Judd Trump last night lifted the inaugural World Grand Prix title after completing a stirring fight back to beat Ronnie O'Sullivan 10-7 in front of a packed house in Llandudno.
This was the third time these two have met in a major final this season and although in terms of standard it never reached the heights of the other two,it may well prove to be the most significant as the the young pretender finally got the better of the old master.
The match itself was a fascinating affair as twice Ronnie seemed to be pulling away at 4-1 & 7-4,but with Trumps game seemingly in disarray,O'Sullivan couldn't push home his advantage & Judd fought back.
This has perhaps been the most satisfying aspect of the week for Trump as a steeliness and ability to grind it out have now firmly established themselves as part of his already impressive arsenal of skills.
This was very much in evidence in his two previous matches as he sneaked past Mark Williams 4-3 on the final black in the quarter final & fought back from the brink in his semi final to beat Martin Gould 6-5 having trailed 5-1.
In last nights match once he had leveled at 7-7 there was only going to be one winner as the close cueball control we normally expect from Ronnie deserted him and Trumps confidence grew winning six frames in a row to record a famous 10-7 win/
For Ronnie it is difficult to judge how he will be feeling after this,on one hand he freely admitted to little or no practice coming in,so he might see reaching the final as an achievement,but on the other hand once there he will be disappointed he couldn't finish the job when he had his opponent on the ropes.
His attention will now turn to Sheffield and the quest for a sixth world title.The fact that he seems to be thinking of another short sabbatical after that event may help focus his mind for a big title push.
As for Trump his confidence will be sky high.He has of course already appeared in a world final,losing out narrowly to Higgins in 2011,but he now appears a much more rounded player and the fact he will be going there with a recent final victory over Ronnie can only be a positive.
Finally a word on the tournament itself.This event came about from ITV4 wanting to host another event and once again their presentation was superb.That along with the huge crowds all week have probably assured its place on the calendar for many years to come.The only negative for me was once again the best of 7's in the early rounds.As I've often stated before we have to find somewhere in the game for more longer format matches,because as we saw on Saturday with Trump & Gould.,snooker is at its best when a story unfolds over time..
Anyway onward we go to Thailand and more best of 7's as the The Players Championship starts tomorrow.
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