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The world No 1 Judd Trump made three centuries as he saw off Ding Junhui 6-2 to move into the quarter-finals of the Masters, before Neil Robertson defeated Chris Wakelin by the same score – meaning that all eight first-round matches at London’s Alexandra Palace finished 6-2.
After edging a lengthy first frame, Trump – who was not able to lift any silverware in 2025 – crafted a fine break of 116 which was followed with a break of 69 to open up an early 3-0 lead.
Ding, who won the prestigious event in 2011, reduced the deficit heading into the mid-session interval after a break of 98, and another 53 helped him come from behind to close out the next.
Trump, though, responded with a solid 88 to re-establish his lead at 4-2 and after Ding went in-off trying to cut a red, he built another impressive century of 117 to move one away from victory.
Masters: results and draw
ShowFirst round
Shaun Murphy 2-6 Wu Yize
Mark Selby 2-6 Xiao Guodong
Mark Williams 2-6 Mark Allen
Zhao Xintong 6-2 Gary Wilson
Kyren Wilson 6-2 Si Jiahui
John Higgins 6-2 Barry Hawkins
Judd Trump 6-2 Ding Junhui
Neil Robertson 6-2 Chris Wakelin
Quarter-finals (best of 11 frames)
John Higgins v Zhao Xintong (Thu 1pm, all times GMT)
Judd Trump v Mark Allen (Thu 7pm)
Wu Yize v Xiao Guodong (Fri 1pm)
Neil Robertson v Kyren Wilson (Fri 7pm)
Following a safety exchange at the start of the seventh frame, Trump, a two-time Masters champion, capitalised on another stray shot from Ding to make a break of 109 and book his place in the last eight where he will play Northern Ireland’s Mark Allen.
“I feel confident and have got to a few finals recently and it has taken some good players to stop me,” Trump told BBC Sport. “I am full of confidence and hopefully I can go one better this tournament. I have had a month off tournaments but still been putting the work in.”
In Wednesday’s evening session, Robertson and Wakelin looked set to end the run of one-sided games, reaching the interval at 2-2. The Australian then reeled off four frames in a row, including a stunning break of 135, to book a quarter-final against Kyren Wilson – and complete a 44,000-1 sweep of eight matching first-round results.
“I wasn’t even thinking about winning the match – just winning it 6-2,” Robertson joked to BBC Four. “I didn’t know if anyone had maybe had a pound on all the matches being the same scoreline or something. It is amazing. I hope I have made someone a multimillionaire. I have never seen anything like that before.”
