World Snooker: Trump in the driving seat as Lisowski and Higgins progress

The former world champion Judd Trump established a 6-3 lead in his first-round match against the debutant Hossein Vafaei at the Crucible. Trump had looked to play down expectations of another success after claiming just one ranking event title, which came at the inaugural Turkish Masters last month.

However, the Crucible crowd were treated to a vintage display during the opening frames of Wednesday’s afternoon match, with a break of 110 seeing the 2019 champion open up a 3-0 lead. The Iranian qualifier Vafaei, though, had his first World Championship frame on the board to reduce the deficit ahead of the mid-session interval.

Vafaei was a level at 3-3 after also edging the fifth and then taking the next with a break of 99 after just missing the chance of a maiden century on the final red. A composed run of 56 helped Trump take the seventh frame, and the former champion edged 5-3 ahead following a re-rack in the next before a 73 clearance increased his advantage to take into Thursday’s conclusion.

Elsewhere on Wednesday afternoon, Jack Lisowski held off a fightback from Matthew Stevens to progress 10-8. Lisowski had resumed with a 6-3 lead over Stevens, but that was soon wiped out following a swift start from the Welshman with two half-century breaks and a 99 clearance helping him level.

The Englishman, seeded 14, regrouped to take the next three, including breaks of 78 and 83, only for Stevens to respond again and cut the deficit back to 9-8. The 18th frame proved another tense affair, which Lisowski eventually took 93-33 to book a showdown with Australia’s Neil Robertson for a place in the quarter-finals.

Earlier, the four-time champion John Higgins eventually saw off Thailand’s Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 10-7 to move through to