Judd Trump is more than happy to continue flying under the radar after sealing his place in the second round of the World Snooker Championship with a 10-5 win over Gary Wilson at the Crucible.
Despite entering the tournament as the world number one, Trump has been somewhat overlooked in the build-up with more focus on Ronnie O'Sullivan’s quest to win a record eighth crown or Zhao Xintong’s bid to crack the Crucible curse.
Trump, who is still searching for his second world title after clinching his first in 2019, said: "I enjoy that other people are being spoken about a lot more, because all the pressure is on them.
"If no one is expecting me to win, it’s not going to be a big shock if I don’t win. I know deep down I’m more than good enough to win it, but I enjoy being the underdog at the same time."
Trump has steadily built momentum during the current campaign, despite being forced to move from his base in Dubai to train in Thailand because of the repercussions of the war in Iran.
And he is determined to retain his status as world number one, which is under threat from Zhao and Neil Robertson, both of whom could usurp the 36-year-old if they go on to win the tournament.
"I like being number one, and I think it’s going to be difficult to keep unless I do really well next season," added Trump. "But if I win the World Championship it puts that all to bed really.
"I love being number one and I take a lot of pride from that."
The World #1 shows NO mercy...#WorldChampionship pic.twitter.com/TEJ7YxKNj1
— WST (@WeAreWST) April 21, 2026
Trump resumed on Tuesday evening 5-4 ahead after a topsy-turvy opening session on Monday in which he hit back from 4-1 down.
Wilson fired a break of 58 to pull level after the restart, but Trump generally held the upper hand in an attritional encounter and powered to the finish line with top breaks of 71 and 69.
Afterwards former semi-finalist Wilson revealed he was "embarrassed" by the state of his game and bemoaned his inability to punish an opponent who was far from his best.
"I’m constantly feeling like an embarrassment," said Wilson, a three-time ranking event winner, who lost to Trump on his solitary appearance in the semi-finals in 2019.
"People don’t see me as that, but I’m not competing anywhere near the level I used to be able to do. I’m just so much worse than I used to be.
"Judd would be the first to tell you he wasn’t great. I should really have been 5-2 or 5-3 up. If I’m a normal player, like I was years ago, like any other pro on the tour who’s got half a brain, I would probably be winning that game unless Judd really plays well."
Shaun Murphy clawed back a 36-point deficit in the deciding frame to secure a nail-biting 10-9 win over Chinese qualifier Fan Zhengyi.
The pair traded blows throughout a thrilling second session and Fan moved to the brink of victory after taking the first chance in the last – but former champion Murphy drew on all his years of experience to nudge home with a superb break of 50.
Murphy had taken to social media to lambast an audience member who berated one of his shots during the pair's opening session on Monday.
Murphy wrote on Instagram: "Just a friendly reminder that if you’re sat on the front row in the Crucible and I play a shot that may not work for a particular reason, it’s probably best not to say 's*** shot’ out loud. I’ve got ears."
Earlier in the day, Ronnie O'Sullivan started with a rare Crucible misstep but still emerged with a 7-2 lead after the opening session of his first-round match against China's He Guoqiang.
Heading out for his 34th-consecutive appearance in the event, the 50-year-old accidentally headed towards the wrong table and had to be steered in the right direction by a subtle nudge from referee Rob Spencer.
O'Sullivan did not need to be at his best against the plainly-nervous debutant, who dumped out Jack Lisowski is the last round of qualifying, but still had pundits leafing through the Crucible record books after cruising into an early 5-0 lead.
Ronnie O'Sullivan's 215th (🤯) Crucible century.#WorldChampionship pic.twitter.com/Dy4Q3oBY1Q
— WST (@WeAreWST) April 21, 2026
His quest for a record-breaking eighth modern era title looked unlikely to be derailed at the first stage as breaks of 72 and 97 got him off the blocks and his opening century - in the fourth frame - consolidated his advantage.
But He, who had actually beaten O'Sullivan in two of their three previous meetings, was not without chances and his failure to take them led to fears he could fall victim to only the third first-round whitewash in Crucible history.
The 25-year-old avoided that fate when he belatedly settled in the sixth frame, seizing his chance after O'Sullivan missed a simple red, doubling a red to the middle and knocking in a long green and brown in succession to relieve some of the pressure.
Suddenly playing with a little more freedom, He reeled off a break of 77 in the next to further reduce the deficit.
But He could not build on another early chance in the eighth, which O'Sullivan took with a break of 52, before completing the session with a coolly-taken break of 86.
O'Sullivan will return on Wednesday afternoon, bidding to win the three frames required to seal his place in round two and a titanic meeting with fellow 'Class of 92' member and four-time winner John Higgins.
Liam Pullen made four half-centuries but still trails 13th seed Chris Wakelin 5-4 after the first session of their first-round match that concludes on Wednesday.
Pullen, 20, looked unfazed on his tournament debut and delivered a crucial break of 58 to win the final frame of the morning and keep himself well in contention.
