A look at the second day's TV matches from the German Masters, now updated with the evening match...
JUDD TRUMP v NOPPON SAENGKHAM (9am GMT)
Live on British Eurosport and Eurosport International
It’s been well documented that Trump has found the first half of the season to be a struggle in terms of getting results and having a good run in a major event, so the next few weeks are crucial for him if he is to rescue the campaign.
Saengkham has little TV experience but was a quarter-finalist in this season’s Six Reds World Championship and reached the last 32 stage of the Australian Open and UK Championship.
This could be a classic banana skin match in which the favourite is so highly fancied that he is under intense pressure to win. Trump, though, doesn’t seem the sort of character who allows such things to bother him. If he plays to a decent standard he should come through.
DING JUNHUI v MARK WILLIAMS (2pm GMT)
Live on British Eurosport and Eurosport International
Ding excelled earlier in the season, winning three successive ranking titles, but seemed tired-out at the UK Championship and admitted to being under-prepared for the Masters
Williams won the first staging of the German Masters at the Tempodrom in 2011, returning to world no.1, but has not quite been the same since losing 10-9 to Mark Selby in the Shanghai Masters final later that year. The Welshman is currently 18th in the rankings and needs a big performance against a top player.
There are few better scalps than that of Ding but it remains to be seen whether Williams can rediscover that golden touch which got him to the top of the game, especially against such a heavy scorer.
SHAUN MURPHY v MATTHEW STEVENS (7pm GMT)
Live on British Eurosport (7pm) and Eurosport International (from 9pm)
Stevens leads this head-to-head 7-3 but Murphy won the two big meetings, reversing a 10-6 deficit to beat the Welshman 18-16 in the 2005 World Championship final and recovering from 12-7 down to beat him 13-12 at the quarter-final stage at the Crucible in 2007.
Murphy was disappointed by another near miss after his semi-final exit at the Masters, which is a sign of how high his standards are. He is desperate for some more major silverware, with three years having elapsed since his last ranking title.
Stevens admits he didn’t practise over the festive period but was sharpened up by four days of Championship League and saw off the reliably stubborn Fergal O’Brien this morning.
One of Murphy’s best assets is that he’s an optimist and generally capable of making the best of when things go wrong. Stevens is dangerous but inconsistent. He will need to guard against unforced errors to get the better of Murphy again.
Photographs by Monique Limbos.