Judd Trump sent a defiant message to Ronnie O’Sullivan and his other snooker rivals after winning the Shanghai Masters in emphatic fashion. The man from Bristol cruised to an 11-5 victory over Shaun Murphy in the final, knocking in three century breaks along the way.
Trump was aided by Murphy’s slow start, with the latter dropping seven of the opening eight frames to give himself a mountain to climb. He found some form as the match progressed but it was not enough to prevent Trump from winning the tournament for the very first time.
It was a brilliant run to the title, with Trump beating Mark Williams and Si Jiahui in his first two matches before downing O’Sullivan in the semi-finals. Speaking after his win over Murphy, he sent a message of intent to his rivals by vowing to fight for every available trophy.
“The age of the crowd in China is so much younger than the rest of the world,” began Trump. “I always enjoy playing in front of a fanbase where I can inspire the next generation. I think that is why my record in China is so good.
“I want to win as many big tournaments as possible this season. This is probably one of the top five events on the calendar. To win this one early on is an amazing start. I would like to replicate what I did last season and get close to five wins or even more. I couldn’t have dreamed of a better start.”
Trump made an impressive 10 centuries on his way to winning the Shanghai Masters title, capping off a brilliant week. He was duly rewarded with £210,000 in prize money and will be hoping to maintain his strong form heading into the bigger tournaments later in the season.
Murphy, meanwhile, was quick to criticise his own performance after being made to pay for his early mistakes. Speaking in a video posted to Instagram, he said: “It wasn’t to be in the final of the Shanghai Masters unfortunately. Very disappointed to lose, of course.
“No one likes to lose. I’m bitterly disappointed. You just can’t make as many mistakes as I did against somebody of Judd’s class and get away with it. I made more unforced errors in the first session in that match than I’ve made all week. Played some really good snooker here in Shanghai. I’m disappointed to have my worst session just at the most important time.”
