Judd Trump produced perhaps his best performance of the season so far as he fired three centuries in a 6-2 win over Ding Junhui in the opening round of the Johnstone’s Paint Masters, earning a quarter-final tie with Mark Allen.
World number one Trump hopes that 2026 will prove a more prolific year than 2025 as he hasn’t lifted a trophy for 13 months. And he made an ideal start to snooker’s biggest invitation event with a tremendous display of break-building to reach the last eight for the tenth time.
The result continued the amazing sequence of all seven matches so far this week finishing with a 6-2 scoreline.
Trump in fact showed consistent form before Christmas, reaching the finals of the Northern Ireland Open, Champion of Champions and UK Championship, pipped to the title by Jack Lisowski in the first of those and Mark Selby in the other two. Perhaps this could be the week when he ends his barren spell and the 36-year-old, who lifted the Paul Hunter Trophy in 2019 and 2023, hopes to become only the seventh player to win it on three occasions.
Trump took a 31-minute opening frame by getting the better of a safety battle on the last red, and soon extended his lead to 3-0 with breaks of 116 and 69. Ding hit back with a run of 98 in the fourth, then he came from 54-0 down to win the fifth, compiling a run of 53 before out-foxing his opponent in a tactical exchange on the yellow.
However China’s Ding failed to pot a ball in the last three frames as Trump finished in superb style with breaks of 88, 117 and 109. He will meet Allen at 7pm on Thursday evening.
“It was a good performance, I didn’t do a lot wrong,” said 2019 World Champion Trump, who has now won his last five meetings with Ding. “I started well then Ding was back in it at 3-2, so I was happy to find some momentum and make good breaks.
“In the last six weeks I have been confident with my cue and had a lot of good performances. When I have played decent I have made it hard for my opponents.
“If I went the whole season without winning a title I would be disappointed because I feel I have played well enough to win an event. There is a lot of time left and a lot of big events. You just have to be patient and wait for the chance to pop up. In the last few finals I have fallen short and not played to the same standard, so next time I have to find that fire when I get to a final.”
Ding said: “I played a few terrible safety shots and let him have chances. He was playing well and I wasn’t at a good enough level to play against him. His standard is very high. He didn’t miss much and it is very difficult to play him.”
Neil Robertson raised his hopes of a third Johnstone’s Paint Masters title, and his chances of taking his season’s prize money into seven figures, as he beat Chris Wakelin 6-2 in the opening round at Alexandra Palace.
World number three Robertson is into the quarter-finals of this event for the 13th time and, having won the title in 2012 and 2022, hopes to become the seventh player to reach three crowns, joining Ronnie O’Sullivan, Stephen Hendry, Steve Davis, Cliff Thorburn, Paul Hunter and Mark Selby. His next test will be against Kyren Wilson on Friday evening.
What Are The Chances?
It’s The 202-6 Masters!
All eight first round matches this week have finished with a 6-2 scoreline. The odds against that happening are estimated at 1.9 million to one!
Last August Robertson won the top prize of £500,000 at the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters, the biggest of his career, and if he could add the £350,000 winner’s cheque this week then his total for the season would go past £1 million for the first time, with four months of the campaign still to run.
Robertson took the opening frame with breaks of 40 and 44, then he could have pinched the second from 72-1 down as he clawed his way back and got the snooker he needed on the final blue to trail by just 17 points. But the Australian then fouled the blue himself and eventually Scottish Open champion Wakelin potted the pink for 1-1.
A run of 53 helped Robertson take the third, before Wakelin responded with an excellent 101 for 2-2. After the interval, Robertson stepped up the pace with breaks of 116 and 135 to go 4-2 ahead. Frame seven was resolved on a safety exchange on the last red and Robertson converted a cracking long pot to a baulk corner which set him up to extend his advantage.
Wakelin, who made his debut in this event last year, had a clear chance in frame eight but overcut a tricky red to a top corner on 33 and Robertson stormed over the winning line with a break of 102. That was his third century of the match and 46th at the Masters, equalling the tally of Hendry; only O’Sullivan has scored more.
“At 2-2 I hadn’t done much wrong, then after the interval I got on a roll,” said 43-year-old Robertson. “At the end I really wanted to win 6-2 in case someone had £1 on all eight matches finishing by that score! I always get tremendous support here and I am humbled by that because it is tough being an Australian over here and trying to get the crowd on my side when I am playing someone from the UK. The fans have always been brilliant with me and hopefully when I am playing well that’s something they want to see.“
Wakelin said: “I felt really good at 2-2, then Neil came out and made back to back centuries, and I felt like I melted out there. What an amazing tournament and a great opportunity. You can’t play amazing snooker every week, I haven’t got that consistency yet.”
It was always going to be difficult for Chris Wakelin who had no previous experience of the Masters atmosphere at Alexandra Palace. Despite the defeat he seems to have really enjoyed the experience, and I’m glad he was given the opportunity.
As for Ding, I have lost the count of the matches were he looked strong at the start and then faded away. It often “turns” on one shot, one mistake… Ding would probably benefit from the help of someone like Steve Peters, but that person should be a Chinese native speaker. This is the kind of therapies where talking, expressing oneself accurately and being certain the therapist understands every nuance and underlying emotions is of essence
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
“It was always going to be difficult for Chris Wakelin who had no previous experience of the Masters atmosphere at Alexandra Palace”
Excuse me, but…WHAT? Wakelin lost in the opening round last year to Luca.