Congratulations to Judd Trump who tonight has won the Championship League 2009 and secured a place in next season’s Premier League competition…
In defeating Mark Selby 3-2 in a predictably close final, Judd has completed a phenomenal week for him by taking his first professional trophy. It feels like a long time ago now, but making his Championship League debut on Monday, he actually started off poorly and went down 4-0 to Steve Davis. Since then though he did not look back, winning the remaining five matches of the group stage before crushing Graeme Dott in the semi-finals and then edging Ricky Walden 3-2 in the final.
Now fully in his stride, he again performed well in the winners group over the past two days, qualifying for the semi-finals where he would meet Stuart Bingham. Though he went 2-0 down, Judd responded brilliantly to win the match 3-2 and again in the final against Mark Selby he recovered from a losing position to take the title in fine style. His pot on the yellow early on in the match is one that I won’t forget in a hurry!
Following his success in reaching the Grand Prix semi-finals earlier on this season, as well as winning the Masters qualifying tournament, this is the latest step in what seems destined to be a glorious career. As has been suggested in the comments on this blog this week, it will be great for him to get wider exposure on SkySports because having seen him several times at the qualifiers this season, as well as in the Championship League this week, he is clearly a real talent.
Not only is he talented, but he also seems to be popular with the public. At the EIS in Sheffield during the qualifiers this year I don’t think a day went by without somebody raving to me about him and his side of the arena was absolutely packed, probably only Steve Davis drew in more spectators than him during the World Championship. Playing weekly in the Premier League can only boost his reputation further and this cannot be bad for snooker.
Finally what really impresses me is that having lost at the World Championship qualifiers in such heartbreaking fashion, he has responded in the best way possible when a lot of other players might have let their head drop and lost early on. Not Judd though, he was back in practising the next day and we will take some stopping in China now.
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6 comments
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Templar
March 27, 2009 at 1:21 am (UTC 0)
I watched all his matches here and really gave him full support because he if one fine young man and great talent. He performed few extraordinary shots,many times they came under pressure.
Playing in Premier league against top players will give him boost of confidence and finally I can support some other player beside O’Sullivan in that competition. I think he will do some serious job there,maybe goes all the way.. who knows
Well done Judd!!!
sorry for my english
matt2745
March 27, 2009 at 1:22 am (UTC 0)
Your English is absolutely fine
Sammy@SnookerSceney
March 27, 2009 at 6:50 am (UTC 0)
Can’t believe how Judd won’t be playing at the crucible!
dannyboy
March 27, 2009 at 8:34 am (UTC 0)
In the nick of time the next potting sensation may just have arrived in the nick of time! A must for the rebuilding of the game. A good result all round. Thank goodness Steve didnt get to the final on Tuesday because Judd may have missed out. Now the game has a real chance of survival.
ddrIII
March 27, 2009 at 11:57 am (UTC 0)
That’s why I said before he should be at the Crucible but not Stephen Lee.
Templar
March 27, 2009 at 12:57 pm (UTC 0)
Yeah.. I was really dissatisfied after his lost to Stephen but in the end older and more experienced player prevail. Hope the next year can be even better for this young man
2009 in Review: Part One « Pro Snooker Blog
December 22, 2009 at 12:02 am (UTC 0)
[...] Alex Higgins celebrated his 60th birthday while the Championship League was won by 19-year old Judd Trump, the lowest ranked player to enter to competition! By defeating Mark Selby in the final he ensured [...]