Hong Kong’s Marco Fu handed former world number one Judd Trump another early exit as he took the final frame of their scrappy first round Dafabet Masters clash on Monday.
Fu, returning to the tournament for the first time since 2011 when he lost to Ding Junhui in the final at Wembley Arena, twice fought back from behind to lead 5-4 after nine frames.
But Englishman Trump, who has been eliminated in the early rounds of all the major events this season, forced an 11th-frame decider with his second century break of the match.
However, it was Fu who kept his nerve to produce a cool break of 78 and ensure his passage into the last eight – where he will face the winner of the first round match between Shaun Murphy and Ding on Thursday.
Trump led 12-0 before failing to pot a tricky black in the decider and later admitted his season now rests almost entirely on the World Championships.
The world number four said: “I’ve gone out early in all the big ones which is very disappointing. There is only the World Championship left, but all the tournaments now are worth winning especially the German Masters next month.”
Fu revealed his own concerns about the match going to a decider, given his poor record in final frames this season.
He said: “I expected it to be a deciding frame. I’ve lost four or five matches on the deciding frame so it is nice to win one in the Masters. It was difficult to get away from Judd in the end.”
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