Judd Trump beat Jack Lisowski by 9-2 to win the 2021 Geman Masters.
Congratulations Judd Trump
By winning yesterday evening, Judd became the first player to succesfully defend the German Masters title. This is Judd’s 21th ranking title, the fourth of this season already. The match wasn’t as one-sided as the score suggests: quite a number of frames were close. The worrying thing for Jack is that, despite getting chances, he didn’t win any of them, he missed all the crucial balls. Given his ability, this can only be a mental thing. He may benefit from seeking help with someone like Chris Henry.
Here are the reports by WST:
World number one Judd Trump needs just two more frames for back-to-back BildBet German Masters titles, after establishing a 7-1 lead over Jack Lisowski in the final.
The Ace in the Pack lifted the title 12 months ago with a 9-6 defeat of Neil Robertson in Berlin. A win tonight would see him become the first ever player to defend the German Masters crown.
Lisowski is aiming for a maiden ranking title with victory this evening. The 29-year-old has lost all four of his ranking final appearances heading into today, including the World Grand Prix final against Trump in his most recent event.
This afternoon Trump found himself 3-1 ahead at the mid-session, after crafting breaks of 56 and 65 during the opening four frames.
Trump edged a tough fifth frame when they returned, before a break of 72 put him 5-1 up. Crucially, Trump stole the seventh frame on the black after Lisowski broke down on the blue. He hammered home his advantage with a break of 65 in the final frame to lead 7-1 heading into tonight.
They return at 7pm to play the best of 17 encounter to a conclusion. A top prize of £80,000 and the Brandon Parker Trophy are on the line.
Trump Defends German Masters Title
World number one Judd Trump thrashed Jack Lisowski 9-2 to become the first ever player to win back-to-back BildBet German Masters titles.
Defending champion Trump lifted the trophy 12 months ago in Berlin with a 9-6 win over Neil Robertson. Today’s more emphatic victory over Lisowski secures him a top prize of £80,000. Trump now leads the BetVictor European Series, which sees the player who accumulates the most money over the six-event series pocket a £150,000 bonus.
Trump also lifts the newly named Brandon Parker Trophy. Brandon was a World Snooker Tour Director, who sadly passed away in 2020. He was responsible for bringing the German Masters to the iconic Tempodrom in Berlin.
Today’s win for Trump leaves him on four ranking victories for the season, having also lifted silverware at the English Open, Northern Ireland Open and World Grand Prix. He remains in the hunt to better his own record of six ranking event wins in a single campaign, set last season.
Trump is now on 21 ranking event victories in his career. Remarkably 12 of those have come since the start of 2019.
Both Trump and Lisowski were forced to sit out the Masters earlier this month, after returning positive tests for Covid-19 prior to the opening round. The pair faced each other in the World Grand Prix final before Christmas, when Trump won 10-7.
This is the first time in 26 years that successive ranking finals have been contested by the same two players. The last time was when Steve Davis and John Higgins faced each other in the 1995 Welsh and International Open finals.
Lisowski will have to wait for a maiden ranking event title. Today’s defeat means he has now been runner-up on five occasions, having also lost finals at the 2018 Riga Masters, 2019 China Open, 2019 Scottish Open and the 2020 World Grand Prix.
Trump stormed to a commanding 7-1 advantage in this afternoon’s opening session, leaving him requiring just two frames for victory.
The uphill task for Lisowski got even harder when he lost the opening frame of the evening to trail 8-1. He did claw one back by winning the tenth with two breaks of 53. However, Trump wasn’t to be denied, firing in a superb break of 119 to wrap up the victory.
Trump said: “It is incredible, another win. It was obviously tough for me and Jack to both miss the Masters. It was nice that we both got to the final in this one. It’s always tough playing against him, being my friend. It’s never going to be as enjoyable as winning against somebody else. It is a game you always have to play your best in.
“I’m enjoying my snooker. Whenever you win, you are always going to enjoy it. It is just important for me to keep doing the right things. I’ve not stopped practising hard. I’ve kept up that momentum. I’ve not rested at all over the last couple of years. I’ve put the work in and am fully getting the rewards.
“Brandon was someone who created snooker in the European countries. He started off with some minor events and in the end he turned the German Masters into a fully fledged ranking event. Berlin was a really special place for the German Masters. I can remember last year, he was so proud of what he had achieved.”
Lisowski said: “I’m not going to get too down on myself. There are a lot of events coming up and it is a good time to be hitting form. I’m definitely doing that. Hopefully I can nick a title soon, as long as I don’t keep running into Judd in finals!”
I have highlighted Judd’s nice tribute to Brandon Parker. Whilst Judd’s feelings and praise for Brandon are certainly genuine, and fitting under the circumstances, they also highlight the “UK centric” mentality prevalent amongst so many UK fans and young players who don’t know the history of our sport. Brandon did wonders for snooker in mainland Europe, but he didn’t “create” it, he revived it.
Th German Open/Masters was held for four consecutive years between 1995 and 1998 in various cities. The first three instalments were ranking events. John Higgins won it in 1995 and 1997, Ronnie in 1996. There was a fifth, minor, professional event played in Germany in 1995.
No less than 12 professional events were played in Belgium between 1986 and 1994, four of them ranking: the 1992 European Open (won by Jimmy White beating Mark Johnston-Allen in the final), the February 1993 European Open (won by Steve Davis beating Stephen Hendry in the final), the December 1993 European Open (won by Stephen Hendry, beating Ronnie in the final), and the 1994 European Open (won by Stephen Hendry beating John Parrott in the final).
The were also three professional events played in France, two of them ranking: the 1989 European Open (won by John Parrott beating Terry Griffiths in the final), the 1990 European Open (won by John Parrott beating Stephen Hendry in the final).
Eurosport started in 1989 and used to show the snooker in the 90th. The amateur scene was very strong in The Netherlands and Belgium. Some of those guys are still competing on the World Seniors Tour. In 2019, Joris Maas from the Netherlands qualified for the WSS World Championship. Joris, 46 years old, has never played as a pro but is a multiple national champion.
So, no, snooker is not a “new thing” in mainland Europe, and it’s not been brought there by the Hearn administration. It has however been revived by it, and for that I’m thankful.
As for Jack Lisowski, he’s trying very hard, and I really hope that his time will come soon. He definitely has the right attitude as you will read in this fantastic interview with Phil Haigh.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 