Judd Trump (Photo by Andrej146)
Judd Trump has never been past the quarter-finals of the British Open but hopes he can improve that record this week and he started strongly by coming from 2-0 down to beat Dylan Emery 4-2 in the opening round in Cheltenham.
For the first time in two years, Trump comes into an event without the world number one status, having been knocked off the top of the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings by Zhao Xintong last week. Down to number five, Trump may feel he can keep under the radar with less pressure and get back to winning ways as he seeks a first title in seven months.
Underdog Emery started well tonight with breaks of 107 and 125 in the first two frames, but Trump stormed back to take the next four with a top run of 111.
“Overall I played OK,” said Trump, who now meets Ricky Walden in the last 64 on Wednesday. “I don’t know what it is about this tournament but I have never done that well. I had a good game against Shaun Murphy in the last 16 last year and just missed out, otherwise in this event I have played poorly. I’m trying to rectify that. In this format you have to get off to a quick start otherwise you’re under pressure.
“I like the random draw for this event, it adds more excitement for people watching on TV. There are good match-ups early on and the draw can open up for players further down the rankings. Personally in any tournament I never know who I’m playing until my brother tells me when I’m about to go on. In the past I would sometimes look too far ahead in the draw and that got me into trouble. So now I don’t look until the last minute and try not to think about who I’ve got.”
Murphy made a strong start to the defence of his title as he saw off Reanne Evans 4-0 with top breaks of 63 and 87. Mark Williams, short of sleep having returned from the Wuhan Open just hours earlier, was thumped 4-0 by David Gilbert.
World Champion Wu Yize edged out Liu Hongyu 4-3 while John Higgins top scored with 92 in a 4-1 win over Hossein Vafaei. Chris Wakelin came from 3-1 down to edge out Luca Brecel 4-3, while Kyren Wilson enjoyed a 4-1 success against Florian Nuessle.
Lam Lifts Q Tour Title in Leeds
Sanderson Lam defeated Farakh Ajaib 4-1 to win the first WPBSA Q Tour Europe event of the 2026/27 season at the Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds, England.
The 32-year-old Englishman was appearing in a Q Tour event for the first time since 2022, having dropped off the World Snooker Tour (WST) at the end of last season.
Nicknamed ‘The Panda’, Lam won a total of seven matches to battle through the 143-player field and make a dream start to the new Q Tour Europe campaign.
Lam made the perfect start to the four-day event in West Yorkshire as he earned consecutive whitewash wins over Kevin Willsher, Billy Castle and Jack Borwick with a combined six half-centuries along the way.
Compatriot Ryan Davies was the first player to take a frame off Lam but a top break of 73 was enough for the former Scottish Open quarter-finalist to advance to the same stage of the event in Leeds.
The 2023 English Amateur champion Paul Deaville was his last eight opponent and took Lam all the way despite trailing 2-0 and 3-2 in the best-of-seven frame contest.
‘The Panda’ was ultimately able to secure the victory and then made short work of fellow former professional Mark Joyce, beating him 4-0 to reach the title match.
A break of 83 in the second frame of the final gave Lam a 2-0 lead over Farakh Ajaib, who had overturned the same deficit in his semi-final contest against Pakistan’s Haris Tahir.
Ajaib briefly threatened to once again launch a comeback when he halved Lam’s lead with a break of 60, but contributions of 52 and 66 in the fourth quickly regained the two-frame advantage.
Lam was then able to hold his nerve in the next frame as a break of 64 helped him over the winning line to secure the first Q Tour title of his career.
Post-match, Lam said: “I am really happy to get off to a good start. I’ve been working hard on and off the table and I feel like something clicked in the last couple of days – I felt comfortable in the balls and I was confident.”
“The competition is so tough nowadays on and off the Tour. There are so many good players coming from Europe, China and the Middle East. You’ve got to just concentrate on yourself and I’m happy that the work is paying off” he added.
