John Higgins and Judd Trump will face off in Saturday’s first semi-final after coming through quarter-finals of contrasting quality.
Higgins, 50, rolled back the years with a superb comeback from 5–3 down to defeat the current world champion Zhao Xintong, while Trump continued this year’s dominant 6–2 theme by beating Mark Allen in a match that proved far tougher than the scoreline suggested.
Today 2 #Snooker legends won their #Masters quarter-final matches, John Higgins beating Zhao Xintong 6-5 this afternoon & Judd Trump beating Mark Allen 6-2 this evening. They’ll now meet each other in the semis. pic.twitter.com/1uMw3jJ2IV
Higgins stops world champion Zhao with thrilling comeback
John Higgins 6 – 5 Zhao Xintong (best of 11 frames)
John Higgins proved he can still stand toe to toe with the very best, producing a tenacious fightback from 5–2 down to claim a remarkable victory in the deciding frame.
Zhao Xintong, playing fearlessly in his first Masters quarter-final, looked the more fluent of the two in the early frames, compiling breaks of 89 and 74. But John Higgins dug in to keep the match level after six frames, helped by a superb century break of 114.
Errors in the seventh and eighth frames allowed Zhao to move to the brink of the semi-finals, but Higgins summoned every ounce of experience to claw back the deficit and force a deciding frame.
The final frame appeared to be going Zhao’s way until he missed a long red to bring his break to an end at 53. John Higgins stepped in, cleared the table, and sealed a dramatic victory to reach his first Masters semi-final since 2018.
Trump finds just enough form to edge out Allen
Judd Trump 6 – 2 Mark Allen
The second semi-final proved a less enthralling affair, with neither Judd Trump nor Mark Allen producing their best.
World number one Judd Trump appeared to struggle with his positional play early on, but Mark Allen, who was playing the better of the two, failed to capitalise as the opening four frames were shared.
The match, dominated by prolonged safety exchanges, gradually tipped in Trump’s favour as he proved the more positive and clinical, reeling off four straight frames after the mid-session interval.
Trump will need to raise his level for Saturday’s meeting with Higgins, but it is likely to be a more fluid contest than his match against Allen, given the contrast in tempo between the two opponents.
