• World Snooker Championship

Trump wraps up easy win over Dale

Ding Junhui dug in to fend off a fightback from Alan McManus © AP

Enlarge

Related Links

• News: Higgins out of World Championship
  

Judd Trump eased his way into the second round of the World Snooker Championship with a 10-5 win over Dominic Dale.

Leading 6-3 overnight, Trump stretched his lead to 9-4 before Dale had his moment in the spotlight with a brilliant 96.

However, it proved to be only a brief respite as Trump wrapped up victory one frame later.

Dale made a positive start by taking the first frame of the morning session, but Trump hit back with a supreme century break. He promptly ran through the next two frames to move within one of victory.

The victory march was stalled when Dale crafted a 96, with the Welshman raising hope of a maximum break when knocking in 11 reds and 11 blacks. However, he ran out of position on the 12th red which jawed in the pocket.

Normal service was resumed in the 15th frame as Trump rolled in a fine long red to get things started. His break stalled at 31, but he put Dale in real trouble and he gobbled up his next chance to wrap up victory.

Trump will now face Marco Fu in round two, after the Hong Kong native survived a late rally from Matthew Stevens to win 10-7.

Fu had been leading 9-4 at one point in the contest before last year's semi-finalist dug in and prolonged matters - but Fu found the right answer at the right time, potting a difficult pink whilst managing to send the cueball around the table to land on the black that would end matters moments later.

In the evening session, world No. 1 Mark Selby duly moved into the next round with a 10-4 win over qualifier Matthew Selt.

Selby, bidding to become only the fourth player ever to win the World Championship, UK and Masters crowns in the same season, breezed into a 5-0 lead before eventually being pegged back to 5-3.

But that was as close as Selt would get, with Selby reeling off three of his own to move within two frames of round two - before duly clinching a meeting with Barry Hawkins after a 91 break in the 14th stanza.

The 'Jester from Leicester' is still after his first Crucible win, and admits he is keen not to get ahead of himself this year.

"A lot of the pressure I put on myself," Selby told the BBC afterwards. "Winning the World Championship is a big ask. It is in the back of my mind but not to the point where I'm letting it affect me.

"I've won tournaments with my B game in the past but I don't think that's possible at the World Championship. It's such a long tournament and you need to have sessions where you go up another gear."

Elsewhere, Ding Junhui withstood a fightback from Alan McManus to book his place in the second round with a 10-5 win.

Trailing 7-2 overnight, McManus came out strong and threatened to cause an upset when cutting the gap to 7-5. But just as it appeared Ding was set to fall victim to McManus' fine table craft, Ding dug in to win three on the spin to advance.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.