Judd Trump from doldrums to dominance as historic winning run rolls on

30/10/2023 10:21

Judd Trump has won 20 matches and three ranking titles on the spin, not something that is unfathomable for one of the all-time greats, but it certainly looked very unlikely six months ago.

The 34-year-old won his fourth Northern Ireland Open on Sunday night, surging to a comfortable 9-3 win over Chris Wakelin in Belfast.

That completed a hat-trick of titles in a month, having won the English Open and Wuhan Open and he becomes just the fifth player ever to win three ranking events on the bounce.

Seemingly unfazed and with no real sign of mental or physical fatigue, Trump said the climax in Belfast was as well as he has played on this epic winning run, so in fact he is getting stronger as he keeps racking up the victories.

‘The last session tonight was the best I have felt in the whole 20-match run, I felt really sharp,’ he said. ‘Once I get in front I can relax, play my best and over-power my opponents.

‘When you are playing well, people miss at the right times, you scrape through in deciders and live to fight another day. Mentally I have been in a good place when the chances come up.’