Judd Trump produced a great escape to keep alive his hopes of a first World Championship title, yesterday.
At the tournament he regards as being “10 times bigger” than any other, Trump was in deep first-round trouble when he dropped the opening frame of the day to slide 7-3 behind against Liang Wenbo.
The 26-year-old had been off his game on Wednesday and it called for a champion’s response to clamber out of danger.
Trump, who reached the 2011 Crucible final and was a semi-finalist last year, was up to the challenge and took seven of the next eight frames to win 10-8.
His victory tees up a tantalising second-round clash with Ding Junhui.
Trump admitted it was going against him at 7-3, but he was heartened by edging the next frame, and said: “Then I got some momentum and played some really good stuff.
I’m so pleased to get through... I can’t wait for the next game now
“I took the balls really well, felt confident, very relaxed under pressure. It seemed like when I had my back against the wall that’s when I thrived.
“I played some real good snooker. I wasn’t forcing it really. I took a bit of heart from when I was losing big to Shaun Murphy a few years ago and came back to win that.
“I’m so pleased to get through... I can’t wait for the next game now.”
When he trailed 7-6 at the mid-session interval, Trump was working his way back into the match and tournament, but still tweeted from his dressing room: “Drinks on me later if I get out of jail here.”
He might face a hefty bar bill, but he remains in the hunt for the £330,000 top prize.
Trump lost 6-4 to Liang, a fellow left-hander, at the UK Championship in December, tumbling out of the tournament after squandering a 4-1 lead, and called the loss “embarrassing”.