In the blink of an eye it was over, but the memories of what happened will linger long.
Judd Trump’s 4-3 victory over Ronnie O’Sullivan in the final of PTC9 in Antwerp tonight was close to snooker perfection: two charismatic, flair players demonstrating bags of guts, taking on their shots, knocking in all manner of long balls, making big breaks, displaying strong tactical nous, serving up visceral drama and all in front of a huge, enthusiastic crowd who lapped up every minute.
What more could the sport want? Well, only more frames. The match barely lasted 75 minutes but, for this brief time, Trump and O’Sullivan captivated the audience both in Belgium and watching around the world.
David Cameron once famously said to Tony Blair, “you were the future once.”
Ronnie must have seen in Judd the player he once was: the new kid on the baize, taking on the big boys with his talent and his panache. Fearless and walking the tightrope between audacious and dangerous in his shot making.
O’Sullivan is still brilliant when his mind is right, as it was all weekend. He missed a black off its spot in the second frame and was soon 3-1 down but responded in awesome fashion with back-to-back centuries.
Trump, though, was still going for his shots to the end. The only shame was that the winning ball was a fluke, but snooker is a mad game and its richness comes from such unexpected, often cruel, moments.
O’Sullivan had no complaints. He was gracious afterwards having more than competed. It bodes well for his many fans this season.
It’s a delight to see Trump not only owning the big stage as a player but being so relaxed as a man too. He has come out of his shell since moving to Romford and now occupies that crowd pleasing bracket where O’Sullivan has for so long dwelled.
And once again, a European crowd showed their voracious desire for top level snooker. As in Germany and Poland, the Belgian fans turned out in force and made the occasion even more special.
As I wrote last week, there’s nothing wrong with snooker as a game, especially when it is played like this in front of a crowd who appreciate what they are watching.
It was style. It was class. It was wonderful.
28 comments:
yes brilliant from both players can,t wait for a longer match they may meet in uk what a prospect that would be.They are the shining lights in snooker at the moment pity it ended on a fluke it deserved a black ball finish.
probably the best atmospher i seen since the world championship its such a shame these hotbeds arent ranking tournaments yet..i mean the crowds were awesome.how many were there??im sure world snooker are making huge profit considering prize money but lovely to see the players competing like it means everything as it is there job to do so.Im sure ronnie ,judd, robertson arent complaining about ptc but i do understand the lower ranked players concerns..but these have to be made proper ranking tournaments as that what the players and real snooker fans want..I thin rodney walker doesnt get the credit he deserves for the contract with eurosport a few years ago i mean the game has exploded in europe.
It was an awful way for a final like that to be decided. i think the finals of these events should be raised to best of 11s.more chances for players to get their teeth into it.
A full ranking event is surely a must now for Europe.
It was absolutely magical! The atmosphere was simply great and so was your commentary.
Trumps fluke won him the match and title!
what was awful about it trevorp?
judd fluked a pot.
you think ronnie hasnt ever fluked balls?
at the time of the fluke ronnie needed all the balls to win
the tellow was safe
a read was safe
and the red he fluked didnt deserve to go over a pocket to make it easy for ronnie (unless its ok for ronnie to have luck but nobody else)
it is people like you who give ronnie fans a bad name
the final was fantastic
both player played very well
the fluke didnt decide the winner
judds already amassed points and frames did.
wake up please and take your blinkers off
If Rodney Walker doesn't get the credit he deserves for snooker on Eurosport then the same goes for John Higgins and Pat Mooney.
I had the privilege attending this 4 days snookerevent - and got to the second round ;-).
I would say: snooker from the gods - it doesn't get any better. Full house, great atmosphere and top snooker!
Congratulations to everyone involved and particulary to my mate Peter Bullen (current belgian champion), who was given a wildcard for the german Masters later in Feb 2012, by winning the amateurs final, and also to my friend Kristof Azijn for his referee job in the final - well done!
Great, great stuff!!!
Wonderfull final, great quarterfinal line-ups, or even the last 16 matches.
Only shame was the Dutch/Belgian Eurosports presenter, who isn't much good when hes in the booth (often not noticing what's going on at the table and just reading stats from his piece of paper), tried to have a go at introducing the players. "He's short, his glasses are small, here's Martin GOOld". I mean he couldn't even pronounce it correctly, let alone say something meaningfull about the bloke. The only thing he said about Robertson was that he was from Australia!
Luckily the crowd made up with the enthusiasm. Great atmosphere.
Antwerp is worthy of hosting a big ranker.
.I thin rodney walker doesnt get the credit he deserves for the contract with eurosport a few years ago i mean the game has exploded in europe.
------------------------------------
Rodney Walker plans to build on the Success in Europe was to Have a ranking event in barhain confused.com.
he was sitting back and doing nothing about new exciting markets in Europe.
Brilliant to finally have been able to witness all these players live. Most players were very approachable, happy to pose for pictures and took time for autographs.
However one may feel about O'Sullivan as a person, seeing him play in full flow is a joy.
Belgium's Haneveer had his career end with a 4-2 defeat to White, who made a century in the last frame. Finally saw Brecel play live, he is a great talent but sometimes put himself in trouble with some overly flamboyant shots. Amateurs Bullen and Lentesoet gave Dale and Stevens a good run for their money, but lost 4-2.
Even in Belgium, Jimmy still puts bums on seats. 3-1 up against Trump, once again he couldn't finish his opponent off.
Difficult to say how many people were there: Lotto Arena seats 5,000; it's difficult to estimate how many people were there. Mainly because you could walk freely and get a great view of each of the ten tables.
The main seating area was packed for the final, which should mean anything between 800 and 1,000 spectators.
If snooker returns to Antwerp, I'll try and be there as a referee next time round.
Just read o sullivans comments in world snooker his correct when he says he under achieved but would the people have had the rocket we now know of,anyone who has been to a match ronnie has taken part in can testify to the peoples faces, that look of excitement ,nervous anticipation,the unknowing all their senses tapped into. Throughout the ages few people have achieved this captivating energy.His wrong about his "underdog tag" at the moment I think his playing the best snooker in the world right now,the tough thing ronnie has to face is every match he plays is a final and every player is up for it whereas ronnie is a rare sports talent indeed and if he can,t feel it then his vulnerable.You could see in ronnies eyes last night that he wanted the battle to go on he was feeding off the energy of the people like all great predators. The title was irrelevant at that stage it was pure energy who knows how high the standard can go with o sullivans style of play it seems to be a catalyst for great occasions.
147 said...
Just read o sullivans comments in world snooker his correct when he says he under achieved but would the people have had the rocket we now know of,anyone who has been to a match ronnie has taken part in can testify to the peoples faces, that look of excitement ,nervous anticipation,the unknowing all their senses tapped into. Throughout the ages few people have achieved this captivating energy.His wrong about his "underdog tag" at the moment I think his playing the best snooker in the world right now,the tough thing ronnie has to face is every match he plays is a final and every player is up for it whereas ronnie is a rare sports talent indeed and if he can,t feel it then his vulnerable.You could see in ronnies eyes last night that he wanted the battle to go on he was feeding off the energy of the people like all great predators. The title was irrelevant at that stage it was pure energy who knows how high the standard can go with o sullivans style of play it seems to be a catalyst for great occasions.
1:28 PM
YES!!!
i agree with you in some respects 128
in the micky mouse events ronnie is the best in the world
unfortunately for him hes nowhere near that in real snooker events.
having said that, this was the best (e)ptc event so far and theyre getting better.
"Trumps fluke won him the match and title!"
It won him a frame at best! He needed to win another three frames to win the match, and another six matches to win the title.
As for Ronnie being "finished" in proper events we'll have to wait and see. This surge in his performance has coincided with him dropping out of the top 16 (provisionally), and he has only had the PTCs to address the issue with. The UK will be the first proper test in the main events.
Does anyone agree with Dominic Dale's suggestion about having six European PTC events and scrapping the British ones? He said you could then double the prize money in the European events.
2.09. Ronnie has won the world champs, the Masters and the UK several times. He has also won many rankers.
Not so bad for someone who is nowhere near that in real snooker events.
I sat in awe of such sublime excellence. As you said in commentary Dave "Sport doesn't get any better than this". And what a magnificent crowd. And not a bloody shot-clock in sight!!!
If Judd Trump ever augments his already terrific potting game with a safety game comparable to Ronnie's then there's no end to the tournaments he could win.
Don't you just love snooker?
Anon 8.29 you dont even know me so who are you to comment about me im a snooker fan and who wants to see any final decided like that.no matter what you say that red going in decided the final as it was match ball.
So who are the contenders, now when the chips are down and we go for an awesome homestretch in the ranking tournaments.
Robertson is working on being solid,mirroring Selby, but both have a fantastic attacking game too.
Trump is the super attacker and Rocky is the master of the universe.
The Wizard is the champ and can't be counted out.The little smiley man is going his own ways building for the big tournaments coming up,
and actually Mark Williams might be
the best of the bunch.
Huge surprise to me if those named
won't totally dominate the majors for quite some time.
trevorp
it was only match ball for ONE player
the best one in the tourney - TRUMP
311
i was talking aboit his form NOW, not years ago
It's a paradox: When that many players are dominating the game, it isn't dominance. Consistancy at most.
I think O'Sullivan is correct though; he might win a few more, but the other bunch will probably take the majority of titles. Interesting to see how what the number of tournements won will be for those players in 5 or 10 years.
Dave, how do the count the PTC's? There seems to be a completely seperate category: 'minor ranking event'. Seems a bit unfair to me.
People,
I was there as a referee until the semis started and I have to say the atmosphere was absolutely electric.
To then see a final of that quality, pace, and determination was just...stunning.
As for the "he fluked a red and he won the match"...flukes are part of the game. How often have people lost matches when they JUST missed frame/match ball...I'd venture just as often.
At the end of the day Trump thoroughly deserved the win because he played to win. Yes, RoS also did but this time he drew the short straw. I'm sure he'll be back.
Regarding the debate on PTCs or not...I think Jimmy captured it best: who doesn't want to play their game in a full autitorium such as here? You'd be crazy not to want this.
What people/players criticize, rightly or not, are the UK PTCs when held at the EISS in Sheffield since the tables there cannot seat any audience at all.
I'd love to see the PTCs in Europe continued and expanded, possibly into full rankers. The crowds certainly take to them (I heard there were 1,500 people there for the final) and I'm convinced most, if not all, players love playing the game they love in front of audiences such as these.
Cheers!
10.29
i think you will find some criticise the PTC Because they arent loaded up with cash and played in their own living room so they dont have to travel.
I`m a huge fan of O`Sullivan!! Go O`Sullivan!!!!
PTCs are great for the fans. Its just a pity theres such a large difference in prizemoney and ranking between regular rankers and PTCs.
Players achievements in these events are somehow denigraded in certain quarters if they havent won some of the BBC events.
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