Judd Trump overcomes world champion to reach fifth Shanghai Masters final

In a blockbuster meeting between the world number one and the reigning world snooker champion, rankings leader Trump defeated home hero and Crucible king Wu Yize, 10-6, on Friday evening in the £825,000 invitational tournament.

Wu had got the better of Trump in their two most recent meetings on the World Snooker Tour, the latest of those being in the last 16 of last season’s International Championship, an event he went on to conquer to record his maiden ranking title.

And it was 22-year-old Wu who went in front of the two-session semi-final early on as breaks of 61 and 53 helped him establish a 2-0 lead. However, Englishman Trump went into the interval on level terms following runs of 82 and 60, before efforts of 56 and 61 assisted him in going 4-2 ahead.

World number four Wu ended his opponent’s four-frame streak with a 103 in the seventh, but Trump guaranteed a session lead by taking a low-scoring eighth. Wu finished the afternoon’s play in the Far East on a positive note by ousting frame nine on the colours despite Trump having earlier made a 51.

Returning a few hours later with the tie finely balanced as Trump led 5-4, the cueists produced a very impressive mini-session of high-scoring - a prominent theme throughout most of this week in Shanghai.

Trump (91 break) went 6-4 up but Wu replied with a 112 to reduce the arrears once again to just one frame. Reigning German Masters champion Trump then conjured up contributions of 112 and 113 in back-to-back frames to carve open a three-frame gap for the first time at 8-5.

On resumption after the final mid-session break, Wu notched up the contest’s fourth century in as many frames with a 110 - his sixth ton of the competition - but Trump claimed the next two (50 frame, frame 16) to reach the final.

This tournament being his first competitive outing of the new 2026/27 professional snooker season, Trump is into his fifth Shanghai Masters final - only Ronnie O’Sullivan (six) has appeared in more.

‘The Ace in the Pack’ is aiming to join O’Sullivan (five titles), Ding Junhui (two) and Kyren Wilson (two) as a multiple-time winner of this prestigious crown.

Over the past few days, Trump defeated Barry Hawkins 6-4 in the last 16 before a dominant 6-0 whitewash of John Higgins in the quarter-finals during which he totted up three centuries in successive frames at the end. The overall points aggregate of that last eight match was 678-37, with Higgins not scoring a point in five of the six frames.

Trump will face either defending champion Kyren Wilson or Zhao Xintong in Sunday’s best-of-21 conclusion. Wilson and Zhao clash on Saturday; they also met at this stage last year, with Wilson coming out on top, 10-5.

To view the full draw, results, schedule, and other information from the 2026 Shanghai Masters snooker invitational, visit our tournament information centre here.