Judd Trump stamped his authority on the World Snooker Championship in the first round with a dominant 10-4 win over Liam Highfield at the Crucible.
The world number one was the overwhelming favourite against Highfield, but there are always first round nerves and Trump has struggled in his opening contests in Sheffield before.
He made no mistake this year, though, with a comfortable victory that sets up a last 16 clash with Dave Gilbert.
‘I managed to get off to a good start and always felt in control. Liam’s a great player and showed glimpses of what he can do, just missed the odd ball here and there,’ said Trump.
‘I played pretty solid stuff and it’s a comfortable passage through the first round, which makes a change.’
The 2019 world champion started the match with a break of 116 on Tuesday, and while the next two frames were much tighter, he claimed those too and things looked very bad for Highfield early on.
The Stoke cueist did get two frames on the board in that opening session, but Trump claimed the other seven, with four half-centuries along the way and held a clear 7-2 lead overnight.
The opening two frames of Wednesday’s afternoon session were shared, but the miracle comeback looked to be off the table when Trump made an 84 to go one away from victory in the 12th.
Highfield knew that it was no-miss snooker from there on in and he didn’t miss in the next frame, making a superb break of 138 to stay alive in serious style and take the contest past the mid-session interval.
The underdog will have enjoyed his cup of tea at the break but the match did not last much longer when he returned with Trump getting over the line in the next to wrap up the 10-4 win.
Trump needed two bites of the cherry and Highfield may rue a miss when in the balls after the Ace broke down, but the world number one wasn’t going to spurn another opportunity and got over the winning line.
Gilbert awaits in the next round after his equally impressive 10-4 victory over Chris Wakelin in the last 32 on Sunday.
The Angry Farmer made three centuries in that fine win and is in confident mood ahead of the huge task against the world number one.
‘As long as I go out there and feel like that, I can put frames together,’ Gilbert said after dismissing Wakelin.
‘If I can put frames together I’m dangerous against anybody. Just keep trying to enjoy playing.’
Trump and Gilbert play over three sessions on Sunday and Monday.
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