Unsuroprisingly, Judd Trump won Group O, the last group in phase 1. Ryan Day came second and is through as well.
Trump Reaches Second Phase
World number one Judd Trump booked his place in the second phase of the WST Pro Series by topping Group O in Milton Keynes.
Trump won his first six matches of the day to ensure progression. He defeated Sean Maddocks, Steven Hallworth, Jimmy White, Barry Pinches, Jamie Jones and Ryan Day, before losing his final match 2-0 against Hossein Vafaei. That result did no harm to Trump, who still topped the group.
The Ace in the Pack remains in the hunt to beat his own record of most ranking titles won in a single season. Trump has notched up five wins so far this season, with the Pro Series, next week’s Cazoo Tour Championship and the Betfred World Championship to come. He set the current record of six in a single campaign last season.
Four players had a chance of capturing second spot going into today’s final set of matches. Day, White, Jones and Hallworth all went into the concluding ties level on 12 points, with Day holding a slight edge on frame difference. In the end, Day defeated Hallworth 2-0 to ensure he progressed, rendering Jones’ 2-1 win over White academic.
Trump said: “I got it all done and dusted early on. I didn’t have to panic in the last couple of games as I always knew I was in control. It was about getting some good match practice. I’ve had the same tip on all season and I decided to take it off and come here and play ahead of a couple of big events coming up.
“For me I’ve already done better than I did last season. Even though I’ve won less tournaments, I’ve played in a few less events. The overall standard and consistency has been better as well and I’m still in with a chance of breaking that record. It would be nice to equal it at the Tour Championship or the World Championship. I’m in a great position for both of them.”
Trump and Day now join Stuart Bingham, Oliver Lines, Mark Selby, Zhou Yuelong, Dominic Dale and Ricky Walden in group 4 of the second phase, which takes place on Saturday March 20th.
Meanwhile Jimmy White scored a break of 140 during his match against Steven Hallworth, his highest break since 2010 … 11 years ago. He lost that match though. Finishing 4th of the group isn’t a bad result for the Whirlwind, the oldest player on the tour.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
Jimmy White did his job. He is inside the top-8 on the one-year bonus list, and has the ideal ranking of 83. With Fu and Mei absent, this means he is the highest ranked player outside the top-80, meaning he will get to play an amateur in the first round of the WC, and the £5000 will probably be enough to earn a new 2-year tour card.
Paradoxically, if he had done better, another £1000 would have put him in a much more difficult position, needing to beat a player ranked in the low 80’s in round 2. I suppose he should be desperately hoping someone else doesn’t withdraw… Qualifying automatically, rather than receiving another wildcard, would mean a lot to him.
Thanks for the info, I’ve been wondering how his chances to retain his card were, it would be great if he could retain it by his own effort.
Unfortunately for him he might still end up in the top 80. Marco Fu and Mei Xiwen are above him in the rankings and will not compete. That makes him nr 81 in practical terms. One more player above withdraws for any reason and he’s in the top 80. Kurt Maflin for instance hasn’t played in ages. He’s probably stuck in Norway …
He is still registered to enter the Championship league. It is not impossible for Norwegians to travel to England, but it is very inconvenient. If he is playing the Championship League, he should be en England now, but I have no idea if he is or not. Knowing Kurt Maflin, he would isolate for a month if it meant he could play in the World Championship.
I think everyone will try to enter, and Jason Ferguson will do anything he can to help, for this WC. There’s a big difference between missing a Pro Series group or the Gibraltar Open and missing the World Championship.
Basically, I expect Xu Si and Chen Zifan to have to beat Jimmy White and Mitch Mann in L112 matches to stay on tour. But White and Mann will have had a ‘warm-up’ game first against an amateur in the L144 round.
Stephen Hendry will play Brandon Sargeant or Zhao Jianbo.
But yes, there could be a withdrawal before the draw is made, which would shift eveyone up a place.