The duo of world number one, Judd Trump, and two-time champion, Mark Williams, all finished their opponents easy-peasy to secure safe passage into the second round of the European Masters.
Trump finished off Noppon Saengkham to secure a ticket to the part against Luca Brecel. The world number cruised to a 5-1 victory over Noppon, recording a century of 114 just before the mid-session interval. Luca Brecel also performed brilliantly against his opponent, completing a 5-0 whitewash over Joe Perry. It was an enjoyable snooker game for Trump, who rounded up his impressive win with breaks of 114 and 85 in the final two frames.
Mark Williams also showed why he’s already lifted the title twice, delivering a thumping win over Yuan Sijun. The two-time champion racked up beautiful displays, and all culminated in a 5-2 scoreline. He was so domineering that he put up two century breaks. At this point, Sijun must have thought to himself that he was out of the tournament.
He was definitely right. Williams was on good form and did beautifully well to dispatch his lesser-known opponent. Surely, it was an improved display for Williams, who crumbled at the feet of Yuelong Zhou in the European Masters with the latter recording a 5-4 win over him in the first round of the European Masters.
Elsewhere, Graeme Dott staged a powerful comeback over Tian Pengfei to pick up his ticket to the second round of the German Masters. After six frames, Tian Pengfei had a 4-2 lead before Graeme Dott levelled matters and won the deciding frame. With that win, the former World Champion is poised to lock horns with Mark Williams in a repeat of 2018 final. On paper, it was only normal that the world number 20, Graeme Dott pushed over his opponent who is ranked 42 places below himself.
It was the world number 62 who instead raced to a 2-0 lead. Dott followed up with two frame wins on the trot before Tian Pengfei restored the lead once again. The unrelenting Dott soon made it 4-4 before going on for the winner in the ninth and deciding frame.
Written by: Roland Arum
