Judd Trump produced a stirring comeback from 4-0 behind to stun Chris Wakelin in a decider at the European Masters on Thursday.
The reigning Masters champion looked to be heading home when he trailed his fellow Englishman by four frames at the mid-session interval.
But Trump fought his way back into the contest, taking advantage of Wakelin’s inability to get the job done.
By the time he had restored parity and forced a decider, he was a heavy favourite again and duly compiled a 100 break to clinch his 5-4 victory.
Later at the Kia Metropol Arena in Nuremberg, Trump thrashed Ben Woollaston 5-0 to continue his run in the tournament.
Next up for the world number four will be surprise package Ashley Carty, who backed up his 5-1 destruction of Thepchaiya Un-Nooh with a 5-3 success over Ricky Walden.
Elsewhere, Kyren Wilson prolonged his European Masters defence with a brace of whitewash wins.
The Kettering cueist was in dominant form as he conjured bagel scorelines over Si Jiahui and Duane Jones.
John Higgins will be Wilson’s next opponent after the Scot defeated the in-form Shaun Murphy.
The last 16 had earlier been completed, meanwhile, with the likes of World Championship finalists Luca Brecel and Mark Selby remaining in the hunt.
Brecel’s effort to replace Ronnie O’Sullivan as the world number is still on track.
The Belgian Bullet pipped Robbie Williams in a decider and requires a run to the semi-finals in order to gain the top status in the rankings for the first time.
Crucible runner-up Selby progressed with a 5-1 win over Anthony Hamilton, a match that suffered from a lengthy delay as a result of scoreboard issues.
Brecel will face Barry Hawkins – last year’s European Masters runner-up – while Selby is next in action against Ashley Hugill.
Among the others to live to fight another day in Germany were David Gilbert, Lyu Haotian, Noppon Saengkham, and Jimmy Robertson.
The latter won this event in 2018 and his confidence will be high following a 5-4 ousting of Mark Williams.
By the end of Friday’s order of play, the four semi-finalists will be known.
European Masters draw and results
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
