Judd Trump powers past Xu Si to reach last 16 at the 2022 British Open as Yan Bingtao knocked out

Judd Trump stormed into the last 16 of the British Open on Thursday with an impressive 4-0 win over Xu Si that featured a century break of 124.

Trump got off to a fast start in the opening frame, knocking in a quick half-century break, but he was unable to see the frame through.

That gave Xu a chance to come back to the table and he reduced the gap to his opponent to just 11, but was unable to prevent Trump taking the opener.

Trump made another fast start in the second, getting to 62 before having to play safe due to a lack of position. Xu tried a long-range red but he missed and Trump was able to come back to the table and sink a red to the middle pocket to get himself going again.

A few shots later, he missed a corner red and Xu came back to the table. But the 24-year-old could not put anything together and Trump was able to clear up to move into a 2-0 lead.

The third frame was slower and tense to begin with but Trump broke the ice again with a fantastic red to the middle. That got Trump ticking into top gear as he knocked in a fabulous century break of 124 to move one away from victory.

“I felt like it was important for him to start well and he just missed a pink in the first frame and was sort of on the back foot after that,” Trump told ITV.

“I scored reasonably heavily, played pretty well, and I am very happy to get through.

“It is always difficult to know how well you are playing when you are not being pushed, so hopefully the best is yet to come.

“I feel there is more belief when I am at the table. I put in a lot of work over the summer and I feel that has gone a long way to me being more confident out on the table.”

Trump will now face Mark Allen in the third round after the Northern Irishman survived a fightback from Gary Wilson to advance 4-2.

Allen had appeared to be cruising through, opening up a 3-0 advantage, but a series of errors in consecutive frames allowed Wilson to peg him back.

But the 36-year-old settled again, re-finding his composure and cueing to ensure his progression.

“[Mark Allen] is a brilliant player and he looks somewhere near his absolute best,” Trump said of his next opponent. “It is always a tough game at any level but this week he looks like he is really up for it.”

Knocked out of the second round, however, was Yan Bingtao, with the 2021 Masters champion falling to Allen’s compatriot Jordan Brown.

A sparkling break of 134 helped Brown surge to within a frame of victory at 3-1 as Yan struggled for early fluency.

The 22-year-old rallied, though, moving back level with his own well-compiled century break worth 117.

But a cagey opening to the deciding frame eventually opened up in Brown’s favour, enabling him to advance with a 4-3 victory after a match-sealing break of 82.

Brown will next face Noppon Saengkham in Milton Keynes.

Elsewhere at the Marshall Arena, Matthew Stevens beat Craig Steadman 4-2.

The Welsh veteran will face China’s Lyu Haotian for a place in the quarter-finals.

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