Wow.What more can you say about the manner in which Judd Trump won the Championship League tonight?
He potted a yellow in the first frame that was one of the shots of the season and drilled in a long blue in the decider to leave Mark Selby needing a snooker, which he got before leaving the green on.
Judd is just 19 and, at 41st, the lowest ranked of the 25 players in the Championship League. This included former world champions and most of snooker's top stars.
He displayed great nerve, heart and skill to land the title and is now through to the Premier League where I think he'll get bags of support.
We'll be seeing him again in the China Open on Monday as his match in the wildcard round will be live on Eurosport.
It's a shame we won't be seeing him at the World Championship but he'll be around for many years I have no doubt.
"I hope I can get used to the shot clock," he said afterwards.
I reckon the shot clock will have to get used to him.
21 comments:
Hi Dave,
That position shot from yellow to green was fantastic. He has played well all week. Just how long, as I alluded to on my previous post, did Trump take on that safety shot, resulting in a hit-and-hope?
By the way, is there anymore news on the outcome of the writ that was allegedly served to Mark Selby at last month's Welsh Open?
Thanks, Joe
That yellow was sensational, brilliant shot good to see him with a smile back on his face again, after losing to Lee in the manner of the way he did at the world qualifier's recently he could of been on a bit of a downer this week. Every credit to him.
Well Done Trump!
Dave, will the Holt-Xiao match be shown live at the China Open?
WOW, I didnt see the final, so I wake up this morning and I check the blog for the result. I really expected to be reading about how Mark Selby wins and how he'll be in the premier league next season etc etc but for Judd Trump to win was just a surprise, I must try to watch it on YouTube...
Wow, with the cueball tight at the cushion hammering that near-straight yellow in at pace to come back all the way for perfect position on the green was incredible cueing. Well deserved win!
cheers, Eric
it was a great final to watch
most of the time judd wont have a problem with the shot clock, but knowing him like i do and having watched him closely even more this last 2 years he does tend to take ages over one or two shots in fragmented frames. this is where he needs to brush up. all other aspects are there and will improve evn more with experience
Dave - any ideas on who will be in the Premier League next season?
A great achievement I think, he only had one chance to win it as he was in the final group.
Very impressive.
Andy
Personally I'd like to see the stats on how the semi-final draw was arrived at. It seemed like Judd was given Bingham, who should have been playing Selby. Judd should have been playing Perry in the SF, there may have been a different result if this had been the case.
Can anyone explain this?
That's why I said before he should be at the Crucible but not Stephen Lee.
Well done Judd. I am not surprised he bounced back so quickly from the world qualifiers. Most players with a defeat like that would not of been watching other matches a day or so later at the same venue!
With such a love for the game and great natural ability he will win more titles- and soon.
The semi-final draw was entirely correct.
Trump, Bingham and Perry had the same points and frames for and against.
Therefore, they were put into a mini league in which only the results between the three of them counted.
Trump came top of this, Bingham second and Perry third.
This was fully explained to the players and they all agreed with it and all understood it.
As for who will be in the PL next season, Ronnie and Trump are the only guaranteed names but I'd personally expect Selby to be invited, plus the world champion (if not Ronnie or Selby) and then a choice from the likes of Murphy, Carter, Maguire, Ding, Higgins, Hendry etc
How can you say Trump should be at the Crucible and not Lee? If he couldn't win his qualifier then he's not good enough, simple as that. No one has a right to be there.
Will Davis be invited to the prem lge this year after last years woeful effort? Hendry is usually a shoo in.
Selby seems to be well promoted at the moment- As he will not be in the top four next season without a good crucible and/or China run and he is not a current marjor pro title holder I think he has done well to create a really good image for himself through writing on the eurosport website etc. Without that he is relying on reaching the final of last years premier league to obtain an invite this year. Carter, Higgins, Murphy, Walden and Robertson should all be considered ahead of him as they are current champions. I hope Mark can put that right in the next few weeks in China or Sheffield and earn his place on merit, otherwise I would expect Sky and matchroom to go for current title holders or former world champions as has usually been the case (with the exception of the chinese representative for commercial reasons).
In the end people in England will travel and pay to watch O'Sullivan, Davis, Hendry, Higgins and Jimmy White play but no one much else except towards the end of tournaments or at the Crucible. I expect Judd Trump to be soon added to that list but at the moment the image of most of the under 30's is so low that I expect an exhibition with Thorne, Virgo, Dennis Taylor and Joe Johnson would attract a bigger turnout than many names in the top 16.
The Hotshots campaign has failed to alter this and could only possibly of succeeded if they had been playing high profile matches and exhibitions together at venues all around the country- but then the correct accusation could be made as to why these few players are obtaining benefit from an association that is there equally for all its members when they havent earned their status as 'hotshots' by ranking.
It'll feel a bit unfair if Joe Perry is left out of the PL.
Hi Dave
I dident see young Jamie's game this time; but I did see his game in Leeds two weeks ago.
Ian Glover of Doncaster did well beating Jamie 5/1 in less than one hour, before beating two more top seven players.
Play Snooker- The fine Art method with Poise Elegance and Finesse.
Mr. hey you
makes me laugh all this hype about trump at the minute for me he hasnt shown hes a future world champion yet he hasnt even reached a final ding at his age had 2 titles under his belt
Ultimately different players develop at different rates, you can't judge everyone by the standard Ding set.
On TV in the ranking events I would probably agree that I haven't seen too much from Judd, but what I have seen at the qualifiers and in the Championship League has left me convinced that the potential is there. Whether he delivers on it and makes the improvements to his safety game that he will have to make remains to be seen, but he's got a chance in my opinion.
Ding actually won three ranking titles by the time he was 19
Stephen Maguire and Shaun Murphy were 22 before either of them won one
Players mature at different rates but I disagree there's hype about Trump - I'm writing about him because he's just won a title and won it in some style
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