World Snooker Championship 2021 - Judd Trump seals win over Liam Highfield to set up Gilbert clash
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Updated 22/04/2021 at 06:47 GMT
The world number did the damage in his opening round meeting with Liam Highfield in the first session, as he powered into a 7-2 advantage. The buffer enabled him to relax with a second-round place effectively secured, and he confirmed that in some style. Up next for the Judd Trump is a meeting with David Gilbert
'It’s so negative' – Trump urges rivals to stop boring break-offs
Judd Trump breezed into the second round of the World Championship with a 10-4 win over Liam Highfield.
The expectation is high on the world number one to secure his second Crucible success, and he laid down a marker with a dominant win in his competition opener.
Highfield was on the back foot after trailing 7-2 following the opening session; the underdog’s only chance of mounting a fightback was a rapid start on Wednesday afternoon.
He got in the balls in the 10th frame, but broke down on 24 and it summed up his second Crucible appearance: bright moments but too many errors. Trump stepped in to knock in a 51 to take the opening frame of the second session to set him on his way to his most dominant first-round performance at the World Championship.
Back in 2015, Dominic Dale was brushed aside 10-5 by Trump - but the world number one eclipsed that mark against Highfield.
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'Fluke central!' – Trump gets lucky with four-cushion pot
Highfield avoided a whitewash in the second session by taking the 11th frame.
It was a nerve-jangling affair as Highfield broke down after knocking in a half century and looked set to pay a heavy price, but Trump ran out of position from pink to black and his opponent pounced to take the frame.
Trump had a stern look on his face after seeing Highfield cut the black into the bottom-left pocket to take the 11th, and it could be that his error focused the mind as he knocked in an 84 in the 12th frame to move within one of victory.
Taking on the world number one on the biggest stage in the game was always going to be a huge ask for Highfield.
He gave himself something to build on for the future by making a total clearance of 138 in the 13th frame - his first century at the Crucible - to force Trump to return after the interval to complete the job.
Trump did exactly that in the first frame after the resumption, with a break of 52 enough to book a meeting with David Gilbert in round two.
An added bonus for Trump from his win over Highfield was the knowledge that he had guaranteed his position as season-end world number one.
Had he lost and Ronnie O’Sullivan gone on the win the title, the Rocket would have deposed Trump - but that possibility has now been shut down.
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'What a shot that was' - Highfield makes three-ball plant
Mark Selby threw down the gauntlet by powering into an 8-1 lead over Kurt Maflin.
There have been some impressive performances already in the first round, but Selby has arguably been the most polished so far.
Mafin was tipped by a few pundits to give Selby a tough examination, but the three-time champion was completely dominant.
Selby knocked in a break of 142, and dealt a hammer blow to Maflin when pinching the last of the session after his opponent had opened up a 61-point lead.
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