Trump’s hard work pays off again in the German Masters

JUDD Trump became the first man to successfully defend the German Masters title, with a resounding 9-2 win over Jack Lisowski in Milton Keynes.

The 2020 champion, from Bristol, who needed a stirring comeback to beat Barry Hawkins in the semi-final on Saturday, was again too strong for Lisowski, having beaten him in the World Grand Prix final before Christmas.

It was not a classic contest, with Trump’s match-clinching 119 the only century break of the clash.

But Trump’s incredible run of form continued as he clinched his fourth ranking event of the season, and the world number one puts it down to hard work.

“I didn’t really set any targets, I just wanted to enjoy my snooker and that is what I have done,” he said on Eurosport after the win.

“This is my sixth ranking event final this season, incredible. It’s down to hard work, you can’t give yourself any time off. I scraped through this week, it wasn’t pretty.

“Today was tough, me and Jack was a bit of a struggle. It is hard playing each other, it is hard to really relax and get comfortable.

“It is flattering to be 9-2, there were a lot of close frames that could have gone either way. It was a tough game, even though it was 9-2, it could have been 6-3 or 5-4 really.”

It would have been a fitting victory for either player after they were both forced out of the recent UK Masters when they tested positive for coronavirus on the eve of the tournament. But for Lisowski it was a familiar tale of defeat to Trump following his loss in December. “It didn’t really happen for me today, I knew I had to win the close frames and I lost a few of them,” he said.