WORLD Snooker Championship action is rolling on at pace from the iconic Crucible as Judd Trump opens his campaign NOW.
The World No.1 leads Zhou Yuelong 6-3 in his tournament opener as he bids to become only the 10th multiple champion of the Crucible era.
Trump follows fellow superstar Ronnie O’Sullivan, who is taking part for the 33rd consecutive time at the Worlds, where he narrowly leads big rival Ali Carter 5-4 as the pair look to reconvene for action on Wednesday.
Elsewhere, despite producing four centuries, Zak Surety exited the tournament to Ding Junhui in a tupsy-turvy encounter and is joined by coutrymen and shot-maker extraordinaire Si Jiahui.
The Crucible curse struck again as defending champ Kyren Wilson was stunned by Lei Peifan, who knocked out the Kettering ace 10-9 in a shock first-round exit.
And 2010 world snooker champ Neil Robertson has also exited at the first stage, losing 10-8 to qualifier Chris Wakelin, while Hossein Vafaei stunned Barry Hawkins in a final-frame thriller.
- Start time: 10am BST
- Live stream: BBC iPlayer
- TV channel: BBC One / Two / Four
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‘Something to think about’
Mark Allen was on co-comms tonight and reckons that final frame will ‘give Judd Trump something to think about.’
He said: “Sometimes you have to take the bull by the horns and force the issue.
“Zhou is not going to win this match with breaks of 30.
“He has won the frame at one visit, it is a good end to the session and he has given Judd something to think about overnight.”
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One visit victory in the finale!
Judd Trump 6-3 Zhou Yuelong
Zhou Yuelong will be feeling much better about things going to bed tonight after that final frame – a 95 break to wrap things up for the evening!
Aggressive play which brought a huge range of shots from him and what a difference to the slow two frames prior to it.
A little bit of confidence and suddenly he’s firing in from all angles.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a mountain to climb. But he’s still in the mix!
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Judd Trump 6-2 Zhou Yuelong (0-52)
A half-century up and he’s still going here, Zhou!
He’s the strong favourite for this frame now.
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Judd Trump 6-2 Zhou Yuelong (0-1)
Great from Zhou Yuelong, very aggressive playing a loose-ish red into the right corner pocket.
That sends the cue ball rocketing into the pack and really opens this frame up. No messing about here and surely an ideal opportunity to go to bed tonight just three frames behind!
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Judd Trump 6-2 Zhou Yuelong (0-0)
Final frame of the session and the partition is up, allowing this into a one table set-up.
And a bonus for those with tickets for the other side of the arena!
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Judd Trump 6-2 Zhou Yuelong
Ahh, terrific from Trump!
Another tactical battle and he manages to come out on top with two excellent pots to take the yellow and green to leave Zhou needing snookers.
But potting the brown puts the frame beyond question and Zhou concedes when the blue comes up short.
Two long frames back-to-back and it’s 6-2 Trump with one to play tonight!
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Judd Trump 5-2 Zhou Yuelong (59-36)
Still locked in a safety war here.
The pink is now covering the yellow pocket, the brown is on the black spot and the black is eight inches from the right corner pocket.
All a bit all over the place at the minute in another long frame.
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Judd Trump 5-2 Zhou Yuelong (59-36)
We’re now into the colours after Zhou took the final red but didn’t leave himself a shot at any colour.
The gap now down to 23 as we head for the colours and the 27 points that remain up for grabs.
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Judd Trump 5-2 Zhou Yuelong (59-35)
After a couple of safety shots each, Trump looks to flick the red towards the left cushion and put the cue ball behind the yellow.
Instead, the white flicks off the yellow and goes into the yellow pocket!
Four points for Zhou and he’ll almost definitely play in behind the yellow, with it well of it’s spot.
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Judd Trump 5-2 Zhou Yuelong (59-31)
Trump gets one of the reds and plays for the brown, looking to release the last remaining red from the right cushion.
But he puts the brown in with some real pace, meaning he knocks the red away and close to the black cushion, leaving it unpottable.
His lead is 28 with 35 left on the table.
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Judd Trump 5-2 Zhou Yuelong (54-31)
Really poor shot from Trump there, just as it looked like he was in the midst of a frame-winning visit.
He reaches 54 in the break before a slightly tricky red into the left corner pocket.
It’s a bit of a surprise he’s missed it after the way he built that break, but the distance by which he missed it is the real shock.
Quite some distance away there and the frame, with two reds remaining, is back in the balance.
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Si Jiahui is through!
Si Jiahui 10-6 David Gilbert
A spirited comeback from Dave Gilbert who puts a lot more respect on the scoreline in the last hour or so.
Ultimately he comes up short and it’s free-flowing Si Jiahui who progresses into round two.
He’ll play the winner of Mark Selby vs Ben Woollaston next!
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Si Jiahui 9-6 David Gilbert (39-13)
Gilbert tries to be precise with the attempt at hitting a red and comes up short.
And leaving Si perfectly on a red, that could well be his final shot of these championships.
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Judd Trump 5-2 Zhou Yuelong (0-30)
Zhou with a break of 30 as he plays the latest red into the right corner pocket to open the pack up a bit.
He leaves the cue ball centrally and attempts the yellow which rattles the jaws of the yellow pocket and bounces away.
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Si Jiahui 9-6 David Gilbert (35-13)
Very tense stuff as Gilbert attempts to pot the red (beside white in pic) into the left corner pocket.
Instead it bounces back to baulk and leaves Si a pot along the cushion!
Si pots it before putting the cue ball back behind the yellow and sticks Gilbert in all kinds of bother.
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Judd Trump 5-2 Zhou Yuelong
The mistake comes from Trump and it’s Zhou Yuelong who is able to put the brown away before clearing up.
Horrible, ugly, nasty frame. But maybe just what Zhou needed as he closes the gap slightly.
He’ll be determined to win at least one of the last two this evening.
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Latest scores
Bit of a stalemate in both frames at the minute as we reach critical points in each match.
- Judd Trump 5-1 Zhou Yuelong (51-56)
- Zi Jiahui 9-6 David Gilbert (27-11)
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Judd Trump 5-1 Zhou Yuelong (51-56)
Over 35 minutes for the frame and no idea who it’ll go to as of yet.
Zhou does pot the green before attempting a double on the brown which doesn’t come off and the pair are locked in a safety exchange with five points in it and the four balls left.
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Si Jiahui 9-6 David Gilbert (23-1)
Si Jiahui puts up a score of 23 before his break comes to an end.
His safety actually brings a couple of reds into play for Gilbert and in potting the first red, this might well be another opening for him.
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Judd Trump 5-1 Zhou Yuelong (51-53)
Ouch! Trump plays the yellow superbly to get on the green before potting the green and spinning the cue ball back and into the left centre pocket!
The brown remains tight to the left cushion, so getting from green to brown will be mightily tricky for Zhou.
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Judd Trump 5-1 Zhou Yuelong (49-49)
Trump’s break reaches 24 and he’s drawn level in the frame with just the colours to go.
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Judd Trump 5-1 Zhou Yuelong (25-41)
Trump tries to force it and only registers six points with a red-blue combo before trying to get some reds free.
It doesn’t happen and he doesn’t leave anything on.
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Judd Trump 5-1 Zhou Yuelong (19-41)
Just the 29 again for Zhou Yuelong who is really struggling to score in this frame.
Luckily for him, there are still four reds all tight to the black cushion and the brown is near the left cushion too.
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Si Jiahui 9-6 David Gilbert
It’s now just a hill for Gilbert to climb as he’s got himself another one on the board.
Not just another frame, but another century in doing so to move back within three of Si Jiahui!
It looks like the weight of the world is off his shoulders too as he glides around the table for a superb break of 102. Really top stuff and we’re almost back to ‘game on’ territory…
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Judd Trump 5-1 Zhou Yuelong (19-12)
Missed long red for Trump into the left corner pocket and he’s left the cue ball up with the remaining reds.
Zhou simply has to capitalise here with four reds in the middle of the table and five tightly against the black cushion. He’ll need to get one or two of those free, too.
