Judd Trump beats John Higgins 10-4 in Champion of Champions final
Judd Trump claimed his first title of the season thanks a comprehensive 10-4 defeat of John Higgins in the final of the Champion of Champions in Bolton.
Trump has been steadily working his way back into top form this term, having picked up five trophies in the last campaign, and there should be plenty more in the offing judging by this sparkling display.
By the end of what was his third final in as many tournaments, Higgins looked jaded and cut a frustrated figure as he pondered a third straight final loss, Trump reeling off five frames on the bounce in the evening session to bring the match to a premature end.
In fact, Trump actually won 10 out of 11 frames after initially finding himself 3-0 in arrears as Higgins defied his late-night finish on Saturday with a blistering start that kicked off with a run of 73.
Trump finally got a foothold in the match when claiming the fourth frame and it was largely one-way traffic thereafter as breaks of 63, 62 and 61 saw him turn the match on its head and ensure he ended the afternoon session with his nose in front at 5-4.
Nevertheless, few would have predicted such a straightforward run to the winning line, the 2019 world champion powering in breaks of 74, 51, 68 and 59 to race to his maiden Champion of Champions title.
Higgins' last hope came in frame 12 when he built up a healthy lead and looked set to close to 7-5, but when he again let his opponent off the hook, Trump took advantage in ruthless style to ensure he heads to York for next week's UK Championship as warm favourite.
Trump told WST: "It’s an amazing feeling to get this one under my belt. The crowd here has been amazing for a new venue. There’s been the support has been superb for every player. We both felt that the noise and it was amazing.
"It was so exciting to play in a final. John has been amazing all season. I think he was in control early on but missed one or two he wouldn’t normally miss. Any win against John is incredible. He was always someone I admired when I was growing up."
On finishing runner-up in each of the last three tournaments, Higgins said: "That’s obviously an achievement, but you want to win events. It’s not a great feeling, but I can hold my hands up and say I’ve lost to three unbelievable champions.
"I thought Judd was awesome. If I am being hyper-critical, when I went 3-1 up, I had a couple of chances that you’ve got to capitalise on against somebody as good as Judd, but I went walkabout for three or four frames.
"Judd just grew and grew in strength and then he just blitzed me tonight. Far too good."