Northern Ireland Open: Judd Trump ruthlessly powers past Justin Leclercq with 4-0 whitwash victory in 45 minutes

Judd Trump cruised into the Northern Ireland Open third round with a 15th consecutive ranking event victory after a clinical 4-0 whitewash win over Justin Leclercq.

The world No. 3 wrapped up the match in only 45 minutes against the Belgian, who could only show glimpses of his talent in this ruthlessly efficient display.

Trump began in rampant fashion with a break of 108 – already his 33rd century of the season – to draw first blood in the contest.

Frame two came not long afterwards, with Leclercq at the snookers required stage after just five minutes, and Trump was showing no mercy as he hit another century with a black to the bottom pocket.

He cleared up to the yellow for another impressive clearance of 108, leaving the reigning English and Wuhan Open champion halfway towards victory.

Leclercq was given a rare opportunity at the table when Trump missed a tricky-looking red to the bottom pocket, and the youngster managed to split the reds nicely on his way to a respectable 47-point haul.

However, he horribly misjudged the black with the frame seemingly at his mercy, as a brief safety contest ensued.

Trump did not falter on his return to the table, potting the blue to the mid pocket before following this up with the pink to move a frame away from victory.

The fourth and final frame was the cagiest of them all, but ended in a manner which typified the contest.

Just when Leclercq looked like he may have been making some progress after potting the red, the cue ball unfortunately followed.

Trump was never going to miss out on an opening to close out the match, and cleared up to the pink in a dominant display.

He will now face Ian Burns in the third round on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, it was also a fine night’s work for Jimmy Robertson, who claimed a whitewash win of his own against Peng Yisong.