Judd Trump will play either Ronnie O’Sullivan or Ding Junhui in the final of the World Grand Prix after beating Cao Yupeng 6-2 in Friday’s semi-final.

Earlier in the day O’Sullivan thrashed Gary Wilson 5-1 in the quarter-finals, while Ding Junhui defeated Chinese compatriot Zhang Anda 5-2.

World number one O’Sullivan plays Ding in Saturday’s second semi-final in Leicester, in a repeat of their UK Championship final in December.

They also met at last week’s Masters.

O’Sullivan was victorious in both, claiming record-extending eighth triumphs in the process, and looked in fine form as he made three half-centuries and a century to reel off five consecutive frames after Wilson took the opener.

Meanwhile, Ding, who also lost the first frame of his contest against Zhang, compiled breaks of 102, 51 and 73 on his way to establishing a 4-1 lead.

Zhang briefly reduced the deficit with a break of 101 before the world number 11 got over the line with a run of 76 in the seventh frame.

World number two Trump has already won three of the five finals he has featured in this season and will be hoping to secure a 27th ranking title of his career, when he faces either Ding or O’Sullivan at the weekend.

Runs of 70, 106 and 61 saw him race into a 3-0 lead against China’s Cao who did not pot a ball until the fourth frame.

He also trailed 55-5 in frame four, but made an excellent clearance to take it on a respotted black, and was able to close to 3-2 before Trump pulled clear again to advance.

“It’s nice to be the first player through to the final. I’ll watch the other game and look forward to the challenge ahead,” said 2019 world champion Trump.

“I would love to go up against Ronnie when he’s in great form. Ding beat me at the UK Championship so it would be good to get revenge over him.”

Despite claiming yet another Masters crown last Sunday, O’Sullivan has continued to question his form and future in snooker.

However, the 48-year-old, who will soon take a two-month break from tournaments to recharge for the end of the season, rattled in breaks of 68, 129, 78 and 58 as he swept to victory against Scottish Open winner Wilson.

“Gary didn’t get any run of the ball today, everything he did went wrong and everything I did went right – not even the flukes, just the nudges and kisses,” O’Sullivan said on ITV4.

“I felt sorry for Gary because people in the crowd would have not noticed it. When I am cueing all right, it feels effortless, it feels easy, but that is why I have struggled for at least two years now since I won the World Championship in 2022.

“I really haven’t played well, and it has worried me. I don’t know if it is my arm – it is not going through as smooth. Since I have had the bad injury on the arm it feels like I haven’t played well at all.

“My bad game is probably a pretty high standard – it has to be because I have won most of my tournaments not playing great. Just being able to win not at my best is probably my greatest asset.”