storm. It hasn’t happened and it’s quite normal. It’s a huge step for a teenager to go from amateur to professional and having to cope with huge “external” expectations doesn’t help. But now it seems that he’s getting there. Tomorrow will be a big test.
Australia’s Neil Robertson defeated Barry Hawkins 5-2 to reach the semi-finals of the Huading Nylon World Open in Yushan, setting up a last four meeting with Chinese superstar Ding Junhui.
Victory for Robertson puts him through to the semi-finals of a ranking event for the first time since the 2022 English Open. The intermittent period has seen the 2010 Crucible king dip down the rankings, as he struggled with his form.
If Robertson goes on to win the event he will force his way into the upcoming Johnstone’s Paint Tour Championship, where only the top 12 players of the season qualify. He will also cling on to his place in the top 16 of the rankings and avoid a trip to World Championship qualifying.
This week’s event has seen a relentless standard of break building power and Robertson kept that up in this evening’s encounter. Runs of 127, 87 and 87 helped him into an early 3-0 lead, before Hawkins pegged him back in the last before the mid-session.
When play resumed, a break of 115 put Robertson a frame from victory at 4-1. Although Londoner Hawkins pulled another back, it was the Melbourne cueman who fired in 79 to take the seventh and win 5-2.
“My game is absolutely back to where it should be now and that is really exciting heading into the back end of the season. It is a blockbuster match tomorrow. If you can’t enjoy playing Ding in a semi-final in China then there’s something wrong.”
Neil Robertson
2010 World Champion
Robertson added: “I’m just focussed on this week. You can see my game is in great shape. I know what happens if I win the event, but good things always come whenever you win tournaments. I’ve never been one to put myself under pressure to win events to qualify for things. I wouldn’t have achieved what I have in the game if I did.”
Ding earned his progression with a superb 5-0 win over Iranian number one Hossein Vafaei.
Hundreds of fans gathered on the streets of Yushan gathered to watch their hero in action with the match being projected onto a big screen. They weren’t disappointed, with Ding firing in breaks of 73, 74, 135 and 102 on his way to the whitewash victory.
Ding will be hoping to rectify a poor recent record against Robertson tomorrow, having lost their last four meetings.
It’s good to see Neil Robertson getting back to his own brilliant self . It is well known that he had to face some serious private challenges over the years and, to his own admission, he became very “home sick” last season. We shouldn’t forget that these players are human beings. They go through difficult times, overwhelming emotions and struggles, just like everyone else and being away from family and exposed to the public eye doesn’t make it easier.
I can’t comment on the matches as I didn’t watch any of it. Instead, I have been following/watching the EBSA events with tour cards for the grabs. The “men” event is at the quarter-finals stage and is actually open to both genders. It should be renamed really… even if very few women actually enter it. I’ll cover those events after they conclude.
ently Neil will need to qualify and God save the player who draws him for the first round! Hope, it won’t be Ronnie.
LOL, it could be not men’s, but main tournament for EBSA.
I often disagree with Ronnie, but I do think this tournament has been organised very well, and the venue is excellent. There were some problems with visibility of the outer tables, and perhaps this can be improved a little in the future. But it still beats what we normally get in events held in the UK. It feels like a top-class sporting event, and there have been some attractions around Yushan.
I am now back in Shanghai, meeting some business colleagues (it’s my first trip back to mainland China since 2019), and probably won’t be able to see the rest of the matches in real time. Ding Junhui has a really good chance to change the direction of his career, but so also has Neil Robertson. I have been following Jackson Page for several years, and this is a breakthrough for him. In fact, it’s a very interesting semi-final line-up.
Of course Vafai gets whitewashed after beating Ronnie in a decider.
Neil will not need to qualify for the Crucible and Judd will get his 1000th century this season.
Even the EBSA Facebook cover photo had to qualify the title of the event by adding “All Championships are Mixed Gender”
I emailed them and have had an assurance that they are looking at the possibility of changing the name of the event for the future.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
ently Neil will need to qualify and God save the player who draws him for the first round! Hope, it won’t be Ronnie.
LOL, it could be not men’s, but main tournament for EBSA.
I often disagree with Ronnie, but I do think this tournament has been organised very well, and the venue is excellent. There were some problems with visibility of the outer tables, and perhaps this can be improved a little in the future. But it still beats what we normally get in events held in the UK. It feels like a top-class sporting event, and there have been some attractions around Yushan.
I am now back in Shanghai, meeting some business colleagues (it’s my first trip back to mainland China since 2019), and probably won’t be able to see the rest of the matches in real time. Ding Junhui has a really good chance to change the direction of his career, but so also has Neil Robertson. I have been following Jackson Page for several years, and this is a breakthrough for him. In fact, it’s a very interesting semi-final line-up.
Of course Vafai gets whitewashed after beating Ronnie in a decider.
Neil will not need to qualify for the Crucible and Judd will get his 1000th century this season.
Even the EBSA Facebook cover photo had to qualify the title of the event by adding “All Championships are Mixed Gender”
I emailed them and have had an assurance that they are looking at the possibility of changing the name of the event for the future.