Rookie Yan is a ‘future champion’
JUDD TRUMP is convinced he could be facing a future world champion when he resumes his quest to crush the ‘Crucible curse’ in the second round today.
Sixteenth seed Yan Bingtao fought off a spirited fightback by Elliot Slessor to book a clash with the world No 1 and Trump believes the 20-year-old – who is based in Sheffield and trains at the city’s Victoria’s Snooker Academy – can spearhead a surge of Chinese title challengers.
Trump said: “He (Yan) is very mature for his age and he doesn’t go for anything stupid. He takes his time and he has certainly got a chance of being world champion in the future.”
Yan, now 20, became the youngest ranking event finalist at the Northern Ireland Open in 2017 and went on to reach the final of this year’s Players Championship – where he was thumped 10-4 by Trump.
Despite almost blowing a 9-2 first-round lead over Slessor, Yan is already considered the most promising member of a new Chinese generation who are yet to live up to frequent prophecies of future domination of the sport.
Yet with nine Chinese players currently in the world’s top 50, Trump, bidding to become the first first-time champion to retain his title in the Crucible era, is convinced the power-base in the game is shifting more towards the east.
Trump added: “The future of the game is in really good hands with these Chinese players, and in the future there will certainly be a more even ratio of players from China and the UK.
“It’s also good to have young players coming through. It keeps you on your toes and it’s nice to have the 40-plus players not winning everything all the time.”
Yan had looked set to coast to his first Crucible win when he led Slessor 7-1 overnight but admitted he felt the pressure as his opponent launched his unlikely comeback.
Yan said: “I was getting a bit nervous near the end and I was very glad to win when I did because we would have had to come off and I did not want to come back later in the evening.”
Barry Hawkins admitted after thrashing Alexander Ursenbacher 10-2 that he had been “getting a little bit sick of snooker” prior to lockdown.
The 2013 finalist was asked afterwards if, with his form having not been at its best this season, lockdown had come at a good time for him.
And he said: “It came at the perfect time for me because I was just at that point where I was just getting a little bit sick of snooker, and I think to be honest with you a lot of players were.
“We’ve played so much over the last few years. I think it was just starting to drain me a little bit. It was nice to put the cue away. I didn’t hit a ball for three months.”
Hawkins, 41, faces Neil Robertson in round two.
Martin Gould cruised to a 10-3 win over Stephen Maguire, while four-time world champion John Higgins resumes his secondround match this morning, trailing Kurt Maflin 5-3.