Trump builds his times after down "Rocket" at Masters

 　　LONDON, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Supported by the 1,200 faithful fans at Alexandra Palace on Thursday, the former World No. 1 and snooker's icon¹ Ronnie O'Sullivan still found no way to repeat his four-time Masters triumph after a quick and bitter 6-2 quarterfinal defeat to the seemingly new king of the sport Judd Trump².

　　The 22-year-old super star gave no chance to his English counterpart and only took 98 minutes to finish the lop-sided eight frames boosted by an early 4-0 lead.

　　The match duration was unusual for the nicknamed "battle between two-generation talents."

　　But it's true that there was a sense of the changing of the guard at the North London's Palace, the new home for the Masters after its more than 30-year stay at Wembly, as the 36-year-old former world champion seemed a little bit helpless and left the stage before a super-confident Trump with his brilliant potting and break-building skills.

　　The newly-crowned king of UK Championship last month now is close to his second major trophy³ of one's snooker career, the 150, 000 pound top-prized Masters, which he has never grabbed before and is recognized as one of the "big three" events of snooker, including world championship and the above two.

　　"I played pretty well, better than I played in the first round. My potting was good and that's what got me over the line," said the winner, who beat Stuart Bingham 6-3 in the last-16 clash.

　　"Ronnie has done everything he wanted to do in the game. He's enjoyed himself on and off the table, he has entertained the crowd for 20 years now and everyone still loves him.

　　"For however long he plays the game he will be the fans favorite," Trump showed his respect to the idol⁴ and also his humor.

　　"If Ronnie keeps playing, and avoids me, he will still be winning tournaments," he smiled. The duo now have faced each other seven times in tournaments with Trump winning five.

　　The left-hander dominated the early periods with a 4-0 lead and a wonderful 140 total clearance⁵ in the fourth frame.

　　After the interval⁶, O'Sullivan fight his way back by winning the fifth in a run of 67 but still met unlikely task to comeback in the best of 11 frames.

　　Trump made it 5-1 later before seeing the three-time world champion narrow the gap with a flawless 141 total clearance in the seventh frame, the highest break so far from the eight-day Masters.

　　However, with the comfortable game point, Trump showed no mercy and sealed the 6-2 victory in a run of 65.

　　"When someone is playing as well as he is and is full of confidence, it's very difficult to stop," said the Rocket.

　　"I couldn't give any more out there. I gave it 100 percent and that's all you can do really," he added.

　　The semifinal will be staged on Saturday when Trump will meet Neil Robertson or Mark Williams.

　　"Ding and a few others have already won four or five tournaments so I need to keep practising and let my snooker do the talking on the table," Trump again showed his confidence and ambition.

　　Defending champion Ding Junhui, the only Chinese player in this tournament featuring an elite⁷ field of the world's top 16, failed to repeat his glory after defeat to O'Sullivan in the opening game on Jan 15.

1 icon   

n.偶像，崇拜的对象，画像

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• Click on this icon to align or justify text.点击这个图标使文本排齐。

2 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

3 trophy   

n.优胜旗，奖品，奖杯，战胜品，纪念品

参考例句：

• The cup is a cherished trophy of the company.那只奖杯是该公司很珍惜的奖品。
• He hung the lion's head as a trophy.他把那狮子头挂起来作为狩猎纪念品。

4 idol   

n.偶像，红人，宠儿

参考例句：

• As an only child he was the idol of his parents.作为独子，他是父母的宠儿。
• Blind worship of this idol must be ended.对这个偶像的盲目崇拜应该结束了。

5 clearance   

n.净空；许可(证)；清算；清除，清理

参考例句：

• There was a clearance of only ten centimetres between the two walls.两堵墙之间只有十厘米的空隙。
• The ship sailed as soon as it got clearance. 那艘船一办好离港手续立刻启航了。

6 interval   

n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息

参考例句：

• The interval between the two trees measures 40 feet.这两棵树的间隔是40英尺。
• There was a long interval before he anwsered the telephone.隔了好久他才回了电话。

7 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。