World number one Judd Trump turns the tables to score rare Tour Championship match win

As the number five seed for this £500,000 Players Series event, world number one Trump was forced to play in the preliminary round. He faced former world number one Allen who came 13th in the qualification race but received a reprieve as Ronnie O'Sullivan elected not to enter, therefore was the next in line for an invite.

Runner-up to Stephen Maguire in 2020 when the competition was held behind closed doors due to Covid, Allen took all four frames of the opening mini-session - all of which on the colours - despite not registering a single break of above 40.

Trump - who hadn't won a match in this tournament since the start of the decade - was all over the shop, but turned things around in fine fashion on resumption at the Manchester Central.

This season's German Masters winner crafted efforts of 71, 104 and 88 as he reduced the gap to just one, before restoring parity at 4-4 come the end of the afternoon session.

Returning a few hours later for the conclusion, Allen - who recently talked about adopting a more attacking approach - nudged back in front with a 121, but a 69 helped Trump to level at 5-5 before going in front for the first time after ousting frame 11 on a re-spotted black.

Allen racked up another break of 121 to square it at 6-6, but Trump went two clear after back-to-back frames with 114 and 86.

The gap was halved by Allen (52 break), but a 67 assisted Trump in getting to hill first at 9-7 up.

A steely effort of 79 from Allen in frame 17 kept his hopes alive, but Trump wrapped up the encounter with a break of exactly 100 - his third ton of the day - to record a 10-8 victory and set up a last eight date with Shaun Murphy on Wednesday.

The Tour Championship is one of only a few current professional titles that 36-year-old Trump doesn't have on his career CV. He appeared in consecutive semi-finals in 2019 and 2020, but he has yet to reach the final.

Elsewhere during Monday's action in Lancashire, recent Welsh Open winner Barry Hawkins leads newly-minted World Open champion Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, 5-3.

In the evening session, Chinese youngster Wu Yize took control of his tie with Chris Wakelin, establishing a 6-2 advantage.

Both of those matches will be completed on Tuesday, whilst the other preliminary round affair - reigning champion John Higgins versus the victor from two years ago Mark Williams - will be played in its entirety.

To view the full draw, results, schedule, and other information from the 2026 Tour Championship, visit here.