Judd Trump reaches Wuhan Open quarter-finals with win against John Higgins,
Defending champion Judd Trump moved a step closer to reclaiming his Wuhan Open crown with a 5-2 victory against John Higgins.
Shaun Murphy is also through to the quarter-finals after coming through an epic match against Ali Carter with a 5-4 victory. Meanwhile, Englishman Jack Lisowski impressed in his match with Wu Yize as he also progressed to the last eight.
Judd Trump is into the quarter-finals of the Wuhan Open after a 5-2 win against John Higgins.
Coming into the match, Trump called their rivalry one of the “best in snooker”, with the pair known to produce intriguing battles.
Both players have enjoyed decent form in China, with Trump arriving in the last 16 off the back of a competitive 5-2 win against Anthony McGill, while Higgins got past Zak Surety 5-3 in the previous round.
Higgins was rewarded for his patience in the first frame, seizing an opportunity to take the lead after a missed black from Trump.
A re-rack was agreed at the start of what turned out to be a cagey second frame, which saw some exquisite safety play from both players.
After such meticulous, tactical play, with neither player giving an inch, the pivotal moment of the frame came from a fluke as Trump looked to send the green to the left corner pocket but caught it thick and put it into the right middle.
There was a raised hand in apology, but it allowed the world No.1 to draw level after an hour and a half of intense snooker.
The third frame was more straightforward. Despite Higgins making a strong start, Trump was able to take advantage of a more open table to rack up 102 points and take the lead.
Defending champion Trump then gave himself a cushion with a break of 74 to go 3-1 ahead.
There was a slight delay to proceedings ahead of the fifth frame as Trump returned to the table with the wrong cue, having picked up another player’s during the break.
After going 56 points behind, Higgins recovered incredibly well with a long pot on the final red giving him the chance to clear up.
However, a poor positional shot to set up the yellow left the Scotsman up against it and after leaving the green over the pocket, Trump stepped up to pot the required green and brown to go 4-1 up.
Higgins bounced back well from that disappointment as he took just one visit to pull a frame back with a 126 total clearance.
But it proved not to be the start of a comeback as Trump blitzed through the next frame to seal his place in the last eight of the competition.