English Open 2022: Judd Trump digs in to beat Jackson Page in deciding frame to advance to round two

Updated 12/12/2022 at 17:44 GMT

Judd Trump was not at his brilliant best but was able to advance to the second round of the English Open with a 4-3 win over Jackson Page in Brentwood on Monday afternoon. Defending champion Neil Robertson powered through on Monday, beating Andrew Pagett 4-0 in style. Stream the English Open and other top snooker action live and on-demand on discovery+.

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Judd Trump advanced to the second round of the English Open, but had to survive a major scare before seeing off Jackson Page 4-3.

Trump led 2-0 and looked on course for a comfortable win, but Page dug in and forced a decider - only for the world No. 4 to get over the line and set up a meeting with Craig Steadman.

Trump has made hay in the Home Nations events, as he has four wins to his name - including one in the English Open back in 2020.

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He is still seeking a first title of the season, and first since taking the Turkish Masters in March of this year.

His form has been just bubbling under the surface, with the odd impressive display mixed in between patches of disappointing play.

Trump arrived in Brentwood on the back of a run to the quarter-finals of the Scottish Open, and will have hopes of going deep again after battling past Page.

Page is rated extremely highly, and showed flashes of his undoubted talent, but Trump was able to get over the line.

The Welshman paid the price for a poor safety in the opener, as Trump stepped in with a break of 69 to edge in front.

Page got his hand on the table in the second, but missed a tough cut on a red to the right-middle pocket.

It did not prove fatal as Trump missed a simple blue - something that has figured prominently in his game so far this season.

Page picked off the remaining reds after a huge fluked pink, but left himself angled on the yellow and came out of that episode requiring a snooker. He failed to get it as Trump extended his lead to two frames.

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Talent is a prerequisite at the top level, but slices of fortune also help as Page took third with a break of 60, but only after missing a red, splitting the pack all round the table and somehow not leaving Trump with an easy starter.

After deliberating for a couple of minutes, Trump played a shocking safety - failing to even hit a red, prompting Joe Johnson on Eurosport commentary to say “that's the worst shot I think I've ever seen Trump play".

It proved costly as Page made his first contribution of the match to get on the board and win the first frame of his career against Trump.

After securing his first frame against Trump, Page looked a far more confident player.

He had some luck again in the fourth, but took advantage of a fluked red via three kisses to get going, and later in the frame got in again to draw level.

Trump was seething in his chair at the sight of Page’s three-kiss fluke, and looked glum when his Welsh opponent got in again in the fifth.

A weakness in Page’s game is his cue-ball control and he ran out of position with a 34-point lead in the fifth.

Trump stepped to the table and made 64 but did not kill it off, as it turned into a war of attrition.

Page got the snooker he required and had a chance to pinch it when knocking in a tough blue, but his attempted double did not drop and Trump puffed out his cheeks in relief when chipping it into the yellow pocket.

Trump missed a long red by a distance at the start of the sixth, with it so far off target that the white followed through and into the bottom left.

It handed Page a starter, and he produced his most fluent passage of play of the game, a 78 break to force a decider.

Trump had the first chance in the decider but missed a red to right middle and handed the table to his opponent, but Page could only make 28 before running out of position.

Page was the first to blink in a tense safety battle as he failed to find a path back to baulk, but Trump broke down on 21.

If the drama of a final frame was not enough, an alarm went off with Page in the middle of his shot.

Thankfully, it did not do any major damage as he got the cue ball safe, but Trump got in a short while later and produced a brilliant break of 45 under intense pressure to move into round two.

Defending champion Neil Robertson was in fine form, meanwhile, as he knocked in two centuries and runs of 67 and 88 to blitz Andrew Pagett 4-0.

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Stream the English Open and other top snooker action live and on-demand on discovery+.

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