Sport

Judd Trump in trouble against McGill in world championship first round

John Higgins cruises into second round for 25th time

Judd Trump during his match with Anthony McGill at the Crucible. Photograph: Mike Egerton/PA
Judd Trump during his match with Anthony McGill at the Crucible. Photograph: Mike Egerton/PA
Wed Apr 19 2023 - 08:16

Last year’s World Snooker Championship runner-up Judd Trump left himself with serious work to do after going 6-3 down against Scotland’s Anthony McGill at the Crucible on Tuesday afternoon.

Trump led 2-0 and 3-2 against the world No 21 but McGill rattled off the final four frames of the session to threaten an upset against the 2019 world champion. The pair resume their contest on Wednesday afternoon.

Meanwhile, John Higgins was pleased with his performance after thumping David Grace 10-3 to reach the second round at the Crucible for the 25th time. The four-time world champion began Tuesday’s afternoon session with a commanding 7-2 lead and needed just an hour to book his place in the last 16, where he will meet either Kyren Wilson or Ryan Day.

Higgins said: “Coming into today it would have taken a bit of a collapse from me not to get over the line. But I was pleased with the way I was hitting the ball today. I’m feeling good about scoring. If I get my chance I feel as if I can go on and do some breaks here, which I think you always need to do here.”

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Grace paid tribute to Higgins, saying: “He’s one of the all-time greats, full stop. He was just hitting it so nicely. He was getting the white to talk, basically. He was getting it to wherever he wanted it. That’s the sign that you’re hitting it well.”Gary Wilson progressed to the second round after surviving an Elliot Slessor fightback to win 10-8 in a thrilling contest which reached its conclusion after 11pm.Wilson had held a convincing lead ahead of the evening session after going 7-2 up on Tuesday morning but Slessor got the good start he needed, winning three of the first four frames to make it 8-5 at the mid-session interval.

The next frame lasted more than an hour as a mammoth safety battle broke out, with 2022 Scottish Open champion Wilson coming out on top to put the finish line in sight. But Slessor pegged him back again, winning the next three frames to make it 9-8 before Wilson finally put the match to bed with a break of 109.

Joe Perry took control of his match against Robert Milkins when they returned to action on Tuesday evening, moving 7-2 ahead. Their first-round encounter had been suspended on Monday after orange powder was tipped over the cloth by a protester. But Perry made up for lost time as he won the first four frames to take a big lead into the mid-session interval. He kept his foot on the gas after the break, edging a close fifth frame 72-60 to go 5-0 up before the pair each won two of the next four frames.

Jack Lisowski will head into Wednesday’s morning session with a 6-3 lead against Noppon Saengkham after making a solid start to his campaign on Tuesday.