German Masters snooker: Judd Trump and Neil Robertson progress; John Higgins and Ding Junhui sent packing

Trump looked to have the bit between his teeth following his early exit at the Masters recently but he needed to showcase the best of his battling qualities to overcome strong resistance from Brecel.

Having opened up with a break of 53, Trump was immediately pegged beck as Brecel responded with a fabulous run of 122 and the latter looked on course to win frame three when building a healthy lead and putting a number of balls safe.

However, when Brecel missed from distance and cannoned all four reds into the open, Trump needed no second invitation to step in with a nerveless clearance of 51 that was sealed with a brilliant black punched into the heart of the bottom right-hand corner pocket.

Brecel again hit back with a century - this time 102 - but Trump then moved into a 4-2 lead when pinching a closely-contested frame six having won the previous frame courtesy of a typically fluent offering of 85.

Brecel came back swinging once again, a break of 78 keeping him in the hunt and he looked set to level the scores when taking control of the early stages of frame eight before breaking down with the frame seemingly at his mercy.

With the winning line now in sight, Trump closed the match in fine style, a run 90 leaving Brecel to ponder a couple of crucial missed opportunities and wonder what might have been.

In a battle between two former world champions, Graeme Dott proved too strong for Mark Williams, breaks of 57, 58 and 70 firing him to a 5-2 victory.

Elsewhere, Michael Georgiou further signalled his return to form with a 5-3 defeat of Sunny Akani while Matthew Selt got the better of Nigel Bond 5-2.

Mixed fortunes for Scottish duo

Scott Donaldson beat Ding Junhui for the second time in a week as he advanced at the German Masters, where his compatriot John Higgins crashed out.

Donaldson is looking for his third quarter-final in succession after good runs in both his native Scotland and in Austria, beating Ding convincingly in the latter event before succumbing to an in-form Ali Carter.

Ding looked on course to take his revenge in Germany, establishing a 4-2 lead despite a 132 break from Donaldson, but two more half-centuries turned the game on its head as the 25th seed produced a memorable comeback victory.

Higgins will be just as frustrated to depart after breaks of 134 and 138 earned him a 3-2 lead against Robbie Williams, but the latter said 'let me entertain you' and rallied impressively as Higgins' lead came undone.

Williams will feel delighted, no doubt, whereas Higgins will surely Take That defeat badly as his frustrating, stop-start season continues. Could it be magic again by the time he gets to Sheffield? Possibly, but he'll have to do better under pressure if he wants to prove (s)he's the one.

In Thursday morning's other match, Mitchell Mann rattled in a match-winning 111 break to go with a previous 110 and beat Alexander Ursenbacher 5-4 as each of the three contests went the distance.

Robertson maintains hot streak

Last week's European Masters hero Neil Robertson continued his hot steak with a comfortable 5-1 defeat of Ian Burns.

The Australian didn't have to be at his best in a scrappy affair but still managed breaks of 69 and 101 as he set up a second-round meeting with Mitchell Mann.

Shaun Murphy enjoyed a similarly carefree afternoon, the former world champion cruising past Tom Ford with a classy display.

Despite losing the second frame, Murphy took control of the match with breaks of 63, 60, 84 and 64 as he reeled off four frames on the bounce to ease to a 5-1 victory.

Zhao Xintong's upward trajectory continued when he saw off Anthony McGill 5-2 while the in-form Gary Wilson was much too strong for Jak Jones and Elliot Slessor overcame Robert Milkins.

Related links

• German Masters snooker draw and results