Trump breezes past off-form O’Sullivan to secure his first Masters crown

JUDD TRUMP claimed his first Masters title in emphatic fashion as he defeated seven-time champion Ronnie O’Sullivan 10-4 at the Alexandra Palace last night.

Trump (above), playing in the final of the tournament for the first time, dominated the opening session yesterday afternoon, establishing a 7-1 lead.

Thirteen-time finalist O’Sullivan battled in the evening, making it 7-2, 8-3 and 9-4 as he posted two century breaks, before a missed pink allowed Trump to secure the victory.

It is the 29-year-old Bristolian’s second triumph in a ‘triple crown’ event, adding to his 2011 UK Championship win.

O’Sullivan, who last month won the UK Championship for a seventh time, lost to Trump in November’s Northern Ireland Open final.

Contest

And Trump was very much on top against the out-of-sorts 43-year-old as Sunday’s contest got under way, taking a 4-0 lead with breaks of 89, 87 and 56.

O’Sullivan, having registered only 45 points in those first four frames, pulled back the fifth via a break of 69, before Trump added the next three.

The evening session began with O’Sullivan reducing the arrears, but he was working hard to find any sort of rhythm and Trump went 8-2 ahead with an 88 break.

The next three frames saw O’Sullivan twice bring the gap down to five as he made fine clearances of 114 and 109, either side of Trump moving to within one frame of victory.

O’Sullivan then left a pink over the pocket to let Trump in and he completed the job.

The 29-year-old said on BBC Two: “It’s incredible. I’ve obviously waited a long time for this. It’s been seven or eight years since I won my last big one, the UK, and obviously at times you are wondering whether you are going to win a big tournament again.

“So to come here, and this is close to home now, only 20 minutes away, it’s like my local tournament, it’s a dream come true.”

“You are always surprised when you have a lead against Ronnie at any point. He looked sharp tonight. I had to beat my best to just get to 3-3 in the last session.”