Trump snatches victory to keep title hopes alive

Snooker: Former Crucible finalist fights back to clinch second-round place

Judd Trump produced a great escape to keep alive his hopes of a first Betfred World Championship title.

At the tournament he regards as being “10 times bigger” than any other, Trump was in deep first-round trouble when he dropped the opening frame of the day to slide 7-3 behind against Liang Wenbo.

The 26-year-old had been off his game 24 hours earlier and it called for a champion’s response.

Trump, who reached the 2011 Crucible final and was a semi-finalist last year, was up to the challenge and took seven of the next eight frames to win 10-8.

His victory tees up a tantalising secondround clash with Wenbo’s fellow Chinese player Ding Junhui.

Trump admitted it was going against him at 7-3, but he was heartened by edging the next frame, and said on BBC Two: “Then I got some momentum and played some really good stuff.

“I took the balls really well, felt very confident, very relaxed under pressure. It seemed like when I had my back against the wall that’s when I thrived.

“I played some real good snooker, just solid snooker. I wasn’t forcing it really.

“I took a bit of heart from when I was losing big to Shaun Murphy a few years ago and came back to win that.

“I’m so pleased to get through. I can’t wait for the next game now.”

When he trailed 7-6 at the mid-session interval, Trump was working his way back into the match and tournament, but still tweeted from his dressing room: “Drinks on me later if I get out of jail here.”

He might face a hefty bar bill, but he remains in the hunt for the £330,000 top prize.

Trump lost 6-4 to Liang, a fellow lefthander, at the UK Championship in December, tumbling out of the tournament after squandering a 4-1 lead, and called the loss “embarrassing”.

On the other table, Hong Kong’s Marco Fu edged 5-3 ahead of Scotland’s Anthony McGill as they began their bestof-25-frame second-round match.

Ali Carter leads Scot Alan McManus 5-3.

Picture: Getty. Judd Trump at the table during his comeback victory over Liang Wenbo.