Injured Trump May Pull Out
Judd Trump made a winning start to his Indian Open campaign on Tuesday night, but then revealed he might withdraw from the world ranking event due to a shoulder injury.
The world number six saw off Peter Lines 4-2 in Mumbai with top breaks of 97, 52 and 60. But pain in his left shoulder has left the 25-year-old Bristolian unsure whether he will contest his last 32 match on Thursday.
“I hurt my shoulder before the tournament and I wasn’t sure if I was going to turn up here,” said the four-time ranking event winner.
“I struggled out there today so if it doesn’t get better then I might have to pull out. I don’t know how I did it. It just started hurting, and I thought it would get better as the days went on, but it’s just getting worse.
“I struggled to get through the ball today and I was shaking a bit. I’ll see how things go tomorrow, but I might have to take a break and get ready for the next tournament.
“I’m not having any treatment on it but I might need to before I play again. I was looking forward to this event and I have come here to win it so it would be massively disappointing if I did have to pull out. But the World Championship is next month and I have to prioritise that.
“It’s not enjoyable to play when you are not fully fit, because it’s at the back of your mind. I’ll give it every chance tomorrow to see if I can play.”
Mark Williams beat Eden Sharav 4-2 with top breaks of 58, 63 and 56 to further boost his chances of staying in the top 16 and avoiding having to qualify for the World Championship.
Williams, who won the World Seniors title last week, said: “Robert Milkins is right behind me in the rankings and he was playing on the next table to me against Mike Dunn. It’s the first time I’ve ever wanted Mike Dunn to win a match.
“I have built up a nice cushion by getting to the semi-finals of the Welsh Open and there are only three tournaments left now for the others to catch me, though there is big prize money in those events so anyone who wins one could knock me out. But I’m in a much better position now than I was six months ago and as long as I keep winning matches I’ll be fine.”
Milkins, in fact, beat Dunn 4-2 with a top run of 80. Lyu Haotian came from 3-1 down to beat Indian wild card D Lily 4-3, while Adam Duffy cruised to a 4-0 win over wild card Sumit Talwar.
Rhys Clark scored a dramatic 4-3 victory over Pankaj Advani in the second match of the day to go down to a respotted black. Scottish amateur Clark, whose top break was 83, eventually doubled the black to a centre pocket.
Joe Swail beat friend Ken Doherty 4-2 with a top run of 70 while Kyren Wilson scored an impressive 4-0 win over Alan McManus.