Judd Trump led Hossein Vafaei 9-7 after the second session of their World Championship match, taking control with a pair of big finishes at the close of play.
Trump opened the session by winning the first frame after Vafaei stayed in touch with bold potting. In the tenth frame Trump produced a break of 65 but did not close it out at once; after a safety exchange he took the frame. He then made a break of 76 in the eleventh to lead for the first time since frame five. Vafaei hit back with an 82, and a 65 clearance in the thirteenth moved him back in front, only for Trump to level at 7-7 with a century of exactly 100 points. Trump finished the session by taking the last two frames with runs of 74 and 94 to leave the scoreboard 9-7.
The numbers underline why the match tilted toward Trump in the second session: a 100-point century, a 76 and late 74 and 94 breaks combined with Vafaei’s 82 and two 65s produced the tight, high-scoring exchange that decided the session.
Context matters here. Trump has been described as the world number one. Vafaei has been described as a tricky opponent. That pedigree showed — Vafaei’s aggressive potting kept him in contention, but Trump’s two late heavy contributions swung momentum. For Vafaei, the 82 and the 65 clearance were evidence he can build big visits; for Trump, the century and the closing 74 and 94 were the difference.
There was a parallel swing in the other late session where Neil Robertson moved clear against Chris Wakelin. Robertson led Wakelin 10-6 after the second session, having taken the first two frames of the session, one of them including a break of 66. Wakelin replied with a 73 to cut the deficit to 6-5, then Robertson made a 57 to push to 7-5. Robertson extended his edge to 8-6 with a 65 clearance in a 14th frame that produced controversy from the table.
The 14th produced the match’s key friction point. Wakelin was judged to have touched the yellow with his cue after potting a long red. German referee Maike Kessler called a foul and, after reviewing video, kept the decision. Robertson then closed out the session with another 65 and a 101 century to reach 10-6.
The tension from both matches is straightforward: Trump’s late-session scoring put him ahead against an opponent who repeatedly threatened with high breaks, while Robertson’s progress against Wakelin was marked not only by heavy scoring but by a refereeing intervention that removed a frame from Wakelin’s tally. Each result leaves a deficit that the trailing player must actively erase.
Pragmatically, the scoreboard now gives Trump the advantage and Robertson a clear lead. Vafaei produced two big contributions in the second session — an 82 and a 65 clearance — but faces the simple arithmetic of needing to win more frames than Trump from here on to overturn a two-frame gap. That is the task he will carry back to the table when play resumes.
