Mark Williams, Judd Trump suffer shock exits at German Masters snooker qualifiers, John Higgins & Shaun Murphy progress

ByEurosport

Updated 25/11/2022 at 23:13 GMT

Former winner Mark Williams was dumped out in the opening round of German Masters qualifying in Leicester after suffering a 5-4 loss to rookie Julien Leclercq. Judd Trump would become the second shock exit of the day, losing 5-4 to Mark Davis in a high-quality match. Elsewhere, John Higgins avenged his 6-5 defeat to Marco Fu in the Hong Kong Masters semi-finals with a 5-3 win.

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Mark Williams suffered a shock 5-4 defeat to world No. 112 Julien Leclercq in the first round of German Masters qualifying at Leicester's Morningside Arena.

The three-time world champion and 2011 German Masters winner had led 2-0 on Friday morning, but watched the Belgian rookie recover to lead 3-2 and 4-3 after contributing a 97 break in the fifth frame.

Williams forced a decider with a run of 70, but 19-year-old Leclercq finalised victory with a closing break of 61.

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Leclercq's reward is a meeting with Louis Heathcote, who edged out Michell Mann 5-3, for a spot in Berlin next year.

Later, Mark Davis beat Judd Trump 5-4 in a high-quality affair.

Davis confirmed his spot in the next round after coming back from 51-0 behind in the deciding ninth frame, as an exciting match ended with the Champion of Champions finalist defeated.

Trump mounted a promising comeback after falling 4-2 behind and he produced the highest break of the match - a 127 - as he rallied toward successive frames to level the scores.

Davis had raced ahead in the opening frames to take an early lead as Trump just about kept within touching distance.

Trump won two of the following three frames to close the deficit on the scoreboard to one, but an in-form Davis quickly restored his two-frame advantage heading into the latter stages of the tie.

The world No. 3 matched Davis’ form to pull level by claiming the next two frames and taking the match to a decider.

He led the ninth and final frame by 51 points as he edged towards victory, but a resolute Davis chimed in with a purposeful comeback to snatch the match away.

Elsewhere, John Higgins won three straight frames from 3-2 behind to complete a 5-3 win against Marco Fu.

Higgins watched the former Grand Prix holder make a 147 break in the final frame of a 6-5 semi-final win at last month's Hong Kong Masters, but showed his mettle to recover after Fu threatened a repeat result.

The four-time world champion moved 2-0 clear with breaks of 64 and 110 before Fu enjoyed a three-frame burst boosted by a 75 break in the fourth frame.

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Higgins assumed control from that juncture as he finished with knocks of 64 and 50 to secure a last-64 meeting with Michael Judge or Daniel Wells on Saturday.

2005 world champion Shaun Murphy booked a clash with former European Masters winner Fan Zhengyi after enjoying a 5-0 whitewash of Andres Petrov with breaks of 73, 60 and 92.

The last 32 qualify for the finals venue at the Tempodrom in Berlin between February 1-5, 2023, live on discovery+ and Eurosport.