If there were ever two snooker players that made me look forward to a match with tremendous vigour, it would be a Neil Robertson and Judd Trump contest. I don’t think there are two players in the past 10 years or so that could provide an epic that these two can. And 2019’s Champion of Champions final displayed exactly that. I can’t wait to go into this one.
The opening frame was the scrappiest of the afternoon’s session. Reds were scattered, a couple baulk colours were safe and both players were struggling to make significant contributions. The highest break of the frame was Robertson making 36. It ended up in a situation with one red remaining and Trump snookered Robertson behind the black, against the rail. Due to the positioning of the colours on the left and right of the table made the natural escape near-impossible. Robertson made a fine attempt which referee, Desislava Bozhilova called a foul (no miss). This was a fair call as Robertson was a hairs-length away from clipping the red and didn’t warrant the miss call.
Frames 2 and 3 were exchanged by Robertson and Trump with breaks of 112 and 86 respectively. Frame 4 was a little more back-and-forth. Robertson was on 56 when he tried to develop the final red but wasn’t able to – Trump had a chance to clear but fell on the brown, where Robertson secured the frame and a 3-1 lead.
Frames 5, 6 and 7 saw a hat-trick of centuries from Trump. This included a funny moment in Frame 5 with the referee telling Trump to bend over so she can get a wasp that was resting on him; and a wonderful reverse side screw shot from brown into a small pack in Frame 6 from Trump. Robertson wasn’t phased however, as he replied with a 96 and 111 of his own to close the afternoon session with a slender 5-4 lead.
Despite Trump getting 66 ahead with 67 remaining in Frame 10, he lost position from blue to which Robertson was trying to steal. Trump was aided by a fluke which helped him take this frame. Robertson responded with a 147 attempt but broke down on the 14th red to left centre.
Frame 12 had what I like to dub as ‘the curse of the left centre pocket’. Robertson missed a fairly standard red to left middle while on 16. Trump also fell victim to this a few shots later and if that wasn’t enough, went in-off to the left centre later in the frame. Ultimately, Trump took this frame thanks to a loose safety attempt from Robertson. Trump followed this with 84 next frame (denied the century by sending the black on a first class flight off the table); but once again, Robertson responds by making an impressive 81 in a frame which he was losing and had 3 reds along the bottom cushion. It was now 7-7.
I enjoyed Frame 15 as despite Robertson being in first, required a snooker on the colours and actually had Trump in trouble a few times. However, Trump showed great table knowledge and managed to pinch the frame. Robertson was at Trumps heels once again though showing no signs of letting him run away with it as he makes a 135. Frame 17 had a series of safety bouts which seemed as if it were going to be taken by Robertson but the brown and blue were too close to each other for him to clear. Trump was able to get a required snooker and potted a magnificent, acute blue up to top left to steal the frame and be 9-8 up.
The penultimate frame saw Robertson with a chance first but the left centre pocket struck again as he was only able to make 6. Trump jumped and made 69 – he was on the red which, if potted would have kept Robertson in his chair and won the title. The red drifted away from the centre of the pocket, hitting the jaw and Robertson was cool as ice with 4 reds remaining and one snooker needed to tie the frame and match score-line. He did extremely well to do this including pot a tricky black after his final red as well as win the black ball game to force a deciding frame. After Trump missed an opener in the final frame, Robertson carefully constructed a 137 break to win his second Champion of Champions title.
I don’t honestly know where to start when it comes to explaining how incredible this match was. It even trumps (not intended, but leaving it in) their classic at the 2016 Masters quarter-final. Each player had 3 centuries in the tournament prior to the final, and the final alone witnesses 8 century breaks and 15 50+ breaks. This was on top of the high level of safety game displayed throughout the match by both players as well as a black ball game and decider. Both players definitely bring the best out in each other as they finished at 90%+ pot success rate. Styles make matches and these two complement each other astronomically.
‘It’s important how you conduct yourself as a Champion when you win and more importantly when you lose and I think that was a perfect example of Judd right there’ – Robertson speaking on Trump during the closing ceremony. I don’t think there’s a sentence that could sum up Trump more at the moment. Like Trump mentioned, he has absolutely nothing to be disappointed with, coming straight off a win in China to go all the way in Coventry. His long potting started a little slower than usual in the first mid-session but found his groove very quickly. I admired that even after being 9-8 up and forced into a decider, he didn’t retreat and still went for his long pot opportunities. What a 12 months he’s had so far and is definitely the unofficial Champion of Champions.
Robertson has battled all throughout this tournament, getting stronger as time went on. Out of his four matches, he went to the decider three times. Beating Murphy, O’Sullivan and Trump in deciders isn’t something many can say in a tournament. What an incredible temperament Robertson showcased at 9-8 down, needing a snooker and then finishing the match in style. Even though it isn’t a ranking event, I am glad for Robertson’s first win of the season because under this circumstance, as Trump mentioned, the better player won. And not just this match specifically, but the Champion of Champions as a whole.
Match of the season. This will go down as a classic in years to come.