World number one Judd Trump joked he was checking for flights home before coming back from four frames down to beat Wu Yize 5-4 and reach the last 16 of the inaugural Saudi Arabia Masters.
It looked like China’s Wu, 20, was going to end Trump’s 28-match unbeaten run in best-of-11 matches, which stretched back to December 2022, as he went into the interval 4-0 up.
But Trump, 35, showed why he ranked top of the pile as he re-emerged to win five frames in a row and progress.
“I was looking at flights home!” Trump told Eurosport afterwards.
“I’m very, very happy with that. That was one of my best wins in the manner of digging in and [having] self belief.”
World number two Mark Allen, however, exited the tournament as he lost 5-1 to Xiao Guodong of China.
It looked like Allen would also stage a comeback after falling behind 2-0, when he hit a century break (104) to take the third frame, but Xiao won the next three to progress.
There were also defeats for Ali Carter and Barry Hawkins.
World number 10 Carter was beaten 5-3 by fellow Englishman Elliot Slessor, while 16th-ranked Hawkins lost 5-1 to Scotland’s Scott Donaldson.
The Saudi Arabia Masters, which has been given the unofficial title of being the sport’s ‘fourth major’ by organisers, is the biggest ever staged outside the UK.
With a £2.3m prize fund and £500,000 winner’s cheque, only the World Championship in Sheffield is comparable.
Source Agencies
