Judd Trump stunned by Aaron Hill in Northern Ireland Open

Judd Trump has been knocked out of the Northern Ireland Open, suffering a shock 4-1 defeat by Aaron Hill in the second round of the tournament.

Trump was aiming for a fourth NI title, but he had little time at the time as his opponent seized his chances, producing a major upset in the process. Hill certainly benefitted from a few flukes, but he simply outplayed his higher-ranked opponent.

In the first frame, Hill got going with some good pots, before missing a red to the middle pocket. He snookered Trump behind the black after fluking a red, and then he built a break of 52 off a further fluke to secure a 1-0 advantage. Trump was in first on frame two, sinking a long red and building a 21 break, before missing up a snooker behind the brown. Hill couldn’t capitalise, however, and Trump made an excellent 109 clearance to level the match.

Frame three was a scrappy one, with most of the colours off their spots at one point, with both players struggling to make any breaks – there was a good double by Trump, but a break of 36 was enough to put Hill back in the lead. And he kept up the momentum in the following frame, potting a tough red to the middle on his way to a frame-winning 87.

Trump needed to do something – he was in first in frame five, making 29 because missing an unexpected red. Hill had two scoring visits, but he was still behind his opponent until a long red gave him chance to make a 35. There were two reds left on the table, and it was Hill who would get them – he took on and got a long red and a tough yellow, before potting a few more balls just to ensure that Trump would not return to the table.

After the match, Hill said: “I know I can play like that all the time, it’s just about getting consistency. I’m pretty happy with the way I played. I’m buzzing.

He made a lot of mistakes and seemed to get away with it

– Judd Trump

“I like playing out there in front of the crowd and in front of the TV cameras. When you play the likes of Judd, it brings the best out of you because you know you have to play well.

“I’m just chuffed to pieces now and to have my family there in the front row is a brilliant feeling. It means the world to me. I just hope it kick-starts me now and I can do this more often.

“It’s right up there with one of my biggest wins obviously, and one of the biggest days of my life.”

Asked whether he was impressed by his opponent’s performance, Trump said: “Not really. I didn’t feel like he played that well. There were quite a few shots he got away with so [it was] disappointing.

“I don’t really know what I did wrong.

“First frame he fluked two balls, [and in the] third frame he played a terrible safety and got away with it and the list goes on.

“I missed a ball in the last frame, other than that, he made a lot of mistakes and seemed to get away with it. So it’s one of them.”

Hill will play Tom Ford in the next round.

There were other upsets on the night- former world champion Stuart Bingham was whitewashed by David Lilley, while Joe Perry was eliminated by the same score line by David Wells. Ding Junhui was also knocked out, losing 4-3 to Michael White.