Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Judd Trump:
A pot from range got Ronnie O’Sullivan’s account going in the first session of this final, and from that opening he constructed a beautiful break of 137 to win the frame, with some nice exhibition shots towards the end of the break. A brilliant red into the baulk corner got Ronnie scoring first again in frame two, and after a superb split of the reds he looked like making another big break. A contribution of 82 did the job this time for O’Sullivan to keep Judd in his seat and make it 2-0. Another good long red gave Ronnie the first chance but when he missed a thin blue, Trump had his first scoring opportunity of the match, but his split came to nothing and the break ended on 31. An incredibly good red to the middle after the safety battle gave Trump a brilliant chance to get on the board. An additional 39 left Ronnie needing a snooker, but he couldn’t manage it and Judd was on the score sheet at 1-2. The first decent opening in frame four fell to Judd, after a well-played red from range, but a tricky missed black on 40 brought his run to an end and let O’Sullivan back to the table amongst the reds. The last red was the only one that was going to cause Ronnie any problems and so it proved, but a break of 47 left him 5 points in front, with a key battle on the final red to come. O’Sullivan fluked the red getting out of a snooker, though he had to play safe on the yellow 13 ahead with 27 on. Judd got the better of that safety battle though potting the yellow, and clearing to square the match at 2-2 at the mid-session interval.
After the break, Ronnie had the first chance to score after
a wild missed long attempt from Trump. A run of 50 gave him a nice advantage in
the frame. When he came across his next opening however, he didn’t falter and
an additional 80 gave him a 3-2 lead. A confident long strike in the sixth got
O’Sullivan back in again, and this time he was into the reds early and
perfectly and all of the signs were there for another big break. Another 80 for
O’Sullivan opened up that two frame advantage again as he went 4-2 ahead now.
After an early 18 couldn’t come to more for Ronnie, he was given another much
better opportunity soon after, but he only added another 16 to his total. After
a very risky pot attempt to the middle from his opponent, Trump was left a very
good opening from which to try and build a lead of his own in the frame, yet he
could only make 19 and still trailed. A couple of good snookers laid by Judd
got him some handy points, and the escape from the second left Judd a good
chance to win the frame at that visit with all of the reds open. He cleared to
the pink to close the gap to a frame at 3-4 and put Ronnie under some pressure.
At the start of frame eight O’Sullivan responded by knocking in another good
red from range and again he was into the reds early looking like taking the
frame in one break. His contribution of 139 secured him an end of session lead
at 5-3 with just one frame remaining in the first session. Judd knew that the
final frame of the session was key for him to either end up a manageable 4-5
behind or a slightly bigger climb at 3-6 adrift. It was O’Sullivan who had the
best opportunity in frame nine however, and he didn’t pass it up manufacturing
yet another century, a 134 this time, to take a 6-3 end of session lead into
the evening.
Judd Trump had the first chance of the second session as a
sloppy safety from Ronnie left him in amongst the reds, but there was plenty of
work to do. He made 56 to lead by 61 before missing an awkward red to middle.
O’Sullivan then played an excellent red into the middle switching the chance to
him and a clearance of 70 was enough to steal a frame that should’ve been
Judd’s and move 7-3 ahead. A superb red down the cushion from Judd got him as
he tried to make amends for the previous frame, but instead of splitting the
reds from the green on 23 he missed the pack and went in-off. A sublime red
from range got the Rocket scoring again, and once more he was into the reds
immediately getting the perfect split but he never seemed to be in perfect
control of the break and was forced into a safety shot on 40. Ronnie had the
next opportunity however, and this time he was in control and another clearance
put him into a five frame advantage at 8-3. Trump had a chance in frame twelve
but soon surrendered it to O’Sullivan having only made 11. On 9 however, Ronnie
ran out of black ball position but because of the lack of safety option he
still took it on and left a red for Judd. From that position, Trump was able to
cook up a 102 clearance to pull one back at 4-8. When the left hander was in
first again in frame thirteen and with the reds split by the time the break was
in the thirties you knew that these were the opportunities he had to make full
use of. A second century in a row for Judd took him into the interval clinging
on to some hope in this match as he was now three frames behind at 5-8. Following the mid-session, Ronnie played a safety shot too thick and left Trump right down amongst the reds again with a golden opening. A speedy break of 69 did the job this time and he was now only a couple of frames away from Ronnie at 6-8. Another poor safety shot from O’Sullivan in the fifteenth left the Bristolian in again and again a contribution of 90 made it into a frame winner as he closed to just a frame now at 7-8 with four frames in a row. O’Sullivan stroked home a great range red in frame sixteen as he looked to respond to Trump’s barrage of breaks, yet he only produced 8 points before missing a shot to nothing red. Judd made the next safety error though, presenting a very decent opening to Ronnie. A break of 63 was enough for O’Sullivan to go within a single frame of the title now with a 9-7 lead. At the start of frame seventeen Trump took on a speculative long shot and left the very same red on to give O’Sullivan a half chance. From the first black he was straight into the reds and the spread was very kind to the defending champion who certainly had more than half a chance of making this into a match winning break. It was a fantastic finish from Ronnie O’Sullivan making yet another century break (109 this time around) to see off a valiant Judd Trump and defend his Champion of Champions title with a 10-7 victory and an incredibly high scoring and exciting match.
What an amazing match that was without fantastic break-building on display throughout the match from both players and a great fight back in the middle from Judd Trump, only for Ronnie O'Sullivan to find another gear and finish the match in style. They're all brilliant games in this countdown, that's why they're classic matches but the last two of this countdown really are special so be sure to come back and watch out for those.
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