By Lee Clow
WORLD number one Judd Trump stuttered his way through to the third round of the Welsh open after beating Si Jiahui.
After edging out 17-year-old Zhao Jianbo in the first round, Trump faced another young Chinese talent in Si.
Si started the game brightly by taking the opening frame 46-91, but Trump eventually showed some dominance by securing the second, third and fourth frames. Si responded by winning the fifth frame but the world number one managed to hold off his opponent and secure the victory in the sixth frame.
Frame 1:
The opening frame started off very tense with players making poor mistakes. Si appeared to grow into the game much quicker than Trump, allowing him to make a break of 51, with only 59 remaining.
Two fouls from Si allowed Trump to get back into the frame, but the 18-year-old managed to clear up to the pink, following a foul and costly miss on the red by his opponent.
Frame 2:
In frame two, Trump continued to falter, which gave Si a great advantage to secure a second frame. Si took his lead to 29-41, but two costly misses allowed Trump to come back and draw level.
Having lost position on the cue ball, Si was forced to play a safety shot, with just the colours remaining, and this allowed Trump to clear up to the blue and secure frame two.
Frame 3:
Trump finally looked like himself again in the third frame, as he asserted his dominance by securing a break of 82, which wrapped up his second frame of the match.
After losing the opening frame, world No 1 @judd147t has won two in a row to lead Si Jiahui.
— Eurosport UK (@Eurosport_UK) February 17, 2021
Frame 4:
At the start of frame four, both players again missed an easy pot, and this summed up the whole match which was full of errors.
Si managed to score a break of 31, but he was made to rue for not scoring even higher, as Trump brought his A-game and scored a break of 68. Si played on with three snookers needed, but Trump was soon back to the table to pot the yellow, forcing his opponent to concede and put Trump within one frame to go through.
Frame 5:
In what could have been his final frame, Trump failed to capitalise as he could only make a break of two.
Si hit back with a break of 75 as he secured the fifth frame and came within one of Trump who clearly was not firing on all cylinders.
Frame 6:
In the deciding frame, Si took an early advantage by making a break of 38, but Trump followed up with a break of 54.
An almost costly miss brought Si back into the frame, but Trump managed to return to the table once again and take the frame in style by clearing up.
World number one @judd147t has beaten Si Jiahui 4-2 to reach the last 32 of the @BetVictor Welsh Open.
Breaks of 82 and 54 tonight for the Ace in the Pack.
The 2017 finalist faces Hossein Vafaei next #BVEuroSeries pic.twitter.com/WfWyHLZo7P
— World Snooker Tour (@WeAreWST) February 17, 2021
Trump will be looking to improve in the next round of the Welsh Open as he takes on Hossein Vafaei, who in their last meeting, in 2017, beat his opponent.
Frame Scores:
- 46-91 (Si)
- 66-42 (Trump)
- 82-4 (Trump)
- 70-32 (Trump)
- 2-75 (Si)
- 77-45 (Trump)