Judd Trump and Jak Jones remain locked after tight evening session, David Gilbert leads Stephen Maguire

ByJames Hilsum

Updated 30/04/2024 at 22:17 GMT

The World Snooker Championship has reached the quarter-final stage, and the action certainly did not disappoint in a superb day of action at the Crucible. Jak Jones is threatening a huge shock after following up his 4-4 morning session by finishing level at 8-8 in the evening against world No. 2 Judd Trump. Elsewhere, David Gilbert leads Stephen Maguire 10-6.

There is still nothing to split Judd Trump and Jak Jones after two sessions of their World Championship quarter-final, with the pair locked at 8-8 heading into Wednesday’s decisive third meeting.

Trump, a 2019 world champion, was the huge favourite ahead of the tie but scrapped to 4-4 in the first session and couldn’t pull away from the determined Welshman on Tuesday evening.

Play will continue on Wednesday morning at 10:00 UK time, with the winner set to face Ronnie O’Sullivan or Stuart Bingham in the last four.

Snooker

When does snooker GOAT O'Sullivan return to action?

09/05/2024 at 08:52

When the players reconvened for the evening, Jones quickly made it clear that his form in the opening session was anything but a one-off, pouncing on a Trump error to pot a red to middle and go on to steal a hard-fought frame from 43-27 down.

It was the third time the Welshman had led in the match, but he faced a mammoth dogfight in the ensuing 55-minute 10th frame.

'That must have hurt' – Maguire punches table after miss

Both players were guilty of some poor misses in an uncharacteristically long frame for Trump that featured protracted safety exchanges.

Eventually the deadlock was broken when Jones slammed the final red into the right corner and cleared up to the blue to take a two-frame lead.

Not to be deterred, Trump began the next frame positively with a run of 23 and finished the job mercifully quickly this time after punishing Jones for leaving a red on.

Trump then drew level before the interval after a tricky frame where the black ended up on the yellow spot and vice versa, Jones failing to produce the required snooker and instead letting the world No. 2 in to tie things up at 6-6.

Once again, the Ace in the Pack couldn’t take the next step by moving ahead, as a composed Jones regained the lead after the break with a 55 clearance.

'Really?!' – O'Sullivan left baffled after white ball goes in

Trump had to determinedly fight back once more and responded with his highest break since his century in the opening frame when a confidence-boosting run of 68 saw him level things at 7-7.

Judd then moved ahead for the first time since the opening frame, but Jones finished with a flourish by running off his first century of the match, a majestic 117 that keeps him well on course for a shock result tomorrow.

• O'Sullivan and Bingham level after opening session, Higgins behind to Wilson

All square in morning session

Trump was out of his stall early on with a superb century clearance of 110 in the opening frame after landing a superb long red.

This prompted an impressive response from Jones, as he capitalised on a missed Trump shot to the reds and punished a poor positional shot on his way to an impressive break of 69 to level the scores.

Errors were starting to creep into Trump's game, and after failing to pot a red to the middle, Jones landed a superb long red himself and took advantage of promising-looking table to take a 2-1 lead.

The 2019 world champion was on the ropes in the fourth frame, with Jones showcasing his excellent potting skills once again to move 3-1 in front with a fine clearance of 94.

Trump potted a red after a fourth attempt in an error-strewn start following the first interval, but progressed to a break of 35 with the cue ball not landing kindly enough to continue ahead of an intriguing safety contest.

That was until Trump worked his way to a crucial break of 36 after landing a final tricky-looking pink and reducing the Welshman's lead back to one.

Trump profited on a Jones double kiss on the red to work his way into a sizeable 69-21 lead in the sixth frame.

Jones needed two snookers that did not materialise, as Trump cleared up to the brown to level up the scores at 3-3.

Trump makes 'terrific start' to quarter-final with century in opening frame

Jones worked his way to another fine clearance of 74 that ended after missing a red to the mid pocket, as Trump conceded the seventh frame to go 4-3 down.

Jones looked to be motoring his way towards a 5-3 lead, but a routine pink to the middle pocket went awry and left Trump with a chance.

• O'Sullivan and Trump chase world No. 1 spot as Higgins extends record

Trump needed a snooker but he got that after Jones missed a red, and the Englishman was back in the frame.

A cagey end ensued with just the pink and black left on the table, as Trump landed the former and he audaciously doubled in the black to restore parity at the interval.

Maguire fights back after nightmare start

On the other table, the contest was more one sided in the morning as David Gilbert opened up a 7-1 lead over Stephen Maguire.

Gilbert made breaks of 130, 110 and 83 as he took control of the quarter-final, but the Scot came out fighting in the second session.

Things looked bleak for Maguire when Gilbert's good form continued as he reeled off 73 and 67 breaks to go 9-2 up, but the comeback started from there.

Maguire won four of the next five frames including a 111 century in frame 12, as he reduced the deficit to a more respectable, if still daunting, 10-6 by the end of play.

- - -

Stream top snooker action, including the 2024 World Championship, live and on-demand on discovery+

World Championship

World Championship leaving Crucible would deny future greats the impossible dream

08/05/2024 at 20:45

Snooker

Doherty and Wattana make winning start at World Seniors Championship

09/05/2024 at 07:31

World Championship

Wilson achieves career-high ranking after claiming world title glory at Crucible

07/05/2024 at 08:47