Judd Trump beats Ronnie O'Sullivan to complete Northern Ireland Open hat-trick

It was a match that promised so much - a repeat of the 2018 and 2019 finals between the pair - but both players struggled to find their best snooker until late in the peace when O'Sullivan burst into life after Trump had promised to keep him at arms length ever since surging into a 4-1 lead in the afternoon session.

O'Sullivan did rally to reduce his deficit to 5-3, but when Trump won the first two frames of the evening session, the Rocket was again left with a mountain to climb and he had call upon on all of his reserves to haul himself back into the match.

However, the 44-year-old somehow dug his heels in to claim the next two frames, again reducing his arrears to two, but when Trump returned from the mid-session interval with a typically brazen century - his second of the day - O'Sullivan's hopes of mounting a famous comeback liked the one he produced when the pair met in the 2019 Tour Championship looked all but over.

To his great credit, O'Sullivan responded with a gutsy hand of 93 that demonstrated his downright refusal to accept defeat in a match in which he patently didn't enjoy a great run of the balls before he followed up with a fluent run of 74 that finally saw him find the rhythm he had searched so hard for all day.

When Trump missed from distance at the start of frame 16, O'Sullivan was off again and looked likely to force a deciding frame until he grimaced with frustration when a thin cut to middle just failed to drop having flirted with both jaws.

With the path to victory now clear, Trump made no mistake, a nerveless break of 89 enough for him to finally end O'Sullivan's brave resistance and bring up a hat-trick of Northern Ireland Open wins.

Trump told Eurosport: “It’s amazing really. To win any tournament is tough but I played some good snooker.

“It’s the same every time against him, every time you make a mistake you know the frame’s over. You can’t leave anything on.

“It doesn’t matter who I play in the final, I want to win. Against Ronnie I play well because I know I have to play well.”

O’Sullivan had raised eyebrows when he continually returned to the table to pot a few balls despite having already lost the frame.

He explained: “I don’t really practice much at home, so this is the best place to get practice.

“I wasn’t trying to make the frames long, I just wanted to clear the balls up. I just enjoy playing.”

First session recap

Judd Trump leads Ronnie O'Sullivan 5-3 in the final of the Northern Ireland Open having dominated a scrappy opening session in Milton Keynes.

In a repeat of the 2018 and 2019 finals of this event, we were promised fireworks and a blockbuster encounter, but have so far witnessed a disjointed match in which neither player has been able to find their best form.

O'Sullivan looked in big danger of seeing his title hopes slip away for a third year in a row when Trump forged into 4-1 and 5-2 leads, but to his credit, the Rocket kept battling away despite cutting a frustrated figure for most of the afternoon, and he finished with a fabulous break of 130 to ensure he will head into tonight's final session with some much-needed momentum and with his opponent not yet out of reach.

Trump won the first two frames with a high break of 55, but O'Sullivan did have opportunities to counter in both after the reigning champion had displayed a few early signs of weakness.

O'Sullivan was again in first in the third frame, but it was already apparent that he, too, was finding things a real struggle and he needed two huge flukes after Trump had threatened to pick his pocket to finally get up and running.

A much-more assured run of 69 in frame four finally saw Trump look more like himself and after the next two frames were shared, the world number one appeared to have taken control of the match with a fabulous 128 in frame seven.

However, with his back pressed firmly against the wall, O'Sullivan came back swinging in the final frame of the afternoon and despite looking a little shaky early in the break, soon found his grove to respond with a century of his own, a sublime hand of 130 that hinted the blockbuster we had been promised might still come to pass.