By Elliott West
“Sometimes we just have bad days, even the greatest players in the world can have a bad day. Just chalk it off, forget about it, he’s got a couple weeks before the World Championship comes along, and that’s all you can do – not delve into it too much.”
Ken Doherty
Introduction
In what was touted to be one of the highlight matches of this year’s Cazoo Tour Championship, the meeting between two of the big guns of snooker, the Belgian Bullet, Luca Brecel and the Ace in the Pack, Judd Trump, turned out to be a one-sided affair. Judd who had produced a commanding victory in Antalya at the Turkish Masters, was a shadow of his former self in this match, missing the most elementary of balls that he would normally have eaten for breakfast.
Perhaps Trump was suffering from snooker burnout as he was clearly suffering in this match, lacking the fluidity of his normal self and he was never able to fully able to get into full stride. His opponent largely dominated the match and produced snooker of the highest quality compared to Judd who was always playing catch-up. Perhaps the signs of this result had always been there as Judd has only won one tournament this season compared to the five in the previous.
The Clash
This should have been a great match but in the end, it was Luca Brecel who was in the driving seat for most of it. Building up a 6-2 commanding lead in the afternoon session, thanks largely to Judd missing an initial brown over the pocket and subsequent blacks off their spots, Judd had to shine in the evening session. A tall order for someone who looked totally out of sorts and was clearly having a bad day at the office.
All credit to Judd, he did manage to claw his way back in the match reducing his deficit to 8-3 and then 8-6 and producing back to back centuries of 140 and 103 along the way. However, in the end, Trump was able to play his ace card, crashing and burning to a 10-6 defeat. This certainly was the performance he wanted in preparation for the 17-day marathon of the World Championship next month and he will certainly have to think long and hard and definitely have to go back to the drawing board if he has any chance of lifting the World Championship trophy at the Crucible.
Belgian Promise
On the other hand, Luca Brecel played extremely well and has every chance of beating his next opponent John Higgins in the semi-finals. Luca has already defeated Higgins 9-5 in the final of the Scottish Open to claim the crown, his second ranking title, the first being the 2017 China Championship where he beat Shaun Murphy 10-5. The Belgian who has previously suffered from a shoulder illness and depression now seems to be on the road to recovery and once again is producing some of the best snooker that we know he is capable of. The man who nearly missed his fourth-round match against Anthony Hamilton at last year’s UK Championship due to being stuck in the toilet of his rented flash is certainly no flash in the pan. If he goes on to beat John Higgins, he will face either Neil Robertson or Ronnie O’Sullivan in the final, a mouthwatering prospect.
