Judd Trump became the biggest first round casualty at the Cazoo World Championship and admitted he made too many basic errors after losing 10-6 to qualifier Anthony McGill.
Despite dropping to 21st in the world rankings, McGill is renowned as a formidable competitor at the Crucible, having reached the semi-finals here in 2020 and beaten the likes of Ronnie O’Sullivan, Mark Selby and Shaun Murphy at the famous venue. When the draw was made last Thursday, he might have been the player the top 16 seeds most wanted to avoid. Trump was unlucky enough to be plucked out against that number, and the 2019 champion suffers his first defeat in the opening round since he lost to Rory McLeod in 2017.
Though Trump won the Cazoo Masters in January, he has rarely been at the top of his game this season, and the campaign finishes in disappointment for the 33-year-old from Bristol. He revealed that he felt rusty coming into this week, having failed to qualify for the recent Tour Championship, and missed too many easy balls during a performance he described as “careless.” The 23-time ranking event winner failed to make a century and compiled just four breaks over 50 during the 16 frames.
Glasgow’s McGill, who revels in the Crucible atmosphere, can look forward to a last 16 clash with Jack Lisowski which starts on Saturday.
Fifth seed Trump trailed 6-3 going into the concluding session but soon reduced that deficit to 6-5 thanks to breaks of 68 and 58. In frame 12 he led 40-0 when he ran out of position, and McGill punished him with a 94 clearance. Trump hit back to take the 13th to make it 7-6 at the interval, only for his opponent to dominate the next two frames with a top run of 69 for 9-6.
Former Indian Open and Shoot Out champion McGill made 45 in frame 16 before missing the black, but Trump potted just one red then missed the black himself, and McGill added 30 for victory.
“It’s an amazing scalp for me, I have so much respect for Judd,” said 32-year-old McGill. “He has got everything – he can tough it when he needs to and he’s got all the shots. I was never going to go out and beat him 10-3, I was expecting him to come back at me so I didn’t panic when he got back to 6-5. I managed to hold it together.
“It’s a privilege to be here. Everyone still left in the draw is world class and can win it. Jack has got the game to entertain but he has also improved the weaknesses in his game. He has been in the top 16 for a good few years and it feels like he is never going to drop out, he is one of the top players and I’ll need to play well.”
Trump, who was runner-up to O’Sullivan last year, said: “I missed too many easy balls. I had more than enough chances, even from 6-3 down. Today I still felt that if I played half decent I’d have a good chance. It didn’t turn out that way. You can’t expect to play like that in the World Championship, it’s just down to myself really.
“I just seemed to be falling out of position too often and finishing a little bit awkward. I always felt under pressure. Anthony scored when he got in, but I still felt that most frames I had my chances. There were a lot of careless shots and easy misses.
“I feel a lack of match sharpness. A lack of tournament play has probably cost me over the last two or three months since the World Grand Prix. A lot of the time I’m just practising on my own, so when I’m out there I’m not feeling that comfortable. Maybe next season I need to play against a few more top players in practice and just get that sharpness back.”
On the other table, four-time World Champion Mark Selby began his Crucible campaign with an impressive opening session to lead Matthew Selt 6-3.
Selby arrives in Sheffield in good form, having secured the 22nd ranking event win of his career at the recent WST Classic. Selt earned his place at the Theatre of Dreams by beating 2006 World Champion Graeme Dott in the final round of qualifying.
Selt had the first chance this afternoon, but ran out of position on 40. Selby replied with a clinical contribution of 94 to take the opener. The Leicester cueman then crafted a break of 83 to win the second and lead 2-0.
Selby kept up the pressure with a brilliant break of 110 to extend his advantage, but Selt replied with a century of his own, 123, to trail 3-1 at the mid-session.
When play resumed, Selt clawed another frame back. However, Selby then claimed three on the bounce, aided by a spectacular 131 break, to lead 6-2. Selt compiled an important run of 51 in the last to end three behind at 6-3. They return tomorrow afternoon at 1pm.
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