Judd Trump progresses at the European Masters as Ding and Allen also advance

Judd Trump is safely through to the third round of the European Masters after a commanding 5-1 victory over Germany’s Lukas Kleckers in Milton Keynes on Wednesday.

A stunning total clearance of 132 was the highlight of the world number one’s performance as he eased into the last 32 at the Marshall Arena.

Although he stuttered over the finish line, Trump endured little difficulty in setting up a showdown with Michael Holt in round three.

A 5-0 winner when he faced Kleckers in the 2019 German Masters, the Ace quickly took control of the second meeting between the players with a run of 50 in the opener.

Trump, who whitewashed Ukraine’s Iulian Boiko in round one, then produced a wonderful 132 total clearance to double his lead, before taking the next two to move 4-0 ahead.

However, he was unable to convert his opportunities after the interval and Kleckers capitalised to get his first-ever frame against the 2019 World champion on the board.

But Trump, winner of this event in 2016, soon made amends in the next, taking it on the colours to book a third-round date with Shootout champion Holt, who beat Jamie Jones 5-2.

Elsewhere, Yan Bingtao recovered from losing the opening frame to record an impressive 5-3 victory over Ryan Day.

The Welshman came flying out of the blocks with a brilliant break of 133, but runs of 79 and 77 helped the Chinese ace move 3-1 in front.

Day fought back to level at 3-3, but world number 15 Yan edged his nose back in front with 61 before producing a stunning 133 of his own to seal the deal.

Meanwhile, Luca Brecel breezed through to the last 32 following a resounding 5-1 rout of two-time World finalist Ali Carter.

Earlier in the day, world number five Mark Allen hit three centuries on the way to a 5-2 victory over Austrian amateur Florian Nuessle.

The Pistol’s reward is a showdown with 1997 World champion Ken Doherty, who made breaks of 134, 58 and 71 in his 5-0 whitewash of Farakh Ajaib.

China’s Ding Junhui also reeled off five frames without reply against compatriot Yuan Sijun as did Hossein Vafaei, who he will play in round two, and Graeme Dott against Brandon Sargeant and Xu Si respectively.

Elsewhere, 2015 Crucible king Stuart Bingham hit a high break of 125 as he beat Louis Heathcote 5-3, while a top run of 99 was the highlight of Barry Hawkins’ commanding 5-1 win over Fan Zhengyi.

But there was no joy for world number 16 Joe Perry or Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, who were edged out in deciding frames by Robbie Williams and Liam Highfield respectively.

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European Masters Snooker 2020 Scores

Wednesday September 23

Round One

5 Joe Perry 4-5 Robbie Williams
6 Ben Hancorn 2-5 Pang Junxu
7 Barry Hawkins 5-1 Fan Zhengyi
8 Gerard Greene 2-5 Jordan Brown
25 Fraser Patrick 5-3 Tian Pengfei
26 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 4-5 Liam Highfield
27 Chen Zifan 5-3 Eden Sharav
28 Stuart Bingham 5-3 Louis Heathcote

17 Mark Allen 5-2 Florian Nuessle
18 Farakh Ajaib 0-5 Ken Doherty
19 Jimmy Robertson 4-5 Ashley Carty
20 Jamie Wilson 1-5 Simon Lichtenberg
21 Ding Junhui 5-0 Yuan SiJun
22 Brandon Sargeant 0-5 Hossein Vafaei
23 Graeme Dott 5-0 Xu Si
24 Lyu Haotian 5-4 Alex Borg

Second Round

66 Allan Taylor 5-3 Ben Woollaston
81 Judd Trump 5-1 Lukas Kleckers
82 Michael Holt 5-2 Jamie Jones
84 Ali Carter 1-5 Luca Brecel
87 David Grace 4-5 Martin O’Donnell
90 Matthew Selt 4-5 Jamie Clarke
92 Scott Donaldson 2-5 Joe O’Connor
94 Ryan Day 3-5 Yan Bingtao