Judd Trump is through to the second round of the World Championship – but he was forced to do to it the hardest way imaginable.

Judd Trump. Picture courtesy of Monique Limbos

Victory will be a huge relief for Trump who crashed out of the first round last year when he suffered one of the biggest Crucible shocks of all time when he lost to Rory McLeod.

And history almost repeated itself on the most dramatic night of this year’s World Championship so far.

The world number three looked like he was cruising to the next stage when he led 8-4 only for his opponent Chris Wakelin to make a brilliant comeback to force a thrilling finish to the first round encounter.

Trump suffered as the pressure intensified as Wakelin turned an 8-4 deficit to being just two frames away from victory when he levelled the scores at 8-8.

Trump then stopped the rot to lead 9-8 and then just needed the final colours to complete victory. But it went wrong.

The Bristol ace missed the final black to the middle pocket and left it on for Wakelin who potted it under immense pressure to force a deciding frame.

And the drama did not stop there as the final frame produced unbelievable moments of gripping action. Trump missed two easy blues into the middle pocket and Wakelin failed to take advantage each time .

But the key moment came after Trump missed another simple pot which gave Wakelin his third major chance to clinch the match. But his hopes took a severe dent when the cueball went in-off from potting the pink.

Trump then managed to take control of the frame and somehow got through and came out a 10-9 winner.

Elsewhere on day six of the World Championship, Scotland’s Anthony McGill beat Ryan Day 10-8 to book his place in the next round.

The day also saw the start of two second round matches. Mark Allen leads Joe Perry 5-3 and Barry Hawkins has the same advantage against Chinese sensation Lyu Haotian, although the former once led 4-0.