World Snooker Championship 2022 - Judd Trump digs in to see off Hossein Vafaei challenge
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Updated 21/04/2022 at 21:14 GMT
Judd Trump set up a meeting with Anthony McGill in the second round at the Crucible in Sheffield after seeing off the challenge of World Championship debutant Hossein Vafaei. Trump made a fast start to the evening session and it set him on his way to victory. Watch the World Championship and other top snooker live on Eurosport and discovery+.
Trump ends session with sparkling break to take commanding lead over Vafaei
Judd Trump eased into the second round of the World Championship with a 10-4 win over Hossein Vafaei.
After winning the final three frames of the first session to open up a 6-3 lead, Trump built on that advantage to set up a meeting with Anthony McGill.
Vafaei looked edgy in the opening session, which was understandable given it was his Crucible debut, and he could never get back into the game.
Trump kicked off the evening session with an excellent long red but ran out of position when seemingly well set on 37. He got in again shortly afterwards with another long red and it set up a frame-winning contribution of 46.
Long pots, normally meat and drink to Trump, have not been his friend this season so to find two at the start of the session was positive for the No. 4 seed.
Vafaei got in with a long red of his own in the 11th frame, but ran out of position and coughed up 14 points in fouls after a Trump snooker.
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Watch Trump nail spectacular long-range pot against Vafaei
Trump opened up a telling advantage and secured his fifth frame on the bounce when Vafaei left the final red over the pocket.
Vafaei had plenty of support in the Crucible crowd and he gave them something to cheer when chalking up a century on his World Championship bow to cut the gap to four.
The Iranian had a chance to cause Trump a few jitters when getting in again in the 13th frame, but he broke down and Trump knocked in some brilliant balls in amassing a break of 45 on a tough table. The frame boiled down to a battle on the final red, and it went Trump's way after he laid a snooker and Vafaei left it on in making the escape.
With the winning line in sight, Trump did not falter. He built a useful 36-point lead after Vafaei failed to pot a difficult black, and killed the match off following a safety exchange on the final red.
It was not vintage Trump, but there were positives to take from the performance and he can now build into the tournament.
Stephen Maguire’s decision to use a new cue for his second-round match with Zhao Xintong has been vindicated as he secured a 5-3 lead after the first session.
Maguire has been unhappy with his cue for much of the season, and confirmed he would be pulling out a new piece of wood for next term. However, he elected to bring the timeline forward and was rewarded with an impressive effort.
He trailed on three occasions, but he made two centuries and a break of 80 to secure an overnight lead.
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