Judd Trump overpowers Ronnie O'Sullivan in World Grand Prix; Mark Selby wins

Trump was victorious when the pair met in the final of the Northern Ireland Open earlier this term and this match was even more one-sided as he once again demonstrated why he is the world number one.

For O'Sullivan's part, his performance included more than a few flashes of his undeniable genius, but he was guilty of making too many unforced errors against an opponent who was at his merciless best, first leading 3-0 and then recovering from losing the fourth frame by winning the next three on bounce to sail into Sunday's final.

Having been forced to wait until the conclusion of Mark Selby's match with Hossein Vafaei, O'Sullivan wasted little time in finding his range, a brilliant long red handing the world champion an early chance, but a missed pot to the middle pocket cut short his visit and Trump dictated terms for the rest of the frame to take an early lead.

O'Sullivan was in first again in frame two, but a horrible kick stopped him in his tracks before a missed yellow allowed Trump to build a sizeable lead and though the latter went on to concede the two snookers O'Sullivan later needed, they weren't enough to change the course of the frame.

2-0 became 3-0 when O'Sullivan's valiant attempt to produce a trademark counter clearance fell at the final obvious hurdle, the last remaining red that was chained to the side cushion simply refusing to drop into the bottom left-hand corner pocket.

In typically ruthless fashion, Trump did the rest, but it was his turn to fall foul of the same pocket only moments later as his break of 65 came to an end just he was closing in on 4-0. This time O'Sullivan made no mistake, a quite remarkable pot and positional shot from pink to black breathing life into a contest that had so far failed to live up to expectations.

Disappointingly, the classic comeback never materialised as Trump returned from the mid-session interval with a classy century (100) after O'Sullivan had produced a lapse safety shot.

A brilliant red to middle paved the way for another hundred break - this time a clearance of 107 - in the following frame to put Trump within one frame of his fifth final of the campaign.

There would be no third century for the final act, but with O'Sullivan now firmly on the ropes, Trump put the gloss on a thoroughly commanding success with a run of 69 that sets him up for another chance at yet more silverware on Sunday.

Trump told ITV afterwards: "It was pretty solid all round. The first frame could have gone either way, I was unlucky when I got a kick on frame ball and it looked like he was going to nick it.

"From there it set the tone for the match, he had a few half chances and made a good clearance to go 3-1, but I always felt in control. Even though I lost that frame I always had the belief that I was going to win the game.

"I can't remember anyone in my era, since I've been playing, having the start to a season like I've had. I've not seen anyone else have the consistency I've had this season and it just motivates me to play even better.

"It's nice that people now expect me to win every time, even when I play Ronnie. It's up to me to keep trying to improve, keep getting to the latter stages of tournaments and eventually I'll get some credit."

Selby sets up Lisowski clash

Mark Selby will face Jack Lisowski for a place in the final on Saturday night after both came through their quarter-final matches.

Following victory at the Scottish Open as recently as Sunday, Selby has maintained his blistering form with polished displays against Liang Wenbo and Anthony McGill already this week,

However, he wasn't at his best on this occasion as he and opponent Hossein Vafaei failed to fire in a scrappy encounter last lasted over four hours, Selby's superior experience just winning out despite a few scares along the way.

Though producing a high break of only 46, Selby took early control of the match when winning the first two frames, but after Vafaei finally got up and running by taking frame three, Selby did at last burst into life with a fabulous century that allowed him to extend his lead to 3-1.

Selby's advantage swelled to three frames after Vafaei spurned a couple of good chances to reduce arrears and the former kept his cool to sink the final pink into the green pocket, moving himself within a single frame of the last four.

Nevertheless, any hopes Selby might have had for an early finish were extinguished when Vafaei got the better of a lengthy sixth frame, and the Iranian left Selby with even more to ponder when putting together a break of 78 to pull another frame back and reduce his deficit to one.

Selby did get over the winning line in the following frame, but he somewhat fell over it as Vafaei played on for the two snookers he required, getting the first of them before Selby finally potted the blue, much to his relief.

On the second table, Lisowski and Zhao Xintong put on a much better show with the latter earning a 5-3 victory with the help of a couple of century breaks.

In a battle of the left-handers, there was nothing between the pair when Xintong levelled up at 3-3, but the seventh frame proved a pivotal one as Lisowski found a nerveless clearance of 42 to steal the frame and inch back in front.

With that body blow still stinging, Xintong was powerless to stop Lisowski's march to the semi-finals and last season's Scottish Open runner-up closed out the match by dominating frame eight.