Ronnie O’Sullivan crashes out of world championship to Stuart Bingham | World Snooker Championship
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Ronnie O’Sullivan and Judd Trump crashed from World Snooker Championship on an extraordinary day in the quarter-finals at the Crucible.
The top two seeded players had chances to set up a mouth-watering last-four clash but were knocked out by qualifiers Stuart Bingham and Jack Jones respectively.
Bingham has been in sensational form, reviving memories of his world title in 2015. He has since lost his place in the world’s top 16 and entered the tournament ranked 29, but pulled away from an increasingly agitated O’Sullivan, reeling from the last three frames to seal a nervy 13-10 victory.
Combined with David Gilbert’s win over Stephen Maguire, it means three qualifiers have reached the semi-finals for the first time since the first year the tournament was staged at the Crucible in 1977. Gilbert will face Kieren Wilson in the semi-finals after the latter – world number 12 – secured a 13-8 victory over John Higgins.
Wednesday’s results mean Mark Allen will be the new world No 1 at the start of next season. Despite going out against Higgins in the second round of the Crucible, the Northern Irishman’s form over the past two seasons – winning five ranking titles – means he has moved above O’Sullivan and Trump, whose points from the 2022 world finals have collapsed .
Trump was earlier penalized for an error-strewn game by Jones, the world number 44, who turned an overnight 8-8 tie into a 13-9 victory to reach the last four for the first time.
Trump offered no apologies after being drawn into a war of attrition by his opponent, who is the second-slowest of those who have booked a place in this year’s tournament.
“I felt like I had a lot of chances and I didn’t take them,” Trump said. “I had more than enough chances to win today, so I only have myself to blame.
“A lot of the footage was quite slow and I got bogged down. His pace definitely got to me, but that’s not his fault. I should have just gone in and cleared each time, but I didn’t.
Jones, who reached the quarter-finals of the Crucible on his debut last year, is now two wins away from becoming only the third qualifier to win the prestigious title since Terry Griffiths in 1979 and Shaun Murphy in 2005.
The Welshman more than held his own in the first two sessions and capitalized on his opponent’s mistakes when they resumed on Wednesday to wrest control.
Trump’s lackluster performance was encapsulated by a missed pink from his spot in the 20th frame, allowing Jones to come in for an impressive break of 61 that left the pair clear at 11-9.
Missing an even easier yellow in the next sent Jones one frame away from victory, and when Trump went out, drawing a red in the 22nd frame, Jones responded with an unerring clearance of 106 to finish.
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Jones, who has never reached a ranking semi-final before, defended his pace of play and said he discovered early in the game that Trump, a clear favorite with five ranking titles this season alone, was not well.
“I thought Judd put up quite a fight,” Jones said. “He started with hundreds, he just looked like typical Judd, but after going in 3-1 at the interval I thought he was playing very slowly.
“He wasn’t the fast-paced, aggressive player that he usually is. I noticed it from the beginning and it kind of surprised me and I took advantage of it.”
Jones, who will face Bingham in the last four, now faces an even bigger task in convincing his mother Debbie to watch him play live for the first time.
Although she has been taking her son to matches since he first turned pro at the age of 16, she has yet to see him play live or on television and Jones does not believe the unique case of a Crucible semi-final will change the decision her
“She won’t even watch me on TV,” Jones said. “Now at home, when I’m playing, she’ll be ironing or cleaning the house, that’s what she likes to do to keep herself busy.
“She doesn’t like to look at me, pretends it’s not happening and waits for my dad to call her with the result. The Crucible semi-final is obviously a different matter and maybe she’ll show up, but she won’t be in the arena.”
Gilbert completed a remarkable career revival as he completed a 13-8 win over Maguire to book his place in the semi-finals for the first time since 2019.
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