Players Championship: Judd Trump into quarter-finals after defeating Chris Wakelin, John Higgins advances

Judd Trump shook off a sluggish start to overcome Chris Wakelin 6-2 in the first round of the Players Championship in Telford.

Wakelin got off to the perfect start, knocking in a break of 120 as Trump struggled to get firing early on.

However, the German Masters champion did enough in the second frame to narrowly oust Wakelin to level the match, before sealing the third to edge ahead.

Having allowed Trump to find his rhythm and quickly catch Wakelin’s early lead, there was a feeling that the 31-year-old had scuppered his chance to eliminate the world No. 2.

Both players were lacklustre in the fourth frame as they engaged in another tight safety battle, but Wakelin managed to build a solid lead in a frame he could not afford to lose.

He managed to close out the frame to pull level, finishing with an impressive pink before clearing the remaining reds to head into the interval all square.

In another narrow frame, Trump restored his lead with a 73-56 advantage after clearing blue and pink, but still had not stamped his authority on the match as it entered the crucial stages.

When the question was asked, Trump answered with a far more convincing frame which he sealed with 96 points, as the 34-year-old built a two-frame lead for the first time in the match with victory in sight.

Trump had not managed a half-century break after six frames but delivered runs of 67 and a clinical 132 in the final two frames to finally show some authority, just at the right time, to seal his spot in the last eight.

Elsewhere, John Higgins edged past Junhui Ding to join Trump in the quarter-finals following a 6-4 victory over the No. 9 rank.

Ding produced two century breaks of 125 and 127 in the fifth and eighth frames respectively, but his efforts could not fend off the Scotsman.

Higgins kicked off with a century run of his own, knocking in a break of 102, but Ding equalised in the following frame and then sealed a 70-point break to take the advantage.

Despite Ding’s first century effort worth 125, Higgins took control of the tie and led 4-3 after a break of 68. Ding’s 127 kept the contest tight, but Higgins displayed some brilliant snooker to seal victory with breaks of 65 and 100 in the final two frames.