Judd Trump was made to battle hard before getting over the winning line in his German Masters quarter-final tussle against Ding Junhui.

Judd Trump. Picture by Monique Limbos

The world number three beat China’s number one star 5-3 to reach the semi-finals of the ranking event – edging him closer to his second big trophy of the season after winning the European Masters  in October.

Trump has endured a frustrating start to life in 2018 suffering a semi-final defeat in the Masters after throwing away a 5-2 lead. Then a week later he missed out on entering the most lucrative China Open in history after a shock qualifying defeat to world number 85 Jak Jones.

But Trump is now just two wins away from lifting silverware once again and winning the German Masters for the first time in his career.

Things looked plain sailing for the Bristol ace when he led Ding 4-1 but the China star battled back to make it 4-3 and turn the quarter-final encounter into a knife-edge battle once again.

A tense eighth frame saw plenty of twists and turns as tension set in but a double on the final pink was enough for Trump to clinch the win.

Next up for Trump is a semi-final battle against Mark Williams who is enjoying one of his best seasons in recent times.

Williams, who won the Northern Ireland Open in November,  beat Jimmy Robertson 5-3 in the quarter-finals.