Mark Allen reached his fourth ranking final of the season after sweeping aside Noppon Saengkham 6-1 in the last four of the World Grand Prix in Cheltenham.
Allen, the sport’s in-form player, blended gritty matchplay snooker with four breaks of 50, including a 127 in the fifth frame, to cruise home.
The Northern Irishman, who will play either Shaun Murphy or Judd Trump in the final, told ITV4: “I felt like I dominated from start to finish, but I’m just a bit disappointed that I didn’t see it out a bit easier.
“I don’t think I’ve ever won three ranking events in a season. It’s a tough match I’ll have ahead of me, but I’ve given myself a good chance.”
Flashy, @pistol147! ⚫️
— World Snooker Tour (@WeAreWST) January 20, 2023
4-1 (11) | #DuelbitsSeries pic.twitter.com/ukTsnnWbTa
Trump triumphs
Earlier, Judd Trump booked his place in the semi-finals with a convincing 5-3 defeat of Xiao Guodong.
Having claimed his second Masters title on Sunday, Trump remains firmly on course to win his second major prize in as many weeks after another strong display which sets up a last-four meeting with Shaun Murphy.
For Xiao, he was left to rue a couple of missed opportunities, chiefly in the second frame when allowing Trump to steal the frame when needing a snooker, and then in frame five when in first and building a useful lead, only to watch Trump move 3-2 ahead thanks to a ruthless run of 59.
In fact, Xiao made much of the early running and led 1-0 and 2-1 following breaks of 65 and 68, but just has been the case for much of the last couple of weeks, Trump managed to stay in touch until producing an impressive finishing kick.
Though Xiao managed to win the seventh frame to reduce his arrears to 4-3, Trump again saved the best until last and signed off in style by knocking in the first century of the match – a brilliant 117.
"Now he can't stop potting!" 💪@JuddTrump finishes with a break of 117 to set up a Saturday night semi-final showdown with Shaun Murphy.#DuelbitsSeries | @ITVSnooker 📺 pic.twitter.com/Ce1T4P929d
— World Snooker Tour (@WeAreWST) January 20, 2023
Murphy comes through tough McGill test
Shaun Murphy came through a high-quality encounter with Anthony McGill, eventually prevailing 5-4 as the pair traded a plethora of big breaks.
McGill made two centuries of his own, along with a break of 99, rallying from 3-1 down to take the match to a deciding frame.
But Murphy was unperturbed, stepping up with a nerveless match-winning run of 81 that followed earlier breaks of 50, 51, 57, 95 and 61 from the 2016 winner.
Trump and Murphy will meet in the second semi-final on Saturday evening and Murphy was in buoyant mood afterwards, firing an early warning to his opponent.
He said: "I think he’s [Trump] won a lot of matches this week on reputation. I think people have collapsed against him.
"I won’t be collapsing. He will have to beat me.
"I am in a very lucky position, because I’ve won a lot of professional events over my career, all of the majors.
"I am in that position of not being under pressure to win in a particular week.
"I know I’m going to win soon. I know my game is good."
