Judd Trump eases into second round of English Open with 4-1 win over Matthew Selt

Updated 01/11/2021 at 19:09 GMT

Judd Trump won last year's English open with an epic 9-8 victory over Neil Robertson but was in no mood for a lengthy match on Monday as he coasted in to the second round with a routine 4-1 win over Matthew Selt. Trump missed just one ball in the first three frames as he eased to victory and looked in ominous form on the opening day of the tournament.

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Judd Trump eased into the second round of the English Open with a 4-1 win over Matthew Selt in Milton Keynes.

Trump beat Neil Robertson 9-8 to take the 2020 English Open title and wasted little time on Monday as he opened the defence of his title.

There were few chances for Selt in the opening frame as the defending champion strung together a break of 90 to take the lead.

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Trump then sunk a glorious opening red after a tactical joust in the second frame on his way to a break of 53, and while Selt hit back, his safety game failed him and let the world number one back in to take the frame and double his lead.

With near perfect cueing, Trump took control of the third as Selt handed him a gift as the underdog left a red over the left middle pocket. And Trump capitalised with a break of 73 - putting him 3-0 up and just one frame short of the second round.

Selt needed a minor miracle against Trump who had missed just one ball in the opening three frames, but a break of 83 saw him pull a frame back to avoid a thrashing and give hope to the world number 34.

But there was no epic comeback for Selt as Trump put the match to bed with a brilliant century break of 109 and will play Jimmy Robertson in the next round.

'You have to earn it'

In the studio after his win, Trump told Kyren Wilson he needs to earn the right to play on the match table.

World number five Wilson began his English Open campaign at 10:00 on Monday on table 2, and ran in runs of 68 and 129 in a 4-0 win against Noppon Saengkham. He referred to it as the "graveyard shift" and asked what he had to do to get on the match table.

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The comments were put to 2019 world champion Trump by Eurosport presenter Rachel Casey after his match against Matthew Selt. However, when asked whether the Kettering cueist had a point, Trump was emphatic in his response, telling Wilson he has to start winning tournaments.

“No, not really, because I was in his position for eight or nine years until I became world champion and won all the events,” began Trump.

“I was doing exactly what he was doing. And I felt like I was hard done by Ronnie [O’Sullivan], Mark Selby and everyone who was on that match table. I'd be the player on table three at the back.

You have to earn it, you've got to win the world championship, you got to be number one, you have to get up there. Otherwise, you're kind of relying on the other players not playing at the same time as you. So unless he wins the big events, he's not probably going to be there.

It was an emphatic response from Trump.