Judd Trump praises John Higgins, saying, “He is the benchmark, along with Ronnie O’Sullivan.”
Trump has been in fine form this season and kept it up against Higgins on Friday afternoon, knocking in breaks of 78, 74, 71 and 68 in an impressive 5-2 win.
In doing so the Ace reaches his seventh ranking semi-final of the season from just 10 events, illustrating his immense consistency.
Higgins has been to three ranking semis this campaign, but has failed to go beyond that stage as he searches for his first ranking event since 2021.
Trump has already picked up three titles this season and he knows that his form, confidence and results are all better than Higgins’, but says the four-time world champion is still the benchmark to judge his game by.
‘For the first five or ten years, he was always just getting over the line. Now I am able to do the same. Just at the important times, to pot the crucial balls,’ said Trump. ‘Today John missed an easy ball to go 3-3 and that was the difference.
‘For me, he is still a good benchmark. We are meeting now where his level has probably just dropped slightly and mine has risen. Every time I play him I can still see he is up for it. I know it is going to be a fight. Along with Ronnie he is the benchmark. If I can beat that type of player I know I’m doing well.’
Trump has an unexpected foe in the semi-finals, with Sam Craigie booking his spot in the final four for the first time in his career with a superb 5-1 win over defending champion Ali Carter.
The 30-year-old reached the UK Championship quarter-finals last season but feels like he has cracked the code to unlock his talent this year,
‘I stayed in the zone, just focussing on me. That is it, trying to blank everything out and focus on my game,’ said Craigie.
People have said it for years and years since I was young, that I have all the talent in the world. I just didn’t believe it. Every tournament I changed my cue action. In the last two months I haven’t changed my cue action. I’ve been able to enjoy playing.’
In the other side of the draw there were comfortable wins for Kyren Wilson and Si Jiahui who will meet in the semis.
Wilson thrashed Fan Zhengyi 5-0, while Si beat Ryan Day 5-1 to book his first semi-final spot since his remarkable run at the Crucible last year.
