Judd Trump roared to the top of the world rankings for the first time as he beat Peter Ebdon 9-1 to reach the International Championship final in Chengdu, yesterday.

The 23-year-old cueman assured himself of the number one slot with a ruthless performance against an out-of-sorts Ebdon, who paid a high price for his frequent mistakes.

Former world champion Ebdon made the only century, a 106 break in the fourth frame, but that was a blip in the flow of the one-sided contest, and Trump goes on to face the winner of today’s second semi-final between Shaun Murphy and Neil Robertson in tomorrow’s final.

With £125,000 going to the winner, plus a slew of ranking points, the new tournament has instantly become one of the most important on the World Snooker tour.

And while his stablemate Ronnie O’Sullivan missed the trip, citing illness, Trump, whose first major title came at the China Open in April 2011, is reaping the benefits.

Trump leapfrogs Mark Selby at the top of the rankings, becoming the 10th player to become number one since the system was introduced in 1976. Selby suffered a second-round defeat this week against Ricky Walden as his grip loosened.

Since Trump’s breakthrough title when he won as a qualifier in China, he has gone on to reach a World Championship final and take the UK Championship title, justifying the attention that surrounded him as a teenager.

He landed a 147 maximum break in competition at the age of 14, becoming the youngest player to achieve the feat.