Judd Trump advances at World Snooker Championship as seeds continue Crucible dominance

Players from the world’s top 16 continue to dominate at this year’s World Snooker Championship. From the 11 completed round one matches in the draw, so far, all 11 seeded players have come through.

Trump has not been at his best this season, but he travelled to Sheffield this year still having featured in five finals this term, more than any other player.

In one of the standout fixtures of the opening round, Trump faced three-time ranking event winner Gary Wilson, an opponent he defeated in the semi-finals at the Crucible in 2019 on his way to the world title.

It was former back-to-back Scottish Open champion Wilson who began the match brightly with a 77 before doubling his advantage. Trump got on the scoreboard in frame three with the aid of a 60, but ‘The Tyneside Terror’ secured frames either side of the mid-session interval - highlighted by a 139 in the fifth - to take control at 4-1.

But Trump, helped by some slices of luck, would end up finishing the morning session 5-4 in front following a four-frame winning sequence that ended in breaks of 128 and 77.

On resumption a few hours’ later, Wilson made a 58 as he went about restoring parity at 5-5, but Trump produced another multi-frame sequence, this time five-in-a-row - featuring breaks of 71 and 69 - to progress smoothly into the second round in South Yorkshire.

The reigning German Masters champion’s next assignment will be against either number 15 seed Si Jiahui or qualifier Hossein Vafaei.

From his 17 Crucible appearances to date, ‘The Ace in the Pack’ has lost in the opening round only thrice - and one of those was as a teenager on debut in 2007.

Earlier in the day, Wu Yize wrapped up a 10-2 victory over fellow Chinese countryman Lei Peifan to record his first match win on snooker’s grandest stage.

Reigning International Champion Wu - who is a seed here for the first time - did the bulk of the damage the day before as runs of 93, 92, 85, 67, 58 and 105 assisted him to an 8-1 overnight lead. And the 22-year-old wasn’t engaged for too long upon his return, fashioning a 68 and 116 in the final two frames.

It’s either Mark Selby or Jak Jones in the last 16 for Wu.

From the morning session, Chris Wakelin went away with a slender advantage over debutant Liam Pullen.

Current Scottish Open champion Wakelin - who is this year’s other first-time seed - went one down but pinched frame two having required a snooker on the pink.

The world number 13 was 3-1 up at the interval, but English youngster Pullen - who had to navigate all four rounds of qualifying earlier this month - managed to stick with his opponent to trail by just one at 5-4 down heading into Wednesday morning’s scheduled final session.

Ronnie O’Sullivan only needs three more frames to reach the last 16 of the World Snooker Championship for a staggering 30th time in his career.

The seven-time world champion crafted a break of 113 whilst building a 5-0 lead, and although Chinese debutant He opened his account and scored back-to-back frames, ‘The Rocket’ re-established a five-frame cushion at 7-2 up.

Murphy ousts Fan in thrilling deciding frame climax

The first deciding frame finish of this year’s main draw came late on Tuesday night as 2005 World Champion Shaun Murphy pipped qualifier Fan Zhengyi, 10-9.

There was little to separate the pair after Monday’s first session, with Murphy holding a narrow overnight lead after compiling a break of 140 in frame nine.

From 3-3 in the match, the players traded frames throughout, with Murphy leading on six different occasions from that point, but being pegged back each time by a resilient Fan.

It looked like former European Masters champion Fan - on his third visit to the Crucible, and seeking his first win there - was going to nip in front when it mattered the most as he built a small lead in the decider.

But with four reds left, number eight seed Murphy countered, crafting a classy match-winning effort of 50 to set up a second round meeting with another Chinese cueist, Xiao Guodong.

To view the full draw, results, schedule, and other information from the 2026 World Snooker Championship, visit our tournament information centre here.