Judd Trump scooped the Championship League title last night with some great performances especially on the 2nd day. On the day he beat Martin Gould 3-2 from 2-0 down and lost 3-2 to Shaun Murphy in his final 2 round robin games, to finish 4th in the group by 1 frame or Ricky Walden, and play Shaun Murphy again in the semi-finals, after Murphy topped the group having only lost his first round robin game on Wednesday.
The other semi-final saw Stephen Maguire, who finished 2nd in the group with 4 wins from 6, but losing a little momentum from losing his final group game 3-2 to Ricky Walden who finished 5th, take on Martin Gould who finished 3rd with 3 wins from 6 after wins against Walden and Perry on day 2 saw him into the semi-finals.
The semi-finals didn't go according to the round-robin form book though, as 3rd place finished Martin Gould thrashed 2nd placed Maguire 3-0 in the semi-finals to avenge his 3-2 defeat in the group stages. He then played Judd Trump in the final after he avenged his defeat from just a couple of hours before 3-2 against Shaun Murphy. Having led 2-0, Shaun battled back well to force the decider well, but Judd potted some amazing balls in the decider and Shaun Murphy didn't really have a chance, as Judd took the win.
Martin Gould was completely outplayed in the final as Judd started off with a break of 119 to take the opening frame, and then early breaks of 36 and 34 were enough to put Trump 2-0 in front and 1 frame from the title. It looked like Trump would get there in the 3rd, as a break of 64 put him 58 points ahead with 59 on, but a superb 59 clearance from Martin Gould kept him in the match at 1-2. However, Judd Trump won in style in the 4th frame as a break of 109 gave the 24 year old the Championship League top prize for the 2nd time in his career and a place in next seasons Champion of Champions.
Judd played very well on the last day, and played with maximum professionalism throughout the day, particularly in his final group game with Shaun Murphy, where both players have to be given credit for giving it 100% despite both players already being through. It seemed like he was back to his best, and if he can carry that through to China then he has every chance of victory in the Haikou World Open next week.
I'll be back to preview that tournament over the weekend and I'm looking forward to it already.
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