Trump Wins Thrilling Final
Judd Trump has claimed his sixth ranking title in the most dramatic of finals, defeating Ronnie O’Sullivan to lift the European Masters.
It was the pair’s sixth meeting in a professional final and Trump trailed for much of the match, before dramatically snatching the crown in the final frame and securing a 9-8 victory.
Both players produced dominant performances yesterday, in a star studded semi-final line up. Trump defeated World Champion Mark Selby 6-2. O’Sullivan put on a snooker masterclass, as he demolished Neil Robertson 6-0 in just under an hour and a quarter.
In the final it was O’Sullivan who was first to trouble the scorers. Trump made a break of 34 at the start of the frame, however he relinquished control of the table and the Rocket stole it on the black.
The five-time World Champion O’Sullivan made breaks of 53 and 62, as he moved into a 3-1 lead. However, Trump hit back producing runs of 120 and 82 to pull within one. O’Sullivan took the final frame of the session and held a 5-3 lead going into the evening.
The 2011 UK Champion Trump immediately eliminated the deficit in the final session. A superb century break of 105 saw him draw level and a contribution of 67 in the eleventh frame put him ahead for the first time at 6-5.
However, the Rocket turned on the after burners and cruised to the verge of victory. Runs of 93,72 and 42 saw him win three on the bounce and go 8-6 up. Trump just wasn’t going away and he forced a decider making another century of 109 in the process.
In the final frame the Juddernaught produced a gutsy run of 74 and took home the title.
“I’m a little bit in disbelief,” said Trump. “To go 8-6 down was a little bit disheartening. I was faced with a difficult blue in the next frame and I just thought that I have to go for it. After that, I didn’t miss in the next three frames. To produce that under pressure against Ronnie will stand me in good stead for the rest of the season.
“It’s nice to win this tournament and get my confidence back. I’m using a new cue and probably should have beaten Michael White in China. I was a little bit disheartened. I said to my manager that I want to change my cue again, but he told me to stick with it. Luckily I did.”
It was only O’Sullivan’s second defeat in a ranking final since 2010 and the Rocket was in reflective mood afterwards.
O’Sullivan remarked: “He deserved his victory and played the better snooker all day really. He’s too good a player to not be winning tournaments. You just have to hold your hands up and say well done. I didn’t do a lot wrong really. From 5-3 up to 6-5 down I had a couple of chances, but he just dominated the table.
“I’ve battled it out, I played five or six matches this week and that’s exactly what I needed.”
