Trump started the season at the Wuxi Classic in China, where he lost to Robert Milkins 3–5 in the second round, having beaten Dominic Dale 5–1 in the opener.&lt;ref name="2012/13"&gt;&lt;/ref&gt; At the Shanghai Masters he saw off Barry Hawkins, Mark Allen, Graeme Dott and Mark Williams to reach the final where he faced John Higgins. Trump surged into a 5–0 lead and, despite Higgins making a 147 break in the next frame, claimed a 7–2 advantage after the first session. Upon the resumption of play, Higgins won six frames in a row with the match eventually going into a deciding frame; Trump made a break of 35 but ran out of position, allowing Higgins to secure the title with a 10–9 victory.&lt;ref name="Higgins/Trump"&gt;&lt;/ref&gt; However, Trump was able to bounce back at the next ranking event, the inaugural International Championship, by claiming his third ranking event title. He eliminated Fergal O'Brien 6–3, Aditya Mehta 6–0 and then edged past Allen 6–5 in the quarter-finals. Trump thrashed Peter Ebdon 9–1 in the semi-finals to become snooker's tenth world number one, and recovered from 6–8 down in the final against Neil Robertson to triumph 10–8.