JUDD Trump wasted no time in sealing his place in the semi-final of the UK Championships, brushing aside Zhang Anda 6-2 at York Barbican.

The world number one showed his class in a one-sided contest on table one, coming within a whisker of Ronnie O’Sullivan’s record after scoring an incredible 527 points without reply.

Such was Trump’s dominance, Zhang did not pot a ball until the fifth frame, punching the air to rapturous applause from the crowd as he did so. 

But despite fighting back to take both the sixth and seventh frames, Zhang could not prevent his opponent from scoring his fourth century break to seal victory.

Recommended reading:

Speaking to the BBC, Trump laughed: “It felt a lot better than yesterday and the day before. 

“I think the first frame to me is so important, if I can get in and get into a rhythm. He ended up leaving me quite an easy chance, and after that I played okay.”

Trump won the first frame in under 10 minutes and hurtled to the mid-session break in under an hour, a contrast to his other matches at the event.

“Compared to my first two games, it kind of just left me straight in there and I was able to get a feel for the table,” he explained. 

“I just think that you just feel, in this tournament, you don’t want to leave anyone any easy chances. 

“Sometimes it’s a little cagey at the start, but I think today I just managed to get that first frame out of the way quickly.”

Such was Trump's dominance, Zhang did not pot a ball until the fifth frame.Such was Trump's dominance, Zhang did not pot a ball until the fifth frame. (Image: PA) Trump found things tough-going as he earned his place in the quarter-final with a final-frame decider against John Higgins, but showed little sign that would be the case again in a wholly dominant display.

He was unplayable against Zhang, who never seemed likely to repeat his incredible comeback from 5-1 down to beat Stuart Bingham in his last 16 match.

Trump, whose only UK Championship title came in 2011, raced out of the blocks, a break of 89 seeing him take the first frame with less than 10 minutes on the clock.

And he continued in the same rampant fashion, breaks of 126, 120 and 131 handing him a 4-0 lead at the mid-session interval at an alarming rate.

But despite seeming odds-on to overtake O’Sullivan’s record of 556 points scored without reply, he missed a red into the bottom corner and offered Zhang the chance to finally get onto the board.

Trump ultimately went on to take the fifth frame, but his opponent, who scored the tournament’s first 147 break on Tuesday evening, showed glimpses, fighting back to take the next two frames.

However, the Englishman’s fourth century of the match was a fitting way to end his afternoon.

“Every game is just so different,” he admitted.

“I felt like I dodged a bullet, I made a great break against John, and sometimes when that happens, you feel like you’ve got another life.

“But I knew my form wasn’t far away, it was just sometimes I’ve been a little bit too cagey. I try not to lose rather than trying to win.

“Today, maybe unintentionally, I just went out a little bit more relaxed. I think as soon as that first round gets on the board like that, I feel like I’m playing well and I won’t turn anything down.”