Judd Trump

Amateur career

Trump was English Under-13 and Under-15 champion, and reached the World Under-21 Championship semi-finals at the age of 14. At the same age, he became the youngest player ever to make a competitive 147, beating Jamie Jones's record.

Professional career

In the 2005/06 season he joined the professional tour, and at the Welsh Open became the youngest player ever to qualify for the final stages of a ranking tournament. He reached the same last-48 stage for the China Open, losing 4–5 to Michael Holt, although this was designated the final qualifying round and was actually played in Prestatyn, Wales.

Trump became the third youngest player at the time ever to reach the World Championship, at the 2007 event, by beating James Wattana 10–5, (with champions Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O'Sullivan respectively younger), and also with China's Liu Chuang and Belgium's Luca Brecel is one of only five 17-year-olds to feature at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre. Trump played the 2005 champion and 6th seed, Shaun Murphy, in the first round, losing 6–10 despite having led 6–5.

Trump did not build on this form in the 2007/08 season, only reaching the last 32 of the Welsh Open by beating Joe Swail. He missed out on the World Championship after a 9–10 loss to Swail, despite having led 9–5.

Things changed for the 2008/09 season when Trump reached the venue stages of the first four events. At the Grand Prix he benefited from Graeme Dott's withdrawal before defeating Joe Perry 5–2 in the last 16, despite admitting to not playing well and Perry feeling that he had outplayed Trump. Then came the biggest win of his career so far, defeating Ronnie O'Sullivan 5–4 to reach the semi-final, in which he was defeated 6–4 by John Higgins. He beat double world champion Mark Williams to qualify for the 2008 Bahrain Championship. He won a qualifying tournament to gain entry into the 2009 Masters Tournament as the only qualifier, but was defeated by Mark Allen in the first round. He failed to qualify for the World Championship, losing 8–10 to Stephen Lee having led 6–3. Lee considered this match to be a local derby, as he is from nearby Trowbridge. He also noted that Trump had not followed the custom of apologising for fluked shots during the match, and concluded "all I've heard about for the last five years is how good he is. Today he blew a 6–3 lead and hopefully that will stick with him". Trump ended the season in the Top 32 of the Rankings for the first time. He was coached for a short time by Tony Chappel.

Trump also qualified for the 2009 Premier League, by winning the 2009 Championship League. In the event he won four of his six matches, including a 4–2 win over Ronnie O'Sullivan and finished second in the League table. However, he lost 1–5 to O'Sullivan in his semi-final.

However, the 2009/2010 season in ranking events was less successful for Trump as he failed to progress beyond the last 32 in any of the tournaments. In January 2010, Trump joined Romford-based snooker agency Grove Leisure.

2010/2011

In the 2010/2011 season, he reached his first professional ranking event final at the 2011 China Open. He defeated former Masters champion Mark Selby 10–8 to win his first major title, and provisionally climb into the top 16 of the world rankings. On his way to winning the China Open final, Trump made his 100th competitive century break.

Trump had already qualified for the World Championship when he won the China Open, and was drawn against reigning champion Neil Robertson in the first round, whom he defeated 10–8. In subsequent rounds, he knocked out Martin Gould 13–6, Graeme Dott 13–5 and Ding Junhui 17–15 to qualify for his first World Championship final. In the final Trump lost 15–18 to John Higgins.

2011/2012

Judd started the season with a 3–5 loss to Mark Davis in the 2011 Australian Goldfields Open first round. However, this disappointment was soon forgotten as he won the 2nd PTC of the Season, beating Ding Junhui 4–0 in the final at a virtual home venue of the South West Snooker Academy. Judd then lost 5–1 against Stuart Bingham in the Shanghai Masters first round. Trump finished runner-up to Neil Robertson in the 8th PTC event of the season, but immediately rediscovered his winning touch by capturing Event 9 by defeating Ronnie O'Sullivan 4–3 in the final in Antwerp, Belgium in just over an hours worth of play. He would later top the Order of Merit after all twelve PTC events had been played, thus qualifying for the 2012 Finals. He suffered a shock in the last 16 as world number 51 Xiao Guodong beat him 2–4, despite playing with a broken bone in his hand.

On 11 December 2011, Trump won his second ranking event tournament, the 2011 UK Championship at the Barbican Centre in York. Trump beat Dominic Dale 6–4 in the last 32, before winning the final two frames of the second round to edge out Ronnie O'Sullivan, 6–5. After the match Trump claimed that he had been "outplayed" and was "lucky" to have got through. He then dispatched Stephen Maguire 6–3 and faced Neil Robertson in the semi-finals. The semi-final was a tight and nervy affair, with Trump stating afterwards that he believed Robertson was trying to stifle his natural game by, "slowing it down" and "making things awkward", but nevertheless the Bristolian triumphed, 9–7 to reach his first UK final. In the final he played Mark Allen and trailed 1–3 early on in the best-of-19 frames match. However, Trump then produced a match-defining run of seven straight frames to take an 8–3 lead. Despite a strong fightback from Allen, who won five of the next six frames to trail just 8–9, Trump went on to clinch the 18th frame with a break of 91 and win the final by 10 frames to 8. Six-time winner of the event, Steve Davis, said that Trump's performances during the championship had shown that he was "spearheading his generation" of snooker players. The victory took him up to a career-high world ranking of 5.

He continued his fine form by reaching the semi-finals of the Masters in January. He beat Stuart Bingham in the first round and O'Sullivan once more in the quarters 6–2, to make his record against the four-time World Champion five wins and two defeats, from their seven meetings in tournament play. He played Robertson in the last four for the second successive major event and it was the Australian who exacted his revenge from the defeat suffered in York a month earlier, as he triumphed 6–3. He reached three quarter-finals in his next four ranking events to become the world number 2 in April, behind Mark Selby, meaning Trump had risen seven places in the rankings this season.

At the 2012 World Championship, he beat Dominic Dale in his first round match by a 10–7 scoreline, despite suffering from food poisoning. However, he was knocked out by Ali Carter 12–13 in the second round having let a 12–9 lead slip, ending his chances to become world number 1 this season.

2012/2013

Trump started the season at the Wuxi Classic in China, where he lost to Robert Milkins 3–5 in the second round, having beaten Dominic Dale 5–1 in the opener. At the Shanghai Masters he saw off Barry Hawkins, Mark Allen, Graeme Dott and Mark Williams to reach the final where he faced John Higgins. Trump surged into a 5–0 lead and, despite Higgins making a 147 break in the next frame, claimed a 7–2 advantage after the first session. Upon the resumption of play Higgins won six frames in a row with the match eventually going into a deciding frame. Trump made a break of 35, but ran out of position and Higgins was able to secure the title with a 10–9 victory. However, Trump was able to bounce back at the next ranking event, the inaugural International Championship, by claiming his third ranking event title. He eliminated Fergal O'Brien 6–3, Aditya Mehta 6–0 and then edged past Allen 6–5 in the quarter-finals. Trump thrashed Peter Ebdon 9–1 in the semi-finals to become snooker's tenth world number one, and recovered from 6–8 down in the final against Neil Robertson to triumph 10–8.

Trump met John Higgins in back to back Players Tour Championship finals, losing the first 2–4, but gained revenge in the second, the Bulgarian Open by whitewashing him 4–0. Trump reached the final of the Premier League having beating Neil Robertson in the semi-finals, but lost 2–7 to Stuart Bingham. In the defence of his 2011 UK Championship title, Trump played Mark Joyce in the first round. Despite leading 3–0 and 5–2, Trump lost the last four frames of the match to suffer a major shock exit against the world number 50. The disappointment was compounded when Mark Selby went on to win the title, reclaiming the top ranking in the process. Trump was defeated 1–6 by Graeme Dott at the Masters and 4–5 by Anthony Hamilton in the first round of the German Masters. He regained his form and the world number one ranking at the Welsh Open. He came back from 1–3 down to beat Dominic Dale 4–3 in the first round, after which he asserted that "players are changing their game to play slower against me. Dominic was too slow for himself and it caught him out towards the end". More comfortable victories ensued over Andrew Higginson and Pankaj Advani to set up a semi-final meeting with Stephen Maguire. Trump initially raced into a 2–0 lead only to lose five frames in succession to the rejuvenated Maguire. Trump pulled back two more frames and looked set to force a decider after a 50 break in the tenth frame, but Maguire ground out the frame and won 6–4. After the match Trump reiterated that titles take precedence over world ranking: “I take no consolation tonight from getting back to world number one. I want to win tournaments and titles, that is why I am here". At the World Open he gained revenge over Joyce by dispatching him 5–0 and beat Nigel Bond 5–1, before Matthew Stevens won their last eight match 5–3. Trump qualified for the PTC Finals by finishing second on the Order of Merit, but lost to Alfie Burden 3–4 in the first round. He also lost in the first round of the China Open 3–5 to good friend Jack Lisowski, surrendering his world number one ranking to Mark Selby in the process and headed into the World Championship in less than auspicious form.

Trump said that he had prepared better than ever for the World Championship and beat Dominic Dale in the first round for the second year in a row, this time by 10–5. At 8–7 ahead in the last 16 against Marco Fu, Trump raced away with five consecutive frames to triumph 13–7 and set up a quarter-final clash with Shaun Murphy. Trump came from 3–8 down to level at 8–8 at the conclusion of the second session. The deciding frame lasted 53 minutes with Trump winning it on the yellow to seal a 13–12 victory. He played against Ronnie O'Sullivan in the semi-finals, but was unable to capitalise on the chances that came his way: though he potted a ball in 24 of the 28 frames played, he could only make four breaks above 50 in an 11–17 defeat. Trump said afterwards "It's probably the worst I've played all tournament. I would've probably expected to lose to anyone the way I played."

2013/2014

At the start of the season Trump was ranked third in the world rankings. He began the season poorly as he lost in the first round of the Wuxi Classic, Shanghai Masters and International Championship, as well as failing to qualify for the Indian Open. In November, he reached the final of the minor-ranking Kay Suzanne Memorial Cup but lost 4–1 to Mark Allen. Later in the month, he made the first official maximum break of his career in the Antwerp Open during a last 32 defeat against Mark Selby. He reached the fourth round of the UK Championship where Allen defeated him 6–4 and lost 6–5 to Marco Fu in the opening round of the Masters.

In the German Masters he dropped just four frames in winning five matches to reach his first ranking final of the season where he played Ding Junhui. Trump was two frames ahead twice in the first session but ended it level at 4–4 and he lost five of the next six frames upon the resumption of play to be defeated 9–5. At the Welsh Open, he was beaten 4–3 by John Higgins in the last 16. Higgins was again the victor when the two met in the last 16 of the World Open winning 5–4 after Trump had taken a 4–0 lead. Trump won the non-ranking Championship League title during the season by beating Martin Gould 3–1.

At the World Championship, Trump defeated Tom Ford and Ryan Day to reach the quarter-finals, where he played Neil Robertson. Trump led 6–2, 9–6, and 11–8 before Robertson mounted a determined fightback to take the last five frames and win the match 13–11. Trump received criticism for not acknowledging Robertson becoming the first player to make 100 centuries in a single season during the match, instead choosing to walk out of the arena. Trump said later that Robertson's feat meant nothing to him and he chose to congratulate his opponent after the match.

2014/2015

Trump was thrashed 5–0 by Stephen Maguire in the third round of the Wuxi Classic, but responded a week later by claiming his fourth ranking title and first for 20 months at the Australian Goldfields Open. He beat home favourite Neil Robertson 9–5 in the final. Trump reached the final of the Paul Hunter Classic but lost 4–2 to Mark Allen. He then suffered first and second round exits to Dominic Dale and Jamie Burnett respectively in the next two ranking events. Trump advanced to the final of the Champion of Champions and fell 8–3 down to Ronnie O'Sullivan, before reducing his deficit to a single frame in taking four successive frames with the help of two centuries. However, O'Sullivan would win the two frames he needed to triumph 10–7, with Trump claiming his opponent's standard throughout the match had been the best he has ever played against. The pair also met in the final of the UK Championship in which Trump was 9–4 behind with a high break of 56. However, he won the next frame and then made back-to-back centuries and an 86 to only trail 9–8. He was 59–0 down in the next, but cleared with a 67 to send the match into an unlikely decider which he lost when O'Sullivan made a title winning break after Trump had failed to escape from a snooker. O'Sullivan described the match as the hardest of his career afterwards. At the Masters, Trump lost 6–4 against Stephen Maguire in the first round. Trump made the second 147 of his career in the quarter-finals of the German Masters, but was knocked out 5–4 by Mark Selby.

At the inaugural World Grand Prix Trump eliminated Mark Williams 4–3 on the final black, but then fell 5–1 down to Martin Gould in the semi-finals. However, Trump then outscored Gould 395–37 to take five successive frames and beat him 6–5. He played O'Sullivan for the third time in a final this season and was 7–4 behind. Trump then won six frames in a row which included a 142 break, the highest of the tournament, to win 10–7 and claim his second title of the season. Trump reached the semi-finals of the PTC Grand Final, where he lost 4–2 to Williams.

Trump produced his best snooker in the quarter-finals of the World Championship as he knocked in four centuries during a 13–4 thrashing of Ding Junhui and stated that if he could play to the same standard in the rest of the event he would secure his first world title. After holding an early 2–1 lead over Stuart Bingham in the semi-finals, Trump could not regain the lead and fell 16–14 behind. He then made successive centuries to force a deciding frame in which he missed a red to the middle pocket due to a kick and Bingham would go on to take the match 17–16.

2015/2016

In the defence of his Australian Goldfields Open title, Trump was knocked out in the quarter-finals 5–1 by Stephen Maguire. He reached the final of the Shanghai Masters, but a slow start from Trump saw him trail world number 54 Kyren Wilson 6–3 after the first session. Wilson also had leads of 8–4 and 9–7, before Trump sent the match into a deciding frame which Wilson won. Trump scored 278 points to nil in taking the first three frames of his third round UK Championship match with Liang Wenbo, but went on to lose 6–4. Trump branded the collapse an embarrassment and said it was the worst he had felt as a professional. In the new year Trump and Neil Robertson set a record of six centuries in a best-of-11 frame match (four from Trump and two from Robertson). Trump closed it out with a sublime 129 break to win 6–5, with Robertson describing it as the greatest match in Masters' history. He was knocked out 6–4 in the semi-finals by Barry Hawkins.

His first title of the season came at the Championship League by defeating Ronnie O'Sullivan 3–2 in the final. Soon afterwards he won his fifth ranking title and first for almost two years by beating Ricky Walden 10–4 in the China Open final. After trailing Liang Wenbo 7–3 in the first round of the World Championship, Trump tweeted that the drinks would be on him if he could turn it around. He duly did by winning 10–8 and put a few hundred pounds behind the local bar. Trump could not escape from a similar position against Ding Junhui in the second round and was beaten 13–10.

2016/2017

Trump thrashed John Higgins 4–0 in the quarter-finals of the 2016 European Masters and then overcame Mark Selby 6–2 to play Ronnie O'Sullivan in the final. Trump was down 8–6, but took each of the final three frames to triumph 9–8 and win his sixth ranking title. In his next event, the English Open, he comfortably beat Higgins in the quarter-finals again, this time 5–1 and then defeated Barry Hawkins 6–2 to make it 14 wins in a row. Trump lost 9–6 to Liang Wenbo in the final after having missed a good chance to make it 7–7. Trump edged past Shaun Murphy 6–5 on the final black to reach the semi-finals of the International Championship and was knocked out 9–4 by Ding Junhui. He had a surprise 6–2 defeat to Oliver Lines in the second round of the UK Championship. Trump was 5–1 up on Higgins in the semi-finals of the Scottish Open as he made three centuries and a 99 break, but Higgins recovered to win 6–5. In an extremely high quality first round match at the Masters, Trump made two centuries and Marco Fu three, with there being nine further breaks above 50 as Fu edged through 6–5.

Hawkins missed a match-ball yellow in their quarter-final clash at the Welsh Open and Trump cleared the colours to edge through 5–4 and then beat Scott Donaldson 6–3 to play Stuart Bingham in the final. Trump was 4–0 down, before recovering to lead 8–7, but lost the last two frames. Another final followed at the Gibraltar Open as he come back from 2–0 down in the semi-finals against Ryan Day, but he lost 4–2 to Murphy. Trump reached his third ranking event final inside a month at the Players Championship and reeled off a match defining six frames in a row from 5–2 down to Fu and went on to win his seventh ranking title 10–8. In the third round of the China Open, Trump made his first televised 147 as he defeated Tian Pengfei 5–3. He suffered a surprise 5–3 loss to Hossein Vafaei in the quarter-finals.

Trump went into the 2017 World Snooker Championship proclaiming "I honestly believe I can play to a standard which is very rare nowadays," and that he was "the best" in the world. He won the first four frames in his opening match, before Rory McLeod responded to lead 5–4. Trump was hindered by a supposed injury to his right shoulder and went on to lose 10–8 to a player ranked 52 places below him in the rankings.

Record against top-16 players

Trump's professional match records against players who have been ranked at world number 16 or higher are below.

Players who have been ranked number one are in bold.