World number four Judd Trump will have to be right on his game in order to progress in the Dafabet English Open after being drawn against Welshman Matthew Stevens in round three. Trump, who recently retained his European Masters title with a 9-7 win over Stuart Bingham in Belgium, produced a clinical performance in round two to thrash fellow Englishman Mark Joyce 4-0. Breaks of 128, 99 and 74 helped ‘The Ace in the Pack’ breeze into the next round but he is expected to face a sterner test on Thursday afternoon against Stevens.
The Welshman, whose last ranking tournament title came at the 2011 Championship League, managed to overcome Englishman David Gilbert 4-2, making a highest break of 131. Despite not lifting a trophy for some time, the 40-year-old still possesses huge amounts of talent and, on his day, has the ability to beat any player on the circuit. Trump does have a good record against Stevens, having won six of their eight meetings, and ‘The Juddernaut’ will be hoping to extend his impressive form. The world number four, who reached the final of the English Open last year, is the 2/9 favourite to pick up the win, while his opponent is the 3/1 outsiders to progress.
Elsewhere, Mark Selby booked his spot in the third round after easing past Scotland’s Ross Muir 4-1 and the world number one will now take on China’s Xiao Guodong. The latter, who defeated England’s Ricky Walden 4-2, is the 14/5 outside shot to win his third-round encounter while Selby is fancied at 1/4 to progress in the tournament. Welshman Mark Williams also managed to overcome Luca Brecel 4-1 and Australian Neil Robertson emerged victorious over Li Hang by a narrow 4-3 margin.
Dafabet English Open odds available at Dafabet.