Struggling Judd Trump falls behind Anthony McGill, John Higgins into round two after win over David Grace

Judd Trump trails Anthony McGill 6-3 after an underwhelming effort from the former champion in his opening World Championship match, while John Higgins defeated David Grace 10-3 to progress to round two.

Trump, the world No. 5, has one World Championship to his name but that is now four years ago after his win in 2019. This year has seen him add a Masters title to his resume, and he has gone deep in several ranking tournaments despite struggling to find his best form at the table.

McGill’s best effort so far this campaign is his semi-final in the Northern Ireland Open.

Trump appeared set to dominate after an 89 break in the first frame, and he doubled his lead in the second, but his opponent then hit 77 and 119 before the mid-session interval to level things up.

A smart pot on a red to set up a blue to the side-cushion pocket then moved Trump onto a break of 45, which helped re-establish his lead.

An error from Trump allowed McGill back in when he built a high-tempo 87 break, and another half-century followed to put McGill ahead for the first time in the tie.

Scoreboard pressure in the next led to scrappy play from both but it was McGill who held his nerve the better and scored 59 in a single visit, moving 5-3 ahead to make sure he would start the second session ahead regardless of the final frame.

A fantastic early red might have given Trump hope of salvaging the ninth frame but he could not get away with a second consecutive thick effort on the black and ceded control of the cue ball.

The ninth frame went one way and then the next but Trump blew his final chance with a difficult brown as McGill seized on yet another error to maximise his advantage.

Earlier, Higgins enjoyed a routine 10-3 victory over Grace in his first-round tie.

Higgins was dominant in the best-of-19 match-up as he entered the game as the clear favourite.

He demonstrated his superiority, and decent form, when he rattled off three half-centuries – 51, 98, and then 66 – on his way to setting up a 3-0 lead before Grace pulled one back.

However the experienced Scot’s heavy scoring continued, and he added another two half centuries on his way to a 7-2 lead, before landing his first century of the match in the 10th frame.

That 114 was only bettered by the winning break of 124 in the decisive frame, with Grace only briefly holding off defeat when he hit 82 to bring the scores to 9-3.

Higgins has a couple of Championship League wins to his name this year but the 47-year-old world No. 11 has mostly been in solid if not spectacular form of late. With four World Championships to his name, he is one of the most experienced campaigners in Sheffield.

Grace, 10 years his junior, went in unfancied and ranked No. 66, and in the end his limited break-building held him back.

Higgins now has until Sunday to prepare for his second-round match against the winner of Kyren Wilson v Ryan Day.

And then with the time beyond 11pm, Gary Wilson put to bed his match with Elliott Slessor, taking it 10-8 after the latter had threatened a momentous comeback.

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