Tour Championship 2022: Judd Trump trailing as Luca Brecel holds four-frame lead heading into evening session

Luca Brecel holds a healthy 6-2 lead over Judd Trump heading into the evening session of their Tour Championship best-of-19 quarter-final. With John Higgins awaiting the winner, Scottish Open champion Brecel is well placed to book his spot in the last four, needing just four more frames for victory. Ad/> The Belgian made breaks of 56, 58, 100, 54 and 78 to leave Trump trailing in the final ranking event before the World Championship starts on April 16.

Gibraltar OpenLaboured Trump keeps Gibraltar Open hat-trick hopes alive with win over Lam25/03/2022 AT 22:23 The first frame was edgy, lasting over half an hour. Brecel looked set to take control of it until he missed a red when well placed. It handed Trump a great chance to race into a 1-0 lead, but after landing a difficult shot to pot the green, he missed a straightforward effort to sink the brown — the ball sitting on the edge of the pocket — and Brecel took the early advantage.

Brecel started the second frame well, racing to a 63-0 lead, but both players then got involved in an exchange of safety shots, before Trump began his attempt to clear the rest of the table. He started with a solid shot to sink a red, but missed his chance when he failed to pot the black in the centre pocket. Only a big mistake would stop Brecel from wrapping up the frame and he sealed it 91-1 to double his lead.

Trump had not settled and still looked haunted by missing the brown in the opening frame. Again it was Brecel who was in first in the third, which followed a similar pattern to the previous frame as he moved into a 59-0 lead. Trump had a half-chance to get back into it but missed a difficult red, allowing Brecel to once again return to the baize to wrap up the frame.