Judd Trump comfortably won his first match in the European Masters with a 5-0 defeat of Mohamed Ibrahim on Tuesday in Nuremberg.
Trump was in good scoring form as he reeled off breaks of 117, 74, 71, and 60 to bagel his Egyptian opponent in the held over qualifying-round encounter.
The Englishman, currently at number four in the world rankings, already has some silverware from the new season.
Trump triumphed at the the CBSA-sanctioned Huangguoshu Open earlier in August, and he next has his eyes on securing a 24th career ranking crown.
- CLICK HERE: Judd Trump wins CBSA Tour event
The 34 year-old previously won the European Masters in 2016 and 2017, but he wasn’t overly enamoured with the conditions at the Kia Metropol Arena.
“It’s tough, it’s tricky. It’s quite hot and humid out there, a bit like playing in China,” Judd Trump told the World Snooker Tour.
“It’s going to be difficult this week, but I’m not really bothered if I win or lose as long as I go out and play my shots. Go out on my terms.”
“He’s (Ibrahim) new to the tour so it was always going to be difficult for him being thrown into the deep end.
“As long as I took my chances, I knew that I was probably going to be too strong for him. In the end, that’s what turned out.
“To me, there’s only a few tournaments that I really enjoy being at. I think the other ones, you can try too hard and get bogged down.
“I’m just trying to not let it bother me and try to dictate my own terms.
“When I am at the big events, give it my all. But with the other ones, I don’t really care what happens – just go for my shots, enjoy it, and see what happens.
“I’ve been in a couple of tournaments leading up to this, so it was nice to play in other events.
“I feel like I’m playing well. In the first ranking event of the season, I didn’t lose but managed not to get through.
“It’s hard to take a lot from some of the strange formats. This is more like a proper event, it’s a straight knockout.
“If you win you win, if you lose you lose. So these are the ones that I enjoy playing in.
“It’s pretty straightforward – you’ve got to go out there and play your best, otherwise you’re going home.”
Elsewhere, reigning European Masters champion Kyren Wilson and world champion Luca Brecel also safely negotiated their preliminary-round fixtures.
Wilson thumped Dean Young with a 5-1 scoreline, while the Belgian Bullet overcame Jackson Page 5-3.
Brecel could challenge for the world number one spot this week after the late withdrawal of Ronnie O’Sullivan on the opening day.
Mark Allen is also in the hunt to achieve the feat for the first time, and the Northern Irishman advanced from his initial tie with a 5-0 drubbing of Anton Kazakov.
Mark Selby and Shaun Murphy moved forward to the last 64 as well with respective wins over Manasawin Phetmalaikul and Steven Hallworth.
But there was a sizable upset with Neil Robertson going down in a 5-3 reverse against Wu Yize.
In the round of 64, there were triumphs for the likes of John Higgins, Si Jiahui, Zhou Yuelong, and Chris Wakelin.
However, Jack Lisowski succumbed to a 5-4 loss against Michael White and Hossein Vafaei was thrashed 5-0 by Allan Taylor.
One of the performances of the day came from three-time ranking event winner Ricky Walden, who compiled a hat-trick of century breaks in ousting Jamie Jones.
The action continues on Wednesday when the lineup for the last 32 will be completed.
European Masters Draw
Round of 128
(held over fixtures)
Kyren Wilson 5-1 Dean Young
Shaun Murphy 5-2 Steven Hallworth
Judd Trump 5-0 Mohamed Ibrahim
Mark Allen 5-0 Anton Kazakov
Andy Hicks w/o Ronnie O’Sullivan
Mark Selby 5-0 Manasawin Phetmalaikul
Neil Robertson 3-5 Wu Yize
Luca Brecel 5-3 Jackson Page
L64
Kyren Wilson 5-2 Alfie Burden
Si Jiahui 5-3 Ken Doherty
Hossein Vafaei 0-5 Allan Taylor
Dominic Dale 5-2 Duane Jones
Andrew Higginson 1-5 Zhou Yuelong
Dylan Emery 1-5 John Higgins
Ross Muir 5-3 Joe Perry
Daniel Wells 2-5 Shaun Murphy
Judd Trump 5-0 Jordan Brown
Chris Wakelin 5-0 Aaron Hill
Ben Woollaston 5-1 Xu Si
Tom Ford 5-2 Oliver Brown
Jamie Jones 3-5 Ricky Walden
Michael White 5-4 Jack Lisowski
Ashley Carty 5-4 Joe O’Connor
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 5-0 Mark Allen
Andy Hicks 5-2 Peng Yisong
Lyu Haotian 5-4 Elliot Slessor
Ben Mertens 5-3 Sanderson Lam
David Gilbert 5-1 Reanne Evans
Xiao Guodong 5-3 Stuart Bingham
Ashley Hugill 5-4 Ali Carter
Louis Heathcote 1-5 Anthony Hamilton
Adam Duffy 1-5 Mark Selby
Wu Yize w/o Liu Hongyu
Noppon Saengkham 5-2 Mark Davis
Mark Williams 5-3 Matthew Stevens
Jimmy Robertson 5-0 Scott Donaldson
James Cahill 3-5 Barry Hawkins
Jiang Jun 4-5 Zak Surety
Robbie Williams 5-1 Pang Junxu
Ishpreet Singh 3-5 Luca Brecel
L32
K. Wilson 5-0 Si
Taylor 3-5 D. Jones
Zhou 2-5 Higgins
Muir 0-5 Murphy
Trump 5-4 Wakelin
Woollaston 5-4 Ford
Walden 5-4 M. White
Carty 5-1 Un-Nooh
Hicks 4-5 Lyu
Mertens 4-5 Gilbert
Xiao 4-5 Hugill
Hamilton 1-5 Selby
Wu 2-5 Saengkham
M. Williams 4-5 J. Robertson
Hawkins 5-1 Surety
R. Williams 4-5 Brecel
L16
K. Wilson 5-0 D. Jones
Higgins 5-2 Murphy
Trump 5-0 Woollaston
Walden 3-5 Carty
Lyu 5-1 Gilbert
Hugill 2-5 Selby
Saengkham 5-4 J. Robertson
Hawkins 5-4 Brecel
QF
K. Wilson 3-5 Higgins
Trump 5-1 Carty
Lyu 2-5 Selby
Saengkham 2-5 Hawkins
SF
Higgins 5-6 Trump
Selby 4-6 Hawkins
F
Trump 6-9 Hawkins
Featured photo credit: WST
