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World Championship: 'Winning machine' Judd Trump happy with 'solid' start to Crucible bid with win over Hossein Vafaei

Alex Livie

Published 21/04/2024 at 19:21 GMT

With five titles to his name already in the 2023/24 season, Judd Trump has high hopes of adding a second World Championship to his trophy cabinet. He made a fine start to his Crucible challenge with a 10-5 win over Hossein Vafaei. The world No. 2 told Eurosport he was happy with his performance. Stream top snooker action, including the World Snooker Championship, live on Eurosport and discovery+

‘7 out of 10’ - Trump happy with form in win over Vafaei

Judd Trump rated his win over Hossein Vafaei as seven out of 10, leaving him with areas to work on heading into the second round of the World Championship.
Trump broke the back of the match in the first session, punishing mistakes from Vafaei to secure a 6-3 lead.
The world No. 2 was not as polished in Sunday afternoon’s second session, but he kept Vafaei under wraps to secure a 10-5 win.
There were no tons, with only five half-centuries for Trump, but he was happy with his performance in the opening round.
When asked by Alan McManus in the Eurosport studio to rank his performance out of 10, Trump replied: “Seven. I think it was solid.
“The first session I was very happy with my performance. He played very well and to get a 6-3 lead when he was playing like that, it was a knocked the stuffing out of him kind of thing. I knew he would be a little bit disappointed with that.
“I knew it was going to be tough for him to come back today and find his confidence.
“I just had to mind my business, not make too many mistakes and I knew I would be somewhere near.”
Trump believes there are areas to work on ahead of the second round which gets under way on Thursday.
“I think it was a solid performance,” he said. “I missed a couple at the end today, but it was where you just want to get over the line. Other than that I think it was a solid seven-out-of-10 performance and stuff to work on for the next game.”
Reanne Evans was in the Eurosport studio and was impressed with how Trump approached the match.
“No matter what position he is in, he fancies the job,” Evans said. "He has been one of the players of the season.
“He is a class act and has changed his game over the years.
“He knew it was a tough match in Hossein and it focused him straight away.”
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Trump makes clinical break of 72 to take third frame against Vafaei

Jimmy White has been impressed with Trump’s mindset at tournaments.
“He is like a winning machine,” White said in the Eurosport studio. “He knew Hossein was struggling, after being behind in the first session.
“A few times Trump got in and was not on a red and kept the game safe, keeping his opponent down. The Trump of before might have tried to force the issue, make the centuries and the glory shots. He does not do that now. All he is interested in is winning.”
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Stream top snooker action, including the World Snooker Championship, live on Eurosport and discovery+
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