Trump Crushes Higgins 6-0 to Reach Shanghai Semi-Finals: 'It's an Incredible Performance'
A Statement From the World Number One
There are wins, and then there are statements. Judd Trump delivered the latter on Thursday at the Shanghai Masters, dismantling four-time world champion John Higgins 6-0 in the quarter-finals with the kind of ruthless, unrelenting snooker that reminds you exactly why he sits at the top of the world rankings. When it was over — and it was over quickly — Trump allowed himself a moment of genuine surprise at what he had just produced.
"I just had to play my best," he told the World Snooker Tour afterwards. "I don't know if I have ever beaten him 6-0 or 5-0 before. It's an incredible performance by me to do that."
Breaks Flowing, Higgins Struggling
Trump wasted no time setting the tone. Breaks of 97, 60 and 53 gave him an iron grip on the opening exchanges, and Higgins — a player whose consistency across three decades remains one of the sport's most remarkable achievements — simply had no foothold from which to mount a response. The second frame proved the pivotal moment, as the Wizard of Wishaw was clearing up and appeared poised to pull one back before missing the black going in-off for the yellow. It was the kind of small misfortune that can feel enormous under the lights in Shanghai.
"It was a big second frame," Trump acknowledged. "John was clearing up and missed the last black going up for the yellow. That's just the kind of shot that can turn the game at this level. Other than that, he didn't really do a lot wrong." Higgins managed just 37 points in that frame — a snapshot of how completely Trump had squeezed the oxygen from the contest. Three further century contributions in the second half of the match completed the rout, leaving Higgins with no answer and the Shanghai crowd witnessing a clinic from the reigning world number one.
Settling a Psychological Score
Context matters here. For much of the past half-decade, Trump had enjoyed a handsome head-to-head record against Higgins, the Bristol potter winning the better part of five or six years' worth of encounters between them. But 2025 had begun to chip away at that dominance, with Higgins winning their two most recent meetings — both in deciding frames. Narrow defeats of that sort have a habit of lingering.
"Obviously when you win once, you get a bit of confidence," Trump said of his rival. "I had chances both times in deciders, and you don't want to be losing more than two times in a row against a certain player. It starts to get in your head a little bit, so it was nice to kind of shut that down early by putting in that kind of performance."
Shutting it down early is one way of putting it. Burying it entirely might be more accurate. The manner of this victory — comprehensive, controlled, clinical — will have done far more for Trump's confidence than a scrappy deciding-frame win ever could. He knows that now, too.
Looking Ahead to Wu Yize
Trump is the defending Shanghai Masters champion, having lifted the trophy here in 2024, and he will need every ounce of that pedigree when he faces world champion Wu Yize in the semi-finals. The young Chinese star reached the last four via a very different route — a contrast in styles and temperament that promises a fascinating clash. Trump, for his part, is refusing to look too far ahead.
"Whoever I play next is another incredibly tough game, and it's completely different on the day," he said. "So you don't know what's going to happen, but it's nice to know that the form is in there."
That last line feels important. For a player who has faced questions at various points about consistency and motivation, Thursday's performance offered a resounding answer. There was no searching for rhythm, no patchy spells — just relentless, high-quality snooker from start to finish against one of the greatest players the sport has ever produced. "No matter what happens going forward in this tournament," Trump added, "at least I've started [my season] good. I know my form is there."
When Judd Trump is playing like this — fluent, fearless, firing in centuries at will — the rest of the draw tends to sit up and take notice. Wu Yize is a worthy and dangerous opponent, but if the world number one carries Thursday's form into the semi-finals, he will take some stopping.
