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Neal Foulds snooker column: The Eurosport and ITV pundit talks Judd Trump and Ronnie O'Sullivan
Neal Foulds is back to discuss another hectic period in the snooker calendar with Judd Trump having once again underlined his status as the best player in the world.
After such a busy period of snooker, it’s nice to be able to look back and reflect on what has been a really positive five weeks for the sport. We’ve had four tournaments in that time, all of which were televised, and we finished with a really strong one in the World Grand Prix.
In truth, all of the events have been very good spectacles with some dramatic matches and plenty of high-quality snooker. The UK Championship final wasn’t so much high quality, not that deciding frame anyway, but it certainly delivered in terms of theatre and reminded me a little bit of that famous 1985 World Championship final that we remember so fondly.
Neil Robertson just prevailed but Judd Trump again lost nothing in defeat and in a strange sort of way, it was heartening to see these two fantastic players, who pot for fun, for once find the game as hard as it should be. Snooker is a hard game and when the pressure is on, with a big title on the line, it’s not easy to produce the standards we so often see from the top players.
It’s how it should be in pressurised situations and looking back through the history of the game, I think it’s only really Stephen Hendry who was able to brush that aside in close finals and rarely let his standards drop. If anything, Hendry usually went up a gear in those situations and that’s what made him such a special player.
We’ve been blessed to witness some brilliant matches over the last month or so, just as I and the rest of the teams at Eurosport and ITV have been to cover live sport, especially when you consider everything else that is going on in the world.
We are very lucky to be doing what we are doing and it was a bonus to have round one of the UK Championship televised for the first time this year. It went down well and given Eurosport’s commitment to showing live sport, similarly ITV, I’d expect us to show it again in 2021 when hopefully we will be back in York.
Live sport is what it’s all about. In today’s world, with so much media freely available, people want and generally follow sport as it happens so this particular move from Eurosport has to be applauded. The only other thing I would say is that quite often the best players are usually put on the TV tables, when in fact, the better matches might be going on elsewhere. Of course it’s great to see the top players strutting their stuff but nobody wants to watch uncompetitive matches for too long and that might be something for the schedulers to consider in the future.
Only a day before the UK Championship began, Trump won his third Northern Ireland Open title with another victory over Ronnie O’Sullivan in a final that was an engrossing watch from start to finish. O’Sullivan just came up short there but Trump was in irresistible form and he produced more of the same when beating good friend Jack Lisowski in the World Grand Prix final on Sunday.
So much credit must go to Trump for dusting himself down after that UK Championship defeat and turning out in the Scottish Open the following week, before backing up again last week. His stamina is quite remarkable, as is his resolve, and like all sporting greats, he just continues to find a way.
When I was a professional, the idea of playing best of seven frames in a ranking event would have been unthinkable, but the lottery and shocks we all expected when these shorter-format matches came in haven’t always materialised and they certainly haven’t stopped Trump in his tracks.
Even in his opening match at the World Grand Prix, the wheels finally looked like they might be coming off when Stuart Bingham played out of skin to lead 3-1, but Trump once again dug his heels in and scraped his way to victory.
Trump really is a remarkable player and I know there has been a little bit of talk on social media about whether he can now be classed as a genuine great of the game. Well, he’s certainly moving into that category and while he probably needs to win a few more Triple Crown events, it doesn’t look like he will be taking his foot of the gas.
I don’t think he was quite ready when he won the UK Championship back in 2011 but he’s a man now and just keeps going. I thought it was interesting when he said that one of his reasons for not pulling out of the Scottish Open when Robertson chose to do so was because he realises how lucky he is to be playing right now and that he wants to make the most of it while he’s fit and healthy. That really is a great mindset to have and he keeps being rewarded for it.
O’Sullivan has the numbers: Six world titles; seven UK Championship wins; seven Masters victories, but Trump shows no signs of relenting. Sometimes a player can have one really big season and not be able to match it in the subsequent years, but Trump is proving quite the opposite and there’s an argument to be made that he’s playing better now than he was 12 months ago. He never puts in a bad performance and it’s exciting to see how far he can go.
As for O’Sullivan, he has played well enough of late without being at his best and I’m sure he can win another event this season – maybe even the World Championship again. He was no match for Mark Selby when they met in the Scottish Open final, but as I’ve said before, he had no real break from winning this year’s delayed World Championship to the new season starting and having not practiced as much as he might, he has probably been performing as well as can be expected.
Looking ahead to events like the Masters and the Players Championship, he could easily be a big danger to all if putting some hours in on the practice table. Anyone who is writing him off has a very short memory because the World Championship was his only win of 2020 and he could easily peak for the biggest event of them all next spring.
Selby is a terrific player and it’s great to see him back winning again while Lisowski played so well to beat him last week before just finding Trump too strong in the final.
We all keep saying that Lisowski needs to win something but there are a lot worse players than him to have won ranking events and I think once he does win a tournament, he could win a good few more. He’s a proper player but he just doesn’t believe in himself enough. Once he realises his worth, he’ll be just fine.
As I’ve already mentioned, O’Sullivan invariably plays well at the Masters and could well be keyed up for next month’s event while Trump will be desperate for another big win given he currently holds none of the Triple Crown events. For the best player in the world, that won’t sit right.
The thing with the Masters is that they are all top players and as we saw when Stuart Bingham and Ali Carter contested the final 12 months ago, anyone can win it if finding some form at the right time. Everyone will have their eyes on the Trumps and the O’Sullivans but it could easily go a different way and that’s what makes it such a special tournament.
Before then, I’m looking forward to Christmas, for all things are going to be different this year. I do love this time of the year and being a big racing fan, I’m particularly looking forward to the King George at Kempton on Boxing Day.
Like everyone else, Cheltenham holds a special place in my heart, but so does this race and I’ve got some great memories of watching the likes of Wayward Lad, Desert Orchid and Kauto Star winning. Unlike the Gold Cup that can often turn into a slog if Cheltenham has had some rain, this race is a speed test for these saying chasers and it’s probably my favourite race of the year.
I actually don’t think Clan Des Obeaux has got anywhere near the credit he deserves for landing this race two years in a row and if he completes the hat-trick on Boxing Day, I really hope people start talking about him as one of the greats.
It’s a really interesting renewal with Cyrname and Lostintranslation in there, too, but I’d stick with Clan Des Obeaux.
With a rare break in the snooker calendar, I’m looking forward to watching plenty of racing this Christmas, but it won’t be long before snooker is back in full swing, and the second half of the season promises so much.
Finally, I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who has read the column this winter, and wish you all a safe and enjoyable Christmas.