Judd Trump scrapes through at the English Open as Higgins and Wilson progress
The Ace made it 20 successive victories in ranking events (Photo via PA Images)
Judd Trump survived a scare as he recovered from 3-1 down to overcome Louis Heathcote in a deciding frame on day two of the English Open in Milton Keynes.
Far from his fluent best, the world number one was in danger of falling at the first hurdle in the opening Home Nations event of the season.
Trump fell 3-1 behind against world number 69 Heathcote as his trademark long-potting and break-building deserted him.
But the former World champion dug deep to win the next three frames and advance to the second round at the Marshall Arena, where he will be joined by the likes of John Higgins, Kyren Wilson, Shaun Murphy and Stuart Bingham.
Trump made a strong start with a break of 75 helping him draw first blood, but he was immediately pegged back following a scrappy second frame.
Heathcote built on that momentum with runs of 68 and 53 moving him 3-1 ahead.
The Leicester cueist, who beat two-time Crucible finalist Ali Carter in the World Championship qualifiers in July, was on course for another huge scalp in the following frame.
However, an under-hit red to the corner pocket was ruthlessly pounced upon by Trump, who cleared with 86 to stay alive.
The Ace controlled the next to force a decider, where a break of 61 was enough to see him over the line and set up a second-round clash with China’s Yuan SiJun.
World number eight Murphy also needed a deciding frame to book his place in round two, with a run of 65 eventually edging him past Robert Milkins.
Elsewhere, 2015 World champion Bingham recovered from 2-0 down before finishing with back-to-back centuries in his 4-2 win over Fergal O’Brien, while the same scoreline saw Crucible finalist Wilson past Dominic Dale.
Four-time Crucible winner Higgins was also a 4-2 winner against James Cahill – as was Jack Lisowski over Li Hang to book a second-round date with Jak Jones, who hit two centuries in his 4-1 victory over Elliot Slessor.
However, there was no joy for 2019 English Open finalist David Gilbert who, despite leading 2-0, was ousted 4-2 by former European Tour winner Rory McLeod.
WATCH THE ENGLISH OPEN STREAMED LIVE HERE (18+)
English Open 2020 Results
Tuesday October 13
Round One
20 Jordan Brown 4-2 Lee Walker
28 David Gilbert 2-4 Rory McLeod
30 Zhao Xintong 4-3 Pang Junxu
36 Zak Surety 1-4 Lu Ning
41 Nigel Bond 4-3 Ashley Hugill
51 Jimmy Robertson 4-1 Chen Zifan
52 Peter Lines 0-w/o Luo Honghao
60 Jack Lisowski 4-2 Li Hang
38 Simon Lichtenberg 4-3 Anthony Hamilton
45 Xu Si 4-1 Ken Doherty
57 Sean Maddocks 2-4 Ben Hancorn
37 Mark Williams 0-/wo Allan Taylor
46 Matthew Selt 4-0 Jamie Wilson
48 Kyren Wilson 4-2 Dominic Dale
55 Tom Ford 4-3 Xiao Guodong
61 Michael White 3-4 Zhao Jianbo
15 David Lilley 4-1 Eden Sharav
16 Shaun Murphy 4-3 Robert Milkins
44 Stuart Bingham 4-2 Fergal O’Brien
56 Jamie Jones 4-2 Duane Jones
59 Jak Jones 4-1 Elliot Slessor
42 Graeme Dott 2-4 Alexander Ursenbacher
58 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh wo/-0 Stuart Carrington
29 Daniel Wells 1-4 Mark Davis
33 Judd Trump 4-3 Louis Heathcote
39 Gary Wilson 4-1 Iulian Boiko
47 Gao Yang 4-2 Kacper Filipiak
54 Ian Burns 0-4 Luca Brecel
62 Matthew Stevens 4-2 Jamie O’Neill
63 Ryan Day 4-0 Mark Lloyd
26 Barry Hawkins 4-0 Igor Figueiredo
49 John Higgins 4-2 James Cahill