Judd Trump: ‘No pressure’ defending crown
▶ English snooker star sets sights on long-term perspective after China win
Reigning world No.1 Judd Trump said he feels no pressure defending his position of the world leader in snooker after winning the International Championship on Sunday.
“No I don’t have the pressure,” Trump told the Global Times on defending his world No.1 position. “It’s a motivation to me. I want to see how much I can improve in the future.”
Trump defeated Shaun Murphy 10-3 at the International Championship on Sunday in Daqing, Northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province to bag himself 175,000 pounds ($211,000). His previous trophy win in China was at the China Open in Beijing three years ago.
The win in Daqing marks Trump’s first tournament since winning the World Championship in May at the Crucible Theatre, meaning the 29-yearold’s unbeaten run now stretches to 12 matches.
“After the World Championship it was always going to be difficult,” said the Englishman.
“It is very easy to get a little bit carried away after winning the World Championship and to drop off a little bit. So to get my foot back on the gas and win in the first event shows just how hard I’ve worked in the off season.”
The win also moves Trump up to ninth place on the all-time ranking list of title winners at 12, one place behind Chinese trailblazer Ding Junhui.
But Trump has set his sights on a longer-term perspective than outdoing Ding.
“I don’t focus on others too much but keep on improving my own play,” Trump said. “I also hope he can win a world championship that would boost snooker’s presence in China.”
The Bristolian, who has won the Masters, the World Grand Prix and the World Championship in the last 12 months, has now set his sights on Ronnie O’Sullivan’s record of 36.
“If I get towards the 20 mark then I’ll start looking at Mark [Williams], John [Higgins] and Ronnie [O’Sullivan]’s records, but if I can keep winning two, three, four a season then it’s going to come around pretty quick.”
After his success at the weekend, he is now the first player in 11 years to win in his first outing after becoming a world champion. The last person to achieve the feat was O’Sullivan at the 2008 Northern Ireland Trophy.
“As long as I keep putting in the work and be mentally right then there’s no reason I can’t keep on winning,” said Trump.
“Sooner or later everyone has a bad spell. Hopefully mine isn’t for another 10 years.”