Judd Trump leads Murphy in second round of World Snooker Championship

SHEFFIELD: Top-ranked Judd Trump has taken a 5-3 lead over Shaun Murphy in the last-16 clash of the World Championship here at the Crucible Theatre on Sunday. 

Trump fought back in the game, where he was 2-0 and 3-2 down, succeeding in the last three frames of the session.

He, however, made a costly error in the eighth frame as he missed a vital opportunity that could have given him a century break when he was on 98.

Trump has made 98 century breaks this season and will become a contender for a £100,000 bonus if he reaches the hundred tons before the end of the tournament.

Murphy won the first frame with a break of 75 and then doubled his lead. Trump, who got off to a dismal start, made a comeback by winning two consecutive frames to level at 2-2.

A break of 103 in the next frame from Murphy turned back the momentum in his favour, but Trump showed his class in the next three frames and won all of them.

Trump will have to play another eight frames later as the play resumes at 11:00 pm PKT before the final session on Monday.

Only two players have succeeded in completing hundred century breaks in a single campaign; one was Trump with 103 in 2019-20, while the other was Neil Robertson in 2013-14.

Elsewhere, China’s Zhao Xintong has booked a place in the quarter-finals for the first time after beating Lei Peifan 13-10.