JUDD Trump booked his place in the quarter-finals of the UK Championship at York Barbican after a final-frame decider against John Higgins.

A loose Higgins safety shot opened the door for the world number one to carve out a 106 break in the final frame as his opponent’s four-year wait for a ranking title goes on.

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Tactical shots were the theme of the opening four frames, with the score level at 2-2 at the mid-session interval, but the contest became much more fluent thereafter.

Trump showed his class with a fantastic 111 break, as, alongside two half-centuries, he moved one frame away from victory.

But Higgins replied with breaks of 58 and 106, holding his nerve to force a decisive 11th frame before ultimately gifting his opponent the chance to seal victory.

“It was a good break in the decider,” Trump told the BBC. “It was a bit topsy-turvy, after the interval I thought it was a good game.

“I think the first four frames we showed a lot of respect to each other, you don’t want to give away easy chances. After, I just tried to make it a bit more attacking and a bit more free-flowing and I think we both benefitted from that in the end.”

A loose safety shot from Higgins opened the door for Trump to seal victory.A loose safety shot from Higgins opened the door for Trump to seal victory. (Image: PA) Asked what had changed after the mid-session interval, he laughed: “The game was just too slow, I wanted to speed it up!

“I just felt like I’d start taking more balls on and get the balls open early. None of us play our best like that.

“It’s a big tournament, and sometimes I just try too hard at the start. After I get into the game, I just feel like I can relax and let go, and that’s when I play my best.

“I haven’t played my best so far. It’s nice to do it when it really matters, like in the last frame, it was a really great break, and I was in the perfect position the whole time. But when the real pressure is on is probably when I produce my best stuff.

“I’m a long way at the moment [from his best], there’s a lot of players who are playing good stuff and I’m not one of them. But I’m still in the event, so there’s still time to improve.”