World Snooker Championship 2015: Semi-Final Scores, Results, Schedule, Draw

The 2015 World Snooker Championship continues with two fantastic semi-final clashes from Thursday until Saturday. And after several drama-filled quarter-finals, fans can't wait to see what the next stage has in store.

This year's tournament has already seen a multitude of upsets, as former world champions Ronnie O'Sullivan, Mark Selby and Neil Robertson have all exited the event before the semi-final stage.

Shaun Murphy became the first finalist in this year's tournament after beating Barry Hawkins on Saturday, while Judd Trump and Stuart Bingham will clash at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England, to decide his opponent.

Read on for the updated schedule and full results of every semi-final session.

Schedule

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All matches completed.

Saturday Recap

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Judd Trump 16-17 Stuart Bingham

Stuart Bingham is into his first ever World Championship final after he secured a thrilling 17-16 semi-final win over Judd Trump.

These two players have been extremely closely matched throughout the entirety of this tie and the pattern continued through this engrossing session.

Bingham resumed with a two-frame lead, scores at 13-11. And the man from Basildon got the session off to the perfect start, winning the opener to go three in front. However, Trump won the next two to cut the deficit to just one, showcasing his quality with breaks of 88 and 50.

Tensions were running extremely high at this point and overall, it looked as though Bingham was handling the pressure a little better. He proved that with the finishing post in sight, rattling off two of the next three frames—both via century breaks—to go within one of a spot in the showpiece occasion.

But perhaps with the pressure completely off his shoulders, Trump turned on the style with two remarkable breaks. The first was a functional effort of 108 and in the frame following, one of 129 which was bristling with the kind of swagger that has become synonymous with this young star since he burst onto the scene.

It meant we were in for a deciding frame and as you might expect given what’s at stake, an extremely tight battle between the two ensued. Both men missed chances to build a break early on, but it was Bingham who was most assured under unbelievable pressure and a stunning plant along the bottom cushion allowed him to seize a final spot.

For Bingham, coming through this kind of encounter will bode well for the final. While Trump deserves great credit for his late rally, the 38-year-old was probably just about the better player over the course of the three sessions and will fancy his chances of toppling Shaun Murphy.

Shaun Murphy 17-9 Barry Hawkins

Having finished Friday's session with such a commanding 16-8 lead, not much was required from Shaun Murphy on Saturday to book the third World Snooker Championship final of his career.

A decade on from his 2005 triumph in snooker's most elite competition, "The Magician" was knocked back on Saturday as semi-final opponent Barry Hawkins came out of the blocks with a century break of 103.

However, Murphy could have suffered a series of frame defeats like that and still come out on top, but he decided one was enough for his foe, capitalising upon Hawkins' slip in the 26th.

There, he jumped at the first clear opportunity afforded to him, notching a clearance of 83 to put the fixture beyond his opponent.

Hawkins deserves some praise for Saturday's show of character and managing to remain upbeat in the jaws of defeat but a poor Friday performance simply left too mountainous a task ahead of him.

Friday Recap

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Shaun Murphy 16-8 Barry Hawkins

Ten years on from his maiden triumph at the Crucible, Shaun Murphy is on the brink of another World Championship final.

The 2005 champion needs just one more frame to get over the line against Barry Hawkins, as he failed to wrap up the match inside two sessions. Credit must go to the 36-year-old, however, winning the session 5-3 to keep his admittedly slim chances still alive.

As we can see here courtesy of BBC Snooker, Hawkins refused to lie down when one frame could have sealed it for Murphy at the death:

"

He just won't go quietly. Barry Hawkins wins the final frame and Shaun Murphy is still one from the final #bbcsnooker pic.twitter.com/4ZrR7naopI

— BBC Snooker (@BBCSnooker) May 1, 2015"

After coming into this sessions 13-3 down, this was a much more accomplished display from the man from Ditton. Murphy was simply sensational over the course of the opening two sessions, and when he won the first frame of this one to open up an 11-frame deficit, lesser men would have crumbled.

But perhaps with the pressure off, Hawkins started to find his groove. He won the next four frames in succession, rattling off breaks of 103, 57, 104 and 73, reducing the gap to seven frames.

Murphy was beginning to look a little uneasy, as we can see here:

"

No wonder Shaun Murphy needs a drink.. Four frames in a row for Barry Hawkins. Murphy still leads 14-7 #bbcsnooker pic.twitter.com/wWPWIFTSkv

— BBC Snooker (@BBCSnooker) May 1, 2015"

However, when he got his chance to get back amongst the balls, the former world champion seized it with distinction.

Murphy’s break of 106 in the 23rd frame put him on the brink of victory, and although Hawkins gave himself a lifeline by winning the last stanza of the day, this match will not last long when play resumes on Saturday.

Stuart Bingham 9-7 Judd Trump

Judd Trump will have to overcome a two-frame deficit if he’s to make it into the final of the tournament, as Stuart Bingham continued to apply the pressure in their semi-final final showdown.

The man who dumped out Ronnie O’Sullivan in the quarter-finals is clearly in confident mood and continued to churn out frames against the talented Trump.

Bingham led 5-3 coming into the second session and extended his lead to three frames with a break of 52 to get started. But the left-hander is a very classy operator and responded with a break of 113 to move back to two behind. 

As we can see here courtesy of Matt of ProSnookerBlog, there were a few illustrious faces in the crowd enjoying this cracking semi-final:

"

Amongst those of us in watching this afternoon is Liverpool legend @dietmarhamann pic.twitter.com/RQrPmL0Xuc

— Matt (@ProSnookerBlog) May 1, 2015"

With momentum with him, the 25-year-old was playing with freedom at this juncture. Indeed, even though Bingham had 45 points on the board in the 11th frame, Trump responded superbly when his chance came, rattling in a break of 65 to steal the points and make the score 6-5.

However, Bingham came roaring back, grinding out the next two tense frames to re-establish a three-point buffer. He couldn’t shake off the youngster though, who won a tight 14th to get within two before another brilliant break of 85 from Bingham guaranteed an overnight lead.

The final frame of the session followed a similarly tense pattern and there was a sense of real significance attached to it. Both players missed chances, but Trump eventually kept himself in contention in the match with a determined break of 64.

Thursday Recap

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Judd Trump 3-5 Stuart Bingham

The second semi-final between Judd Trump and Stuart Bingham is shaping up to be an all-time classic, and after one session, the latter leads his younger opponent by two frames.

Fans knew they were in for a treat as soon as the match got underway, as the left-handed Trump managed to pot two flukes with his first three attempts. First, a badly missed red bounced off three cushions and kissed another ball to find the corner pocket, before an attempt to use the pack for a safety shot saw yet another red drop.

See the two incredible shots here.

Bingham could hardly believe his bad luck, but upon conceding the opening frame, he started finding his rhythm. A break of 65 saw him draw level before, two frames later, he produced the highest break of the session, an 89.

Trump entered the match with an incredible 93 percent pot success rate, as you can see in this video from Epic Sponge, but Bingham frustrated him beyond belief by playing a smart game of snooker. Safety play became pivotal in the middle frames, and Bingham completely took away Trump's long potting, arguably his biggest strength.

The final two frames of the night were whitewashes, one for each player, and the fact both recorded breaks of 75 and 76 in those two frames highlights exactly how close this match looks set to become.

Bingham, 38, has been steadily building his career, and on paper, Trump should be the clear favourite in this match. But Bingham seemed to find the perfect way to deal with his explosive and fast style of play in the opening session, and if he can keep up his excellent safety play, he has a great chance of pulling off a second consecutive upset.

As he told BBC Sport, he knows he's in for a challenge, saying: "I've been an underdog all my life. I'll just do my own thing. Judd is a very confident person, a good lad. He's got to a final before and feels like he can beat anyone. We all do in this situation."

Trump hasn't made the final of this tournament since 2011, while Bingham had never done better than a quarter-final appearance at the Crucible until he beat Ronnie O'Sullivan. Controlling the nerves may prove key in a match that looks like it could take all 33 frames.

Barry Hawkins 2-6 Shaun Murphy

Shaun Murphy started his semi-final match against Barry Hawkins on fire, taking the first three frames and winning six out of eight during the opening session. The former world champion has been in fine form all tournament, and Thursday was no different.

Starting with a 92 break in the first frame, Murphy won three of his six frames with triple-digit scores, including two century breaks. The Magician was in fantastic form, but he also had a dose of luck.

Taking advantage of a sloppy safety shot from his opponent in the final frame, Murphy came to the table with a long but makeable pot and proceeded to turn a 49-point deficit into a comfortable win. The frame was a perfect example of how the match played out, and you can watch the miss from Hawkins and the final break here.

He wasn't as lucky earlier in the match, however, making a sensational pot on black only to watch in horror as the cue ball disappeared off the table as well. Watch the unfortunate shot here.

Still, his showing on Thursday was impressive, via Live Snooker.

Hawkins ended the session with a high break of 69 and a four-frame deficit, but this match is far from over. With slightly better safety play, he could have easily won three or even four frames on Thursday, and there's a lot of snooker left to be played.

All semi-finals are best-of-33 matches, so Hawkins will have plenty of chances to make up the deficit.