UK Snooker Championship: Trump and Robertson to meet in semi-final (From York Press)

UK Snooker Championship: Trump and Robertson to meet in semi-final

4:05pm Thursday 8th December 2011 in Snooker By Steve Carroll, Sports reporter

JUDD TRUMP overwhelmed Stephen Maguire 6-3 to reach the semi-final of the williamhill.com UK Championship.

The 22-year-old took another step towards securing his first major trophy thanks to a series dazzling, trademark, long pots.

Maguire had little answer to Trump's brilliance but the Scotsman had few chances to establish a foothold once he had taken the first frame.

Trump led 3-1 at the interval, helped by breaks of 72 and 62 in second and third frames, and lit up the Barbican after the break with consecutive centuries – both 106 – to move 5-1 ahead.

Maguire dug in, efforts of 62 and 80 bringing some respectability to the score, but Trump secured victory in the next with a brilliant 120.

He said: “I didn't feel brilliant out there so I am obviously glad to win and, after the interval, my break building was a lot better and I created my own chances and scored heavily off them.”

He will now meet Neil Robertson in tomorrow's semi-final after the Australian disposed of Ding Junhui 6-3 Roberston actually trailed 2-1 before winning five frames in a row, thanks to some solid break building, to see off an out-of-sorts Ding.

He said: “I played 1,000 times better than the performance against Graeme Dott. Ding is one of the best players in the world and I played fantastically well. I could have won every frame.”

For full reaction from the UK Championship, don't miss The Press tomorrow.