Judd Triumphant in Championship League
Judd Trump remained on course to return to the Premier League Snooker competition after winning Group Three of the Championship League.
Trump, 20, who won the 2009 Championship League title, booked his place in the Winners’ Group of the 2010 tournament with a 3-2 victory over Mark Allen.
“I’ve played decently in spells but I probably played better in the first two groups as I’m still missing a few easy balls,” said Trump.
“I enjoy this event, I don’t know what it is about it but I just relax and play well. It’s a good tournament and I like the atmosphere.
“It’s just more quick-fire compared to other competitions and the best-of-five format suits me.”
Trump’s victory in the 2009 Championship League earned him a spot in the Premier League, where he performed well to reach the semi-finals.
However, he has not repeated that form in ranking events so far this season, as he has often failed to qualify for the latter stages of tournaments.
Trump will be in qualifying action on Friday afternoon when he tries to claim a place in next week’s Welsh Open and he hopes this victory will help him.
“I’m full of confidence for Friday and hopefully, if I play like this, I will win quite easily,” added Trump.
“When I play the lower ranked players they play a defensive safety game but the top 16 players just play their normal game. It’s really frustrating as it seems a completely different game in qualifying.
“Playing in the Premier League was brilliant for my career as I was playing on television every week and that experience was second to none.
“I’ve gone into the second half of this season full of confidence so hopefully I can pull off some more wins.
“In the Premier League I was playing the top players every week and being in it has improved my game three or four times faster.”
Each group of the Championship League features seven of the sport’s best players, but Trump showed his class by winning five out of six matches in the round-robin opening phase.
That gave him a semi-final clash with 2009 Welsh Open Champion Ali Carter but Trump stormed to a 3-0 victory, amazingly keeping Carter scoreless in all three frames.
Trump went on to edge out Mark Allen 3-2 in the final.
That win means Trump joins Stephen Maguire and John Higgins in March’s Winner’s Group with four more players still to be confirmed.
“I think I’m first or second favourite to win it and I’m not scared of anyone,” said Trump. “Going into the final group, I’m more than capable of beating anyone and I still fancy my chances even if I’m not playing my best.
“But now I know what it means to be in the Premier League so maybe there’s a bit more pressure on me this year. But it would be unbelievable to qualify for the Premier League two years running.”
Seven-time World Champion Stephen Hendry and Joe Perry finished in the bottom two in the league phase and are eliminated from the competition.
Group Four of the Championship League kicks off at 11am on Wednesday morning featuring Peter Ebdon, Liang Wenbo and Mark Williams joining Mark Allen, Ali Carter, Marco Fu and Neil Robertson.
