Oliver Lines produced one of the displays of his career to send reigning Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters champion Judd Trump packing from the 2025 event.
In what is one of the shocks of the fledgling 2025/26 season so far, Lines beat Trump 5-3 in the last 32 in Jeddah on Tuesday.
The world number one took the opening frame, but his underdog opponent then settled with a terrific break of 125 in the second frame.
Trump looked out of sorts and fell 4-1 behind on the back of further contributions of 63 and 71 from the challenger.
It all suddenly got a bit nervy for Lines with the winning line in sight, and Trump momentarily capitalised to reduce the gap to one again.
But an excellent 100 break from Lines in the eighth frame settled the contest and sent the Leeds potter through to the last 16.
“I don’t think it has quite sunk in yet,” 30 year-old Oliver Lines told the World Snooker Tour afterwards.
“I’m really proud of the way I played today and the way I handled the occasion. To beat Judd here on table one on telly is a massive achievement.”
“It’s weird because I felt so good, but some of the thoughts you have at 4-1 up and you try searching for the line too quick.
“The next thing you’ve missed a shot and you have to sit down and watch him, and the pressure just keeps ramping up.
“I’m just proud of myself in the end for making that break in the last frame.
“I just kept telling myself that I was happy with the scoreline. If you had offered me 4-3 up at the start of the game, I’d have snatched your hand off for it.
“Obviously being 4-1 up to 4-3 is not easy, but I just tried to change things around in my mind – trying to tell myself that I’d won the last couple of frames. It kind of settled me back down.
“I feel like I’ve been growing into the tournament nicely. Each game I’ve been stepping up in performance, so I’m hoping to carry that on.
“I obviously want to carry on in this tournament as the money is so good here, but there’s kind of no pressure now really.
“Even though the money is so good, I’ve kind of got out of the tournament what I wanted to. Hopefully, I’m going to relax and keep playing my best stuff.
“I think it’s probably the best victory of my career. I haven’t done as well as I would have liked to have done in the last few years.
“To beat Judd on table one in a tournament as big as this, and to play as well as I did, is a massive achievement.”
Oliver Lines first turned professional in 2014 and has been an ever-present on the main tour since, but he has generally underachieved and has garnered a reputation as a bit of a journeyman.
Indeed, the former European under-21 amateur champion will next bid to reach the quarter-final of a ranking event for only the fourth time in his career.
That being said, the £30,000 that Lines is guaranteed to take home in prize money and ranking points from this event will go a long way in his bid to break into the top 50 for the first time.
With no ranking points to defend from the 2023/24 campaign and coming off the back of last season where he reached the last four of the British Open, Lines is finally on the right upward trajectory.
Ali Carter will be his next obstacle to overcome after the Captain – a runner-up at the recent Shanghai Masters – edged Gary Wilson in a deciding frame.
There were triumphs elsewhere for Mark Williams, Mark Selby, Neil Robertson, and Shaun Murphy.
Last year’s finalist Williams overcame Yuan Sijun with a 5-3 scoreline that was matched by Selby in his defeat of Long Zehuang.
It was a touch easier for Robertson who compiled a hat-trick of century breaks in a 5-2 victory over Ben Woollaston, while Murphy thumped Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 5-1.
Two other seeds were dumped out of the competition, however, with John Higgins denied 5-4 by Elliot Slessor and Zhang Anda suffering a 5-2 reverse to Stuart Bingham.
The remaining round-of-32 fixtures take place later on Tuesday with the likes of Zhao Xintong, Kyren Wilson, and Ronnie O’Sullivan in action.
Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters draw
Last 32 (bo9)
Matches take place on Tuesday, August 12th
Results
Judd Trump 3-5 Oliver Lines
Ali Carter 5-4 Gary Wilson
Neil Robertson 5-2 Ben Woollaston
Mark Selby 5-3 Long Zehuang
John Higgins 4-5 Elliot Slessor
Zhang Anda 2-5 Stuart Bingham
Shaun Murphy 1-5 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Mark Williams 5-3 Yuan Sijun
5:30pm UTC+1 (BST)
Kyren Wilson vs Iulian Boiko
Si Jiahui vs Wu Yize
Mark Allen vs Chang Bingyu
Ronnie O’Sullivan vs Joe O’Connor
Ding Junhui vs Stephen Maguire
Barry Hawkins vs Martin O’Donnell
Chris Wakelin vs Farakh Ajaib
Zhao Xintong vs Steven Hallworth
The full updated draw is available at snooker.org
Featured photo credit: WST
