Judd Trump raced into the second round of the UK Championship, thanks to a dominating win over his opponent. The World number one was in a relaxed mood even as he outclassed his Moroccan opponent, Amine Amiri, by a devastating 6-0 scoreline.

The world’s number one showed his class when he took on world number 127, Amiri for size. He inadvertently put an end to any talks of a shock defeat like it was with Shawn Murphy, who was shown the exit door by Eden Sharav.

Several hours before Trump’s win, his good friend, Jack Lisowski who is currently world number 13, had little trouble dispatching David Lilley. However, he finally sent Lisowski packing with a 6-2 victory to secure his place in round two of the championship.

Lisowski, who hails from Gloucester, was clearly not at his best. Yet, he was miles ahead of his opponent in spite of the fact that he had to play with a new cue.

Forty-eight-year-old Scott McManus was also a first-round winner, securing his ticket to the next round with a bang. The Scot opened his 2019 UK Championship account with two centuries on his way to a brilliant 6-1 win over England’s Elliott Slessor. With that win, the world number 55 booked a spot in the second round where he is poised to match with Barry Hawkins.

Perhaps, the oldest man in the tournament this year, Ken Doherty, was in action against Mei Xiwen. As at the time of filing this report, Doherty, 50, was trailing his Chinese opponent, who was exercising a 5-4 lead over him. Whoever wins the matchup effectively tees up a match against Judd Trump.

Another fascinating encounter was that between Mark Allen and Jimmy White. It was White’s 99th match in the UK Championship, some 27 years after lifting the title, and Allen was there to spoil the mega party for him.

With consecutive breaks of 64, 129, and 56 leading to a 6-3 win, Allen secured a spot in the last-64 at the expense of Jimmy White.

Written by: Roland Arum