Category: Judd Trump

Judd Trump believes the pace of his World Championship quarter-final was one of the reasons why he lost to Jak Jones.

The Ace in the Pack was one of the favourites to lift the title this season.

Reflecting on his performance, Trump told Eurosport he could not find any fluency in his play.

“It was tough,” he said. “I tried to enjoy it. I think obviously Jak’s a little bit slower than some of the other players and I just wasn’t able to get any rhythm.

“I tried my best, but it was just too long a period in-between shots. I just couldn’t get any rhythm, couldn’t get any flow.

“Every time I came to the table, I felt like I hadn’t played. It was difficult.

“I’m someone who needs to kind of play to a rhythm. I think maybe I just bogged myself down. I should have maybe played a bit more attacking, quicker. Just learn from it.”

The pair had been near inseparable in the opening two sessions of their last-eight match, and resumed on Wednesday morning locked at 8-8.

That meant there were a possible nine frames remaining, but only six were needed, as Jones sauntered to victory.

It brings to a close an excellent campaign for Trump, who has won five rankings events, including the World Open and the German Masters.

“It’s been a great season for me,” he reflected. “Very, very consistent throughout. Obviously there’s just been little periods where a couple of bad games here and there, and this game I didn’t play well from the get-go really.”

The 31-year-old also added that he was far from happy with the table at the Crucible.

There have been questions over the tightness of the pockets, but Trump quipped: “It’s not so much the pockets. I think it’s more the actual table’s not great.”

For Jones, meanwhile, this was the biggest win of his career.

The 30-year-old’s best previous finish at a tournament this season was when reaching the third round of the Welsh Open.

But he is now through to the semi-finals of a ranking event for only the second time, matching his run at the 2022 Gibraltar Open.

“It was a bit edgy at times, but better than my previous matches,” he said.

“I thought Judd wasn’t the Judd of usual. He missed quite a lot of balls that he wouldn’t normally miss, but I thought he started off really well with a century, which kind of motivated me.

“I played a good three frames then to go 3-1 up at the mid-session interval, and I didn’t think he was the same after that. He kind of went into his shell a little bit, which is not normally like Judd.

“I kind of picked up on that and in the end took advantage.”

Judd Trump and Jak Jones were left all square at 4-4 after a keenly-contested morning session of a gripping World Snooker Championship quarter-final at the Crucible.

Jones was playing some sublime snooker at times and will still be hopeful of causing an upset, but was left to rue several missed chances as he relinquished a 3-1 lead.

A missed pink from Jones in the final frame of the session allowed Trump to hit back and level the contest.

Trump was out of his stall early on with a superb century clearance of 110 in the opening frame after landing a superb long red.

This prompted an impressive response from Jones, as he capitalised on a missed Trump shot to the reds and punished a poor positional shot on his way to an impressive break of 69 to level the scores.

Errors were starting to creep into Trump’s game, and after failing to pot a red to the middle, Jones landed a superb long red himself and took advantage of promising-looking table to take a 2-1 lead.

The 2019 world champion was on the ropes in the fourth frame, with Jones showcasing his excellent potting skills once again to move 3-1 in front with a fine clearance of 94.

Trump potted a red after a fourth attempt in an error-strewn start following the first interval, but progressed to a break of 35 with the cue ball not landing kindly enough to continue ahead of an intriguing safety contest.

That was until Trump worked his way to a crucial break of 36 after landing a final tricky-looking pink and reducing the Welshman’s lead back to one.

Trump profited on a Jones double kiss on the red to work his way into a sizeable 69-21 lead in the sixth frame.

Jones needed two snookers that did not materialise, as Trump cleared up to the brown to level up the scores at 3-3.

Jones worked his way to another fine clearance of 74 that ended after missing a red to the mid pocket, as Trump conceded the seventh frame to go 4-3 down.

Jones looked to be motoring his way towards a 5-3 lead, but a routine pink to the middle pocket went awry and left Trump with a chance.

Trump needed a snooker but he got that after Jones missed a red, and the Englishman was back in the frame.

A cagey end ensued with just the pink and black left on the table, as Trump landed the former and he audaciously doubled in the black to restore parity at the interval.

On the other table the contest was more one sided as David Gilbert opened up a 7-1 lead over Stephen Maguire.

Gilbert made breaks of 130, 110 and 83 as he took control of the quarter-final.

Judd Trump and Jak Jones were left all square at 4-4 after a keenly-contested morning session of a gripping World Snooker Championship quarter-final at the Crucible.

Jones was playing some sublime snooker at times and will still be hopeful of causing an upset, but was left to rue several missed chances as he relinquished a 3-1 lead.

A missed pink from Jones in the final frame of the session allowed Trump to hit back and level the contest.

Trump was out of his stall early on with a superb century clearance of 110 in the opening frame after landing a superb long red.

This prompted an impressive response from Jones, as he capitalised on a missed Trump shot to the reds and punished a poor positional shot on his way to an impressive break of 69 to level the scores.

Errors were starting to creep into Trump’s game, and after failing to pot a red to the middle, Jones landed a superb long red himself and took advantage of promising-looking table to take a 2-1 lead.

The 2019 world champion was on the ropes in the fourth frame, with Jones showcasing his excellent potting skills once again to move 3-1 in front with a fine clearance of 94.

Trump potted a red after a fourth attempt in an error-strewn start following the first interval, but progressed to a break of 35 with the cue ball not landing kindly enough to continue ahead of an intriguing safety contest.

That was until Trump worked his way to a crucial break of 36 after landing a final tricky-looking pink and reducing the Welshman’s lead back to one.

Trump profited on a Jones double kiss on the red to work his way into a sizeable 69-21 lead in the sixth frame.

Jones needed two snookers that did not materialise, as Trump cleared up to the brown to level up the scores at 3-3.

Jones worked his way to another fine clearance of 74 that ended after missing a red to the mid pocket, as Trump conceded the seventh frame to go 4-3 down.

Jones looked to be motoring his way towards a 5-3 lead, but a routine pink to the middle pocket went awry and left Trump with a chance.

Trump needed a snooker but he got that after Jones missed a red, and the Englishman was back in the frame.

A cagey end ensued with just the pink and black left on the table, as Trump landed the former and he audaciously doubled in the black to restore parity at the interval.

On the other table the contest was more one sided as David Gilbert opened up a 7-1 lead over Stephen Maguire.

Gilbert made breaks of 130, 110 and 83 as he took control of the quarter-final.