DITCH THE DICKIE BOWS!
JUDD TRUMP FEARS SNOOKER IS STUCK IN THE DARK AGES. HE SAYS IT’S TIME TO...
JUDD TRUMP has never looked like your conventional cueman. Whether it be his metal-spiked shoes or diamond-encrusted watch, his old boyband haircut or current crossover bow tie, the Englishman has long been defying snooker’s stuffy image and dated dress code.
Now, though, he wants to rip up the rulebook altogether. The world No1 sees a sport that is stuck in the dark ages and neglecting the next generation. He believes it needs radical reform — and that first means ditching the dickie bows and tossing away the waistcoats.
‘I’ve always thought the dress code is outdated and it’s time to move on,’ Trump tells Sportsmail ahead of the World Championship, which starts today.
‘It should still be smart but maybe with polo tops instead. In other sports, you practise in what you would wear to compete, but in snooker you don’t walk down the snooker club in a three piece-suit. I find it odd. People don’t want to walk around in waistcoats. It’s not cool. It is one of the only sports where your dress code is hampering what you do. Bow ties get in the way.
‘I’m trying to look into the future and snooker is getting left behind by other sports. It’s always been aimed at that certain age group but there’s going to come a time when that age group leaves and there’s no one behind them.’
For Trump, it is not just the dress code that needs freshening up. ‘Most of the stories in the commentary box are from the 1970s or 1980s,’ says the 31-yearold. ‘It’s something I can’t get my head round. It’s so out of date — it’s hard for the younger generation to resonate with their stories. There’s not enough excitement and passion.’
Nostalgia has dominated the build-up to this tournament after seven-time champion Stephen Hendry was drawn against six-time runner-up Jimmy White in qualifying. Hendry beat his old rival but lost his next match, while defeat for White meant he dropped off the tour, only to be awarded an invitational card.
‘Jimmy has done loads for the game, but after giving him one or two chances already, there has to be a cut-off and it could have been the right time for him to hang up his cue and give someone else a chance,’ says Trump.
‘There should be a similar approach to golf, where if you have won you get invited back to that tournament each year, rather than a full tour card.’
Another change Trump would make is bringing in shot clocks as a way to speed up play.
‘I know everyone is trying to win in their own way, but it is entertainment as well,’ he says. ‘Tennis has a shot clock for between serves. Snooker is a bit behind. There are a few things that can help bring the sport into the 21st century.’
IT WAS 10 years ago that Trump broke through and reached the World Championship final at 21, spending his prize money on a £110,000 Ferrari Spider.
Back then, he pitched himself as ‘part-time snooker player, full-time international playboy’ on his Twitter bio and, when once asked what his idea of fun was, he replied: ‘Driving a supercar, making noise, getting as much attention as possible.’
‘Yeah, that sounds like something I’d say then,’ laughs Trump. ‘It was fun at that time. It was nice to be winning that kind of money and when you’re a kid it’s a wild dream to drive a Ferrari.
‘You’ve just got to look back and laugh. Even my haircuts! It seems cool at the time. But I’m glad I did what I did. You can get to 40 and wish you’d done things. I enjoyed myself off the table.’
And Trump, who has been drawn to face qualifier Liam Highfield in his first-round match on Tuesday, still enjoys himself off the table. He’s still single, drives a BMW supercar and is planning a lads’ trip to Las Vegas — Covid depending — if he adds a second Crucible title to the one he won in 2019. The difference between the Trump of 2011 and 2021, then, is not his idea of fun, but knowing when to have it.
‘We skipped Vegas last year but hopefully this year we will make up for it,’ admits Trump, who is auctioning off his lucky Louis Vuitton match shoes after the Crucible to raise money for a children’s hospice charity he supports, Jessie May.
‘Nowadays it is not so much the material things, but getting away with friends and having a few wild nights and then getting back to work. It’s still important to enjoy myself but I know the right times now — the end of the season rather than between tournaments. I’ve got that balance.
‘When you’re a kid, you think your career will last forever. But I’ve realised life goes quickly, it’s important to take every opportunity. The fancy things off the table are not what spur me on. It’s about winning every match.’
He’s making a good fist of that, with five tournament wins this season after a record six last term. Trump has 22 titles and is joint fifth on the all-time list. Only Steve Davis, John Higgins, Hendry and Ronnie O’Sullivan, who has 37, are above him.
‘I didn’t think I’d ever get close to 37, but I’ve won so often in the last couple of years that it’s crept up on me,’ says Trump. ‘But until you get to three, four, five World Championships, you are never going to be in contention with Hendry and O’Sullivan.’
To be considered the best ever, O’Sullivan has said Trump must win 70 titles, given the number of tournaments that are now played. ‘He puts me up and puts me down at the same time,’ says Trump of O’Sullivan. ‘He wants to be looked at as the best player ever and at the moment he is — until I get close to his record.’
Trump and O’Sullivan were embroiled in a row before last year’s tournament, with Trump calling O’Sullivan ‘selfish’ for complaining about the return of crowds. So what’s their relationship like? ‘Good,’ insists Trump. ‘He’s always enjoyed headlines and some of the stuff he says, he doesn’t mean. He doesn’t think before he speaks most of the time. We have a great rivalry. I want him in the game for as long as possible. Hopefully we meet in the final. It would be special. It would bring in different fans.’
That final would also have a capacity crowd as the tournament is a Government test event. ‘It gives a bit of extra motivation for everyone,’ adds Trump. ‘I want to win the World Championship multiple times. But in my own style, with my own identity and make it as attractive to younger players as possible.’
According to Trump, it’s time snooker started doing the same.
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