Turkish Masters 2022 - Judd Trump beats Ali Carter to reach semi-finals after controversy of sloping table
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Updated 11/03/2022 at 21:39 GMT
It's not been pretty from Judd Trump in Antalya this week, but he'll take effective if it secures a first ranking title of the season at the Turkish Masters. After scrapping past Liang Wenbo and Zhou Yuelong in the previous two rounds, the world No. 3 was not firing on all cylinders against Ali Carter but did enough to book his place in the semi-finals.
Table problem between Trump and Carter at Turkish Masters
Judd Trump remains on course for a first ranking title of the season after beating Ali Carter 5-3 to reach the semi-finals of the Turkish Masters, with the match played out amid the controversy of an issue with the table that required a jack to fix the problem.
After scraping through the previous two rounds, Trump’s form was once again patchy.
But he is establishing a reputation as a player who is prepared to work hard for the win, and that proved the case against Carter as he moved within two frames of the title - and with it a place in the Tour Championship field.
He was placed on an outside table after his win over Zhou Yuelong ran over, and it was controversial for more than just the fact it was the world No. 3 and one of the sport's biggest names not taking top billing. Both players complained about the roll of the ball, and there were farcical scenes of a jack being used to remedy the situation.
After the controversy, it was Trump who kept his composure to book his place in the last-four.
After Carter edged the opener, the second boiled down to a battle on the colours and it looked set to go Carter’s way when he got Trump in a snooker, but he failed to capitalise.
Trump’s long potting has been awry this season, but he knocked in an excellent blue and tough black along the bottom rail to level the contest.
Following the second frame there was a discussion between players and the referee about the state of the table.
Trump took the third, but Carter hit back to grab the fourth with a run of 79 - after which the table talk continued.
Both Trump and Carter suggested the balls were drifting off to the left, and officials were called to assess the situation under the watchful eye of referee Brendan Moore.
The table was given a vigorous brush and a trusty spirit level was brought into the arena.
Following the meeting between engineers, planks of wood and what appeared to be something resembling a car jack were brought in to try and rectify the drift. It appeared to do the trick.
The players returned following the break and the fifth was in the balance until a devilish snooker from Trump earned him enough points to prompt Carter to concede.
Carter cut a frustrated figure after conceding the fifth, but he bounced back immediately with total clearance of 133 to draw level at 3-3.
Trump knocked in a fabulous blue in the second, and he repeated the dose to steal the seventh after it looked likely to go Carter’s way when he got in but was unable to get position from brown to blue.
His scoring has not been stunning this week, but Trump secured a confidence boost by sealing the win with a break of 96, his highest of the match.
Up next for Trump is a semi-final against Shaun Murphy who was put through the wringer before beating Oliver Lines 5-4.
Lines should have won the match, he had huge chances to close it out on the decider, but after missing with the rest Murphy found an ice-cool clearance - including a tight cut on the final black - to progress to his first semi-final of the season.
Ding Junhui’s resurgence continued, as he made breaks of 72, 102 and 64 in a 5-1 win over Graeme Dott. His opponent in the last-four will be Matthew Selt who beat Martin Gould 5-3.
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