Judd Trump can breathe a sigh of relief after staving off an impressive revival from Liang Wenbo to reach The Masters quarter-finals.
The world number three looked to be in complete control of their first round contest at Alexandra Palace as he opened up a commanding 5-1 lead inside two hours, but with the shackles off Liang came back fighting.
He closed the gap to 5-4 with the aid of back-to-back centuries playing like a man with nothing to lose as though he had already resigned himself to defeat.
This saw the pendulum swing and the pressure heap onto Trump’s shoulders, but he made a cool match-winning break of 85 after being frozen out for three frames straight and sealed the match as if he never even panicked.
Defeat in this manner could have been hugely damaging to Trump who came into this event off the back of poor performances at all of the three majors in 2017. It is without doubt something he knows he needs to put right and a good start here was imperative.
In fact in the opening six frames of this match, Trump was very impressive showing again his wide array of potting skills as well as his ability to play good safety. He demonstrated a strong all-round game like a man who has come here to do the business.
This unexpected early test could well stand him in good stead for the rest of the tournament whereas in previous events this season he’s strolled through the early rounds so easy that he’s arguably lacked the hardened battling qualities required when he’s reached the business end of events.
Even bigger tests are without doubt ahead of Trump if he wants to get his hands on his first major title since 2011 but he got the job done in round one and lives to tell the tale.
