We have a cracking final in the Shanghai Masters in Judd Trump and Ronnie O’Sullivan. Trump has been on storming form the entire tournament by whitewashing the likes of Stephen Maguire and Luca Brecel to win 25 consecutive frames in a single tournament. Despite losing in the Champion of Champions final to Shaun Murphy 10-8, he somehow had something left in the tank to defeat four past and present Top 16 players, including whitewashing Barry Hawkins and defeating John Higgins 6-2.
The Trump/O’Sullivan finale is often something everyone gets excited about and with very good reason. Both are very attacking players who enjoy showing off flashes of exhibitionism, love the big crowds on the big occasions and have a fantastic safety if they ever need it. After 2011, everyone viewed this pairing as The Master vs. The Apprentice, but since Trump is more mature and has won more tournaments, this tag has dwindled down. And they had some belters over the years. They currently are neck and neck in their head-to-head record as well, which is even more interesting! They met six times in a final of some kind and since barely anyone watches the Championship League at all (regardless of how comfy the armchairs look) and I don’t remember a lot about Premier League snooker, this makes a lovely countdown!
5. 2015 World Grand Prix (Trump 10-7)
This was the first edition of the World Grand Prix, which was measured by one-year ranking. This is regarded was already prestigious because it included the 32 most in-form players. Judd Trump had to work hard to reach it in the first place, as he came back from 5-1 down to win 6-5 against Martin Gould. He was forced to make another remarkable comeback by fighting form 4-1 down and 7-4 down to take six consecutive frames to the inaugural event. Unfortunately, this was a non-ranking event at the time, as Barry Hearn changed its status next year. Weirdly, Judd claimed that it was his safety that got him through the event as he felt he was playing a different game than he used to.
This final is memorable because it showed that Judd beat O’Sullivan in a major final and a match over more than one session. He needed it in Llandudno after his previous losses with O’Sullivan. It was a brilliant tourney to win but this didn’t have a greater impression on me than the others. This is perhaps because the Gould match more, but at least these matches show that he has bottle.
4. 2011 Antwerp Open (Trump 4-3)
I remember asking ages ago if there is ever such thing as a ‘classic’ best-of-7 match. It’s quite to these short formats to be described as such since these matches are so short that it is very difficult to conjure an exciting story behind it. It is not like a best-of-19 match where there are many twists and turns dictated by the snooker gods such as a slight kiss, a particular miss and the run of the ball. Step forward the 2011 Antwerp Open!
These formats tend to be very drawn out and tedious but it only took the famous pair ONE HOUR to get to 3-3. While Judd made three +60 breaks and Ronnie a +50 break and two centuries, it only took one unfortunate fluke from Judd in the middle of his contribution in the final frame to take the title. Ronnie was on top form then, having only dropped five frames in his six matches to get to the final. The atmosphere was so electric that Judd even compared it to the World Championship final and said that he hoped he would see a full ranking event in Belgium. Six years later, it arrived in Lommel! Watch the entire match here!
3. 2014 Champion of Champions (O’Sullivan 10-7)
Another first edition event with a lot of pedigree, Trump and O’Sullivan managed to get through their respective ‘groups’ (really don’t know why they are called groups but anyway. This one is hugely special because of the quality of break-building we know the Juddernaut and the Rocket can produce. Judd was coming from behind (again) but throughout the match but the pair made three +50 breaks, two +60 breaks, three +70 breaks, two +80 breaks, one +90 break and SIX centuries. It was mesmerising stuff and there were 10 frames where the opponent failed to reply at all. Even Ronnie said that it was as well as he can play while Judd said it was the best standard of anyone he has ever come up against. Just look at those scores:
So why No. 3? This isn’t to say this is a good match this is an excellent match! It shows what a spectacle they can bring on a regular basis. The others are more exciting for me and there are so many additional reasons for the other finals to come out on top.
2. 2016 European Masters (Trump 9-8)
Judd and Ronnie have a knack for facing each other in a final as much as Judd keeps falling behind Ronnie to force himself to make a comeback for what feels like every single bloody time. The European Masters was no exception. For most of the period Judd was always two frames behind Ronnie because despite making the breaks and the best-looking shots, Ronnie was here to pick up the pieces. The match was described as ‘pulsating’ and the biggest moment was Judd’s fabulous long blue below because if he missed it, it would’ve been frame over in Bucharest:
Ronnie said he played the much better snooker that day and even the commentators said that Judd’s win was his biggest triumph because of the way Ronnie played and the way Judd had to play to dig in, especially from 6-8 down. It was a hefty £75,000 cheque and it lead to Judd having one of his most successful seasons to date as well as defending his European Masters crown this year in Lommel.
1. 2014 UK Championship (O’Sullivan 10-9)
First off, it’s a triple crown event, of course, it was going to be top! It was also the first time the UK Championship was changed to a flat Last 128 format and if anything, this proved that flat draws can bring bountiful of fruit in the form of big breaks, fantastic matches and drama before we’d even reach the final. Ronnie had plenty of scares in the form of rising star Anthony McGill and a decider against Stuart Bingham and Judd Trump had to hold off a fightback against Stephen Maguire in the semi-finals.
Six +50 breaks in the final as well as three centuries. Judd having to come back from 4-9 down to force a decider. Even in the eighteenth frame, he was 0-53 behind and gave a punch of the air, which at the time was rare to see any emotion from Judd at all. Judd is one of those players who when he wins one frame he can steamroller you with a few more frames in quick succession. It only took O’Sullivan’s good snooker behind the green to force Judd to make a mistake to finish the match off with a wonderful clearance. And Ronnie won the entire event with a broken ankle. For god’s sake.
Ronnie said at the time it was the hardest match he had ever played in and even admitted he was ready to accept that he was going to get beaten in the decider. If you need any reassurance at all, here it is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UupnN-qvdBU
