Judd Trump says he will have to be at his very best if he is going to get the better of John Higgins in their 2018 World Championship quarter-final encounter. Trump, who defended his European Masters title this season, managed to defeat fellow Englishman Ricky Walden 13-9 in the second round, moving into the last-eight stage for the fifth time in his career.
It was a tense affair between both players and the world number four, who was a beaten finalist at the Crucible back in 2011, believes his opponent’s decision to take on a risky red when 9-8 ahead, which he missed, was a turning point in the match. The ‘Juddernaut’ went on to win the next five frames, wrapping up the victory, and he will now take on four-time champion Higgins, who thrashed Jack Lisowski 13-1 to make the quarters. It was back in 2011 when Trump and his Scottish rival met in the final in Sheffield, with the ‘Wizard of Wishaw’ picking up a thrilling 18-15 victory to lift the trophy for the fourth time.
Many are predicting another fantastic match and the 28-year-old from Bristol, who has 30 ranking tournament wins to his name, knows nothing less than a top performance will do. “I will try to take the game to him, try to play fearless but hopefully I will have the experience to shut up shop when I need to,” Trump was quoted as saying by BBC Sport. “If John keeps his consistency and plays like he has done then I’ll have to play the best snooker of my life to get close to him. I’m hoping he has a bad day or a bad session, which he hasn’t had so far. I’m growing into the tournament now.”
Higgins, who has looked in ominously good form throughout the tournament so far, is the firm 7/10 favourite to pick up the win whilst Trump a 23/20 chance to progress.
Snooker odds available at Dafabet.