Judd Trump produced an outstanding clearance to win the 2024 Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters on Saturday in Riyadh.
The world number one looked set to have to accept the runner-up cheque for the second successive ranking event this season.
But trailing Mark Williams 0-62 in the deciding frame, Trump held his nerve in terrific fashion and compiled a gutsy 72 break to pocket the £500,000 top prize.
Success for the Englishman sees him surpass Steve Davis on the all-time ranking event winners’ list. Trump has now collected 29 titles at this level which takes him into sole fourth in the standings behind Ronnie O’Sullivan, Stephen Hendry, and John Higgins.
Some will point to the fact that there are more ranking titles to be won in this era, but win them he does – the 35 year-old proving time and again that he is among the most relentless champions in the sport’s history. It was a gut-wrenching conclusion for Williams, who was chasing his 27th ranking title and was within a couple of balls of glory in the last frame.
The Welshman had scored the heavier throughout the day’s play, including contributions of 138, 132, 121, and 108. Trump, by contrast, didn’t quite have his scoring boots on and surprisingly didn’t boast a single century break during the showdown. Having seen his opponent fight back from 4-1 behind to lead 9-8, however, Trump saved his best for last.
The Shanghai Masters champion made a timely 90 – his highest contribution of the encounter – in the penultimate frame before his miraculous dish at the death to clinch the silverware. “It’s easy to get carried away in the moment,” Judd Trump told the World Snooker Tour in his post-match interview.
“But it’s probably in the top two or three [clearances], just because of the manner of obviously being the last frame.” “I had not played my best snooker all day. I was just able to battle away and stay in it, I would probably put it at the top now I think.
“To produce that under the utmost pressure is such a nice feeling. It’s a big event that I was looking like I was going to lose, but I managed to turn it around at the end. “I was just hoping that it was going to be an easy chance after he missed the red, but he covered it with the black.
“I was playing it with an element of safety – trying to cover it with the black if I did miss it – but I just wanted to be positive. “When I saw it go in, there was still a lot of work to do. There were two reds safe on the cushion, but I felt like I was starting to hit the ball the best I’d hit it all game.
“There was one shot where I cannoned the two reds out off another red. As soon as that happened, that was when I realised that they’re all there now. “For me, everything was going in the heart of the pocket, which is a nice feeling. My position was pretty much perfect throughout that whole break.
“I’m not someone who really gets too emotional after I win, but for some reason there, I think there was just so much elation. “I was back against the wall for the whole game trying to battle away. That feeling, as soon as the black goes in, is disbelief really.
“There was so much adrenaline pumping in my body. It’s probably one of the happiest I’ve ever been to win a tournament. “It was an incredible feeling and one that I won’t forget for a while.”
The outcome of this tournament is even more remarkable considering Trump was 4-0 behind at the mid-session interval of his opening fixture in the last 32 against Wu Yize.
He admitted to scrolling on Skyscanner looking for early flights home but responded after the break with a barrage of big breaks to prevail 5-4.
Judd Trump has won two of the three tournaments he has participated in during the 2024/25 snooker season so far, his only blip being the final defeat at the Xi’an Grand Prix to Kyren Wilson.
There is no questioning the fact that he is the best player in the world at present, and he has the trophies plus the ranking points to prove it.