Ronnie booked his plsce in the last 32 round yesterday evening by beating Andy Hicks by 4-1. Here are the frames scores:

And the report by WST:

World number three Ronnie O’Sullivan eased to a 4-1 defeat of former Crucible semi-finalist Andy Hicks.

It was six-time World Champion O’Sullivan who imposed himself on the tie from the off. He fired in a fine break of 76 to take the opener.

Devon’s Hicks responded by snatching the second frame on the black with a break of 55. However, from that moment the Rocket took charge. Runs of 54, 65 and 90 allowed O’Sullivan to take three on the trot and get over the line. Next up he faces Alfie Burden.

I wouldn’t say that Ronnie “eased” through that match. It was a very professional performance from both. It’s easy to forget what a fine player Andy Hicks was in the 90th. Andye actually reached the semi-fimals of all four BBC events back then – the Grand Prix was a BBC event at the time and one of the majors – and he was ranked as high as number 17 in 1995/96.

Ronnie struggled at te start of the match, making a lot of mistakes during the first ten minutes. But he kept his patience and his focus. He never surrendered to frustration. As usual he was good in the balls, he put a lot of thoughts in his shot selection and didn’t do anything reckless. His long game wasn’t the best though.

Both players appeared to struggle with the conditions a bit. From what I saw they must have been quite heavy. Ronnie was “hitting” the ball a lot, rather than stroking it.

Wathing the match, I reflected that the younger players would benefit a lot from playing the likes of Andy. They would learn a “professional” side of the game that they rarely experience in junior events.

I have to say that the postmatch reported by Eurosport surprised me a bit:

RONNIE O’SULLIVAN ‘VERY BORED’ IN WIN OVER ANDY HICKS IN BELFAST – ‘I WASN’T BOTHERED IF I WON OR LOST’

“I kind of struggled with the table and I struggled with the atmosphere – there was really no atmosphere out there,” O’Sullivan told Eurosport. “I was really not enjoying the atmosphere and wasn’t really bothered if I won or lost, to be honest with you. That’s not a good attitude to have, so I tried to talk myself out of it, but it is what it is, you know.”

Ronnie O’Sullivan has admitted that he was “very bored” during his win over Andy Hicks at the Northern Ireland Open, and he was less than happy with the atmosphere in Belfast.

The Rocket was a 4-1 winner in the first-round match, but he revealed to Eurosport in his studio interview that he was not overly impressed with the conditions and “struggled” to get up for the occasion.

“I kind of struggled with the table and I struggled with the atmosphere – there was really no atmosphere out there,” O’Sullivan told Eurosport.

“I’m playing alright, so normally I can generate the atmosphere but, I don’t know… it felt like years ago, every time we played a tournament, every match felt like a big night, like a Champions League night, whereas out there, it was poor… it was hard.

“I don’t know, you’ve got all these games going on, you’ve got people walking about, you know… I struggled. It’s the atmosphere. These flat draws, you’ve just got to hope you get through to the quarters and click into a spark.

“It was very flat out there. I was very bored out there… I just wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible, to be honest with you. I was thinking, ‘please, just don’t let this go long, two-three hours’.

I WAS REALLY NOT ENJOYING THE ATMOSPHERE AND WASN’T REALLY BOTHERED IF I WON OR LOST, TO BE HONEST WITH YOU.

“That’s not a good attitude to have, so I tried to talk myself out of it, but it is what it is, you know.”

Looking ahead to his second-round match, O’Sullivan added: “Hopefully the atmosphere is a little bit better than it was tonight. Yeah, listen, it is what it is, you know… it’s paid practice for me.

“I come here and hit a few balls… it’s all a bit of a bonus, you know, so I’m not really too bothered either way really, just, yeah.”

O’Sullivan, who has lost in the final of the tournament for the last three years in succession, was not at his very best at any stage but still made four half-century breaks and only conceded a solitary frame.

The Rocket will next take on Alfie Burden, who was a 4-2 winner against Yuan Sijun, in the second round in Belfast.

Ronnie didn’t look overly happy out there, but never looked like he doesn’t care either. The interview however confirms my feelings about the conditions.

Here is the interview:

WST had promoted this day as “Super Sunday” and it lived to be indeed a “Super” day of snooker in Belfast, with 13 of the top 16 in action and all of them winning their match.

Here is the report by WST:

Trump Seals Opening Round Win

Defending BetVictor Northern Ireland Open champion Judd Trump got his bid for a fourth consecutive win in the event underway with a comfortable 4-1 defeat of Andrew Pagett at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast.

Remarkably Trump has lifted the Alex Higgins trophy for the last three years, beating Ronnie O’Sullivan 9-7 in the final on each occasion.

Bristolian Trump temporarily switched cue sport disciplines to try his hand at 9-ball pool in the US Open recently. Back in a more familiar environment, he wasn’t quite at his clinical best this evening and showed signs of rust in the stages. Welshman Pagett claimed an edgy opening frame.

The Ace in the Pack then stepped his game up a gear and composed breaks of 50, 65 and 79 on his way to four frames on the bounce to claim a place in the last 64. Trump now faces China’s WSF Junior Open winner Gao Yang.

Trump said: “It is tough in the first round. You are always edgy. I’ve not played in a tournament for what seems like forever. I’ve not been playing against anyone in practice, so it is hard to know where I am with my game. When you get out there, it is completely different. If you make mistakes at home on your own, it doesn’t matter. When you get out there you are punished. It was disappointing to lose the first frame, but the balls went a bit scrappy. In the end I am just happy to get the win.

“The atmosphere here is the top three of any event for me, especially when it gets down to that one table setup. I can feel the passion from the fans and that rubs off on me. Any kind of support like this, whether it is the Masters, German Masters or here, is brilliant. When you see the arena fill up here it is amazing.

“It was so different to this environment playing at the pool. When I am here everyone expects me to win or do well every time I come to the table. Whereas at the pool I was just able to enjoy it. If I am able to bring that sort of mindset over to snooker it would be good.”

O’Sullivan got his tournament underway with a 4-0 whitewash defeat of Stuart Carrington.

The Rocket coasted to the win in just 52 minutes this evening. He composed runs of 90 and 120 on his way to victory.

Despite holding a record 37 career ranking titles, O’Sullivan endured a barren campaign last season in terms of silverware. He reached five ranking finals, but couldn’t convert any into a tournament win. However, he is unconcerned by his wait for title number 38.

O’Sullivan said: “I have tremendous faith in my ability, that if I play alright I should have a chance of winning. If I don’t, I still should have a chance of winning. I’ve won a lot of tournaments not playing my best. I never question my ability. Winning tournaments is just a by-product of what you do. If you consider five finals a bad season, then that is quite a compliment.”

Mark Allen left his home fans elated by making the second 147 of his career – read more on that story here.

Neil Robertson eased to a 4-0 win over Barry Pinches with a top break of 95. Jack Lisowski made a 137 in taking a 3-0 lead over Ashley Hugill, and eventually won 4-3 with a 57 in the decider.

John Higgins pulled away from 2-2 to beat Joe O’Connor 4-2, while World Champion Mark Selby compiled runs of 101 and 112 in a 4-1 defeat of Mark Lloyd.

Stephen Maguire could face a battle in the coming months to keep his top 16 place as he currently lies 46th in the provisional end of season rankings but the Scot helped his cause by beating Steven Hallworth 4-2 with a top break of 75.

“I sat down and looked at the rankings the other day and the good thing is I’m looking ok in the race to the Masters – I would rather be sure of a place in that event than the Crucible, because I’ve always got a chance to qualify for Sheffield.

“I felt nervous today because it feels like the first tournament of the season, even though we had a couple of others over the summer. At 2-2 I wasn’t feeling good and my opponent looked favourite to win, then I won a long fifth frame to go 3-2 up and finished the match well.”

Mark Williams secured a battling 4-1 win over Mark Joyce despite struggling with gout, while local favourite Jordan Brown succumbed to a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Gary Wilson.

And here is Mark Allen’s reaction to his 147

Sunday 10 Oct 2021 05:12PM

Mark Allen described making a 147 at his home tournament as one of the best moments of his career after his fantastic maximum break wrapped up a 4-1 first round win over Si Jiahui at the BetVictor Northern Ireland Open.

Allen’s 147 was far from straight-forward as he ran out of position several times and had to play brilliant recovery shots. After potting the 15th black he left himself a tough yellow to a top corner, but slotted it home and cleared the colours. His local supporters raised the roof at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast as the final black went in.

“It’s right up there with the best moments of my career,” said Antrim’s Allen, whose only previous 147 came at the 2016 UK Championship. “To do it here means so much to me, to give fans that buzz. It’s a memory I will hold for long time. I potted a good yellow, then a horrible brown. I couldn’t stop shaking on black, I just had to let arm go though and luckily it went in.

“I have made around eight or nine hundred maximums in practice. But it’s very nerve-racking to do it in a big arena. I wanted to do it for the fans because I have given them nothing to cheer for in the past in this tournament. I don’t think Alex Higgins or Dennis Taylor ever made a 147 here so it’s great to be the only Northern Irish player to do so.

“I was relaxed as ever pre-match. I played well and my safety was good. Even without the 147 I was happy with my performance. I have a target on my back every year here, whoever I play has the chance to knock out the home favourite.”

Allen’s 147 will earn him the £5,000 high break prize if it is not equalled. It’s the 170th maximum in snooker history and sixth of the season.

 

Mark Allen looked calm, and played the best I ever saw him play in his home tournament. The fans were respectful as well, which has not always been the case when he was playing here in the past. That said he was helped by Si Jiahui who, after a good first frame, made some unexpected mistakes and looked a bit frustrated.

Here are the last minutes of Mark Allen’s 147:

The Jack Lisowski v Ashley Hugill match was a strange affair, and, TBH, I found it quite painful to watch. Jack started well and found himself 3-0 in no time. He was cruising. But Ashley Hugill took control of frame 4 and turned it into a very slow going, disjointed, scrappy affair that seemed to last forever. He completely broke Jack’s rhythm. He continued in the same vein in the next .. and the next. It eventually came to a decider and, frankly, by that time, Jack looked gone; how he found something and won it, I don’t know. Don’t get me wrong, Ashley was doing what he had to do: he was trying very hard to win and found a way to derail Jack. But it wasn’t pretty and that’s an understatement.

You can read more about Ronnie’s match here

As for Jordan Brown, he has, so far, never confirmed the quality he showed to win the 2021 Welsh Open and he was poor again yesterday.

Ronnie made light work of his last  128 match yesterday. Here are the scores:

And the report by WST:

O’Sullivan got his tournament underway with a 4-0 whitewash defeat of Stuart Carrington.

The Rocket coasted to the win in just 52 minutes this evening. He composed runs of 90 and 120 on his way to victory.

Despite holding a record 37 career ranking titles, O’Sullivan endured a barren campaign last season in terms of silverware. He reached five ranking finals, but couldn’t convert any into a tournament win. However, he is unconcerned by his wait for title number 38.

O’Sullivan said: “I have tremendous faith in my ability, that if I play alright I should have a chance of winning. If I don’t, I still should have a chance of winning. I’ve won a lot of tournaments not playing my best. I never question my ability. Winning tournaments is just a by-product of what you do. If you consider five finals a bad season, then that is quite a compliment.”

Ronnie played well. He played attacking snooker but wasn’t reckless. He probably missed one easy ball. When he left his opponent a chance, it was never an easy one.

Speaking to Eurosport after the match, Ronnie insisted that he will play this season on his own terms:

Ronnie O’Sullivan has no plan for his schedule for new season: ‘If I don’t feel like playing, I won’t’

“I am always playing catch-up but I have to accept that,” Ronnie O’Sullivan said following his win over Stuart Carrington. ”Playing half a season I am still top-16, top-eight. I need to get a result now and again, but being in the top-16 is not as important as it was. As long as you are in the top-64 you are in the draw.” 

Ronnie O’Sullivan has admitted he does not have a plan in place for his schedule for the new season.

O’Sullivan elected to miss the British Open in August, meaning his season kicked off at the Northern Ireland Open on Sunday.

There were no signs of rust as he crushed Stuart Carrington 4-0 to set up a meeting with Andy Hicks on Monday.

O’Sullivan is expected to commit to all of the Home Nations events, but he has said he will leave decisions on entries quite late.

“I don’t have a plan,” O’Sullivan told Eurosport. “I will just play when I feel like it. If I don’t feel like playing, I won’t.”

O’Sullivan had a packed schedule last season, but says that was on account of the travel restrictions and many events being held in Milton Keynes.

“I didn’t have to go backwards and forwards from China,” O’Sullivan said. “Logistically, normally, I can’t do the flying round the world four times in three weeks.”

The 45-year-old, who was beaten in five finals last season, does not feel he is compromising his ability to challenge for titles by hand-picking his schedule.

“I am always playing catch-up but I have to accept that,” he said.” Playing half a season I am still top-16, top-eight. I need to get a result now and again, but being in the top-16 is not as important as it was. As long as you are in the top-64 you are in the draw.

I have tremendous faith in my ability that if I play well I have a good chance of winning. Even if I don’t I still have a chance, as I have won tournaments when not at my best. I never question my ability.

“Winning tournaments is a by-product of what you do. If being in five finals is a bad season, it is a compliment to my ability.

“I love the game. I prefer practicing and being at home. I don’t enjoy the tournaments as much, as you have so much time. You are hanging around. Filling the boredom up is hard.

“The privilege I get from playing gives me the ability to have the life I want. You need to play a few tournaments as I probably would not get my cue out of my case to practice.”

It’s hard to keep the motivation and stay fresh when you have been playing at the top for nearly 30 years, and actually playing for over 35 years. For Ronnie it’s about managing his schedule, for Mark Williams it’s about keeping practice at a minimum. It may not please their fans, especially if they don’t win as much as they used to, but it’s key to their longevity. We have to enjoy them whilst it lasts.

Here is the interview:

The season started in earnest – hopefully – yesterday evening with three matches in front of a rather small crowd.

Here is the report by WST:

Robertson Sees Off Zhou

Former European Masters champion Jimmy Robertson sealed a fine 4-2 win over world number 17 Zhou Yuelong to clinch his place in the last 64 of the BetVictor Northern Ireland Open at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast.

World number 48 Robertson came within a match of tour relegation at the end of last season, but defeated Zhao Jianbo 6-5 at World Championship qualifying to save his place on the circuit.

The Bexhill cueman’s preparations for this week’s event were far from ideal, having only been released from Covid-19 isolation on Thursday.

Robertson composed breaks of 50,70 and 59 on his way to victory this evening and will now face Sunny Akani in the last 64.

“I’m feeling really good about myself and my game. I still need to improve in areas on the table but my head, the way that I’m thinking and everything off the table is going well,” said 35-year-old Robertson.

“I’ve always struggled over the years with playing in certain situations, being on the main table with eyes on me and things like that. I know I won a tournament a few years ago, but I lost a lot of confidence and matches after that. I’m working with a mental coach called AP O’Neil now and it is going really well. If you think bad things then bad things will happen on the table. You just have to stay positive. It is helping me.”

WSF Junior Open winner Gao Yang recorded a straightforward 4-0 defeat of Northern Irish under-21 champion Christopher Clifford.

Gao composed breaks of 85, 81 and 58 on his way to a win which took just an hour and 15 minutes to complete. He will now face either defending champion Judd Trump or Andrew Pagett in round two.

Lee Walker snuffed out an Anthony McGill fightback to edge through with a fine 4-3 victory. Welshman Walker had charged to a 3-0 advantage, making breaks of 60 and 67 along the way.

However, McGill charged back into contention in a three-frame blitz which included a total clearance of 137. It all came down to a decider and Walker got over the line with a clinical run of 53. Next up he faces Louis Heathcote.

All three matches were on the Eurosport player, which is great, except for the terrible background noise on the Zhou v Robertson one.

With the top 16 seeds starved of actual matches for months, many are expecting upsets, and it’s exactly what we saw yesterday evening.

Gao Yang played really well, but, in fairness, his opponent didn’t give him any sort of challenge. I wasn’t surprised at all TBH. Christoffer Clifford, aged 19,  may be under-21 champion in his country but he didn’t show anything even remotely convincing at the table. He was coming back from Portugal, where he had been competing in the EBSA under-21 Championship; he had played 5 matches there, won only two, against a 14 years old and a 13 years old… What’s the point really? It doesn’t do the lad any favour and won’t exactly put the local amateur snooker in the best of light.

On the other two tables, the top seeds, who come here completely “cold”, found themselves 3-0 down before eventually finding some form. But in both cases, it was too much to do, too late. That said, both Jimmy Robertson and Lee Walker played well, and both held it together when it mattered. Jimmy has been vulnerable to pressure in the past, but not this time. Lee is usually solid under pressure, but still had to do it after McGill’s three frames blitz.

Today we get a full day of snooker. For me, the most interesting match on the menu is Yan Bingtao v Hossein Vafaei. It’s part of the morning session and will only be on the player.

As already mentioned, Ronnie has’nt got an easy start, as he will face Stuart Carrington.

Stuart was interviewed by Phil Haigh:

Stuart Carrington has beaten Ronnie O’Sullivan before and is relishing the chance to do it again

Phil Haigh Friday 8 Oct 2021 

Stuart Carrington has been handed one of the toughest draws in the game as he faces Ronnie O’Sullivan in the first round of the Northern Ireland Open on Sunday, but he has beaten the Rocket before and fancies doing it again.

The 31-year-old did not have a great deal of experience on tour when he met O’Sullivan for the first time ever at the 2016 German Masters qualifiers.

The Grimsby man turned in a fine performance to down the Rocket 5-3, despite O’Sullivan knocking in breaks of 126, 94, 64 and 51 along the way.

Tasked with beating the six-time world champion again this Sunday night in Belfast and he is relishing the prospect.

‘A million per cent. As soon as the draw came out it’s a massive buzz,’ Carrington told Metro.co.uk. ‘Live on TV, Sunday night in front of a packed crowd. If you can’t get up for that you shouldn’t be playing the game.

‘It was special,’ Carrington added on his first meeting with the Rocket. ‘A qualifier for Germany in Wigan. Even there, it was a leisure centre in Wigan and it was still a packed crowd.

‘I played really well and beat him fair and square, it gives you that bit of confidence. At the end of the day you’ve got to treat it as another match, but I know that if I play well I’ve got a chance and can beat him, so why not.

‘I’d only been on the tour a few years and the first proper big match I’d played. Obviously walking out there, 200-300 people there but they’re all shouting “Come on Ronnie!”

‘It’s pressure but it’s an extra incentive to show what you can do, I remember it spurring me on at the time. I played really well, and as the winning line approached I didn’t shy away from it, I was really proud of myself to get over the line in the way I did.

‘To know that you can do it under the pressure and against the game’s greatest ever player, it proves to me that I can do it if it comes to that point.’

O’Sullivan has since exacted revenge on Carrington, scoring wins at the 2019 Northern Ireland and 2020 Welsh Opens, but the world number 51 has competed with and beaten the best in the business in the past and knows he can do it again.

‘Yeah I do [know I can compete with elite players], that’s the frustrating part,’ he said. ‘I know what I can do in practice, I know what I can do against the top boys in tournaments, it’s just finding some kind of consistency, that’s the key for everyone.

‘There’s so many players including  myself that know we can do what the top boys can do, it’s just trying to find the consistency.’

It has been difficult to find much consistency at this stage of the season with long gaps between matches, and short format matches being played at the Championship League and British Open.

Carrington has played even less than many other players having drawn top 16 players in the Northern Ireland and Scottish Opens, so his matches are held over to the main venues rather than playing qualifiers over the last month.

‘It’s been a disjointed start to the season and that’s how my game’s been, to be fair, stop-start,’ he said. ‘A couple of half decent performances amongst some that were non-existent.

‘The summer after the World Championship, a few weeks off and maybe enjoyed myself a bit much. I started the season a bit rusty and it knocks your confidence when you’re not winning matches. It’s been plenty of hard work on the practice table since then to turn things around.

‘You can be playing really well in practice, go to the Championship League [winning his first group], then it’s three or four weeks till the next comp so it felt like back to square one again. It was a good start at the Championship League but then you lose your match sharpness and I struggled at the next comp.

‘I’ve drawn Ronnie in the Irish and Jack Lisowski in the Scottish, so I’m going to the venue for those, weeks after the other qualifiers. I don’t think the players are keen on the way things are at the moment. No one really knows where they are regarding the game, everything’s so stop start. Fingers crossed that from now until Christmas it’s quite busy for most of us.’

While Carrington is excited by the prospect of facing O’Sullivan and Lisowski on the big stages of the Home Nations events, he also knows that facing top 16 players in the opening round could end up costing him a lot of money.

‘It’s a funny one,’ he said. ‘Going to Ireland we’re on no money unless we win. So rather than going to Barnsley for a qualifier it will cost me £50, but Ireland could be £700 and we get nothing at all which is just wrong.

‘I can see why the top 16 are held over, but would it hurt them to play the qualifier here? Probably not. It’s very poor. I’m sure the top 16 aren’t bothered about the money getting there, but for the lower-ranked players it’s a lot of money.

‘£250, or something daft, to cover your costs to get to the event would be good. 128 pros and unless we win a match we’re not guaranteed a wage, it’s wrong.’

Stuart’s assessment about the season so far, and the prize money is correct.

There is however something that he doesn’t say, something that doesn’t even cross his mind probably, when mentioning the cost of qualifiers vs the cost of having to play at the venue abroad: he is privileged to be a British player, with all qualifiers played in his own country. Mainland European players, and Asian players have to travel “abroad” for EVERY qualifier, even for their home tournaments, or they have to live “abroad” in the UK, as expats, currently facing a fair amount of hostility aswell. It costs them a lot more, financially and psychologically. He is right that not being guaranteed a wage is wrong, but having all qualifiers played in the UK is wrong as well and the fact that’s it’s always been this way doesn’t make it right.

So, in a way, the season really starts tonight… hopefully.

Hereafter, I’m sharing a recently published piece. It is very revealing about the mood and mindset of the players after a very strange, disjointed and grim start of the season.

But first some news about the event itself.

Jamie O’Neill has withdrawn for personal reasons. His opponent, Lu Ning gets a bye to the last 32.

Mark Williams should lready be in Belfast, but is suffering from a bad bout of gout. Over recent days, he was in huge pain and unable to walk. The situation yesterday, as shared on twitter, was that he still wants to play, if he is able to walk, but wrote that it looks unlikely.

Andy Goldstein has announced that he is leaving Eurosport to pursue other endeavours. I know that some hated him, but I never quite understood why. He was energetic, dynamic and something different. He’s also a useful amateur snooker player, meaning that he actually knows what he’s talking about. Some found the fact that he was very close to Ronnie irritating; maybe they are not aware that those two went to school together as kids. I will miss him.

Now, here are the piece I mentioned above:

Judd Trump was talking to Eurosport’ s Desmond Kane:

‘Everything feels so desperate’ – Judd Trump on misery of being starved of snooker for 50 days

Judd Trump bids to become the first man since Stephen Hendry to win a ranking event for four straight years at the Northern Ireland Open. Hendry lifted five world titles between 1992 and 1996 with Trump keen to emulate that rousing success in Belfast. Trump will reclaim the world number one spot win or lose at the Waterfront Hall, but tells Desmond Kane his preparations have been far from ideal.
For Judd Trump, the long hot summer has turned into an autumn of discontent.

As a glorious cue sport explorer exquisitely dubbed ‘The Ace in the Pack’, Trump is no stranger to making the best of a bad hand on the green baize. Providing of course he is allowed access to the main table.

A disjointed and staggered start to the campaign has not been helped by the global Covid-19 pandemic starving snooker of its traditional run of tournaments in China and the postponement of the inaugural Turkish Masters.

The new season officially began in Leicester with the Championship League on 18 July, carried off by David Gilbert with a 3-1 win over Mark Allen on 13 August.

The British Open – the second ranking event of the season – was staged between 16-22 August and saw Mark Williams usurp Gary Wilson 6-4 in the final. That was seven weeks ago.

‘Waste of time’

“I don’t really feel that anything has happened this season. It’s been a waste of time so far,” Trump tells Eurosport. “I think they would have been better off waiting until late September and starting the season then.”

Trump has been keeping himself busy having last played a competitive match when he lost 3-2 to Elliot Slessor in the last 32 of the British Open on Friday 20 August, on the day of his 32nd birthday.

All the qualifiers for the Northern Ireland Open, the English Open and Scottish Open were shoehorned in between 23 August and 29 September in Leicester then Barnsley.

But matches involving the world’s top 16 have been held over until the respective venues at the Home Nations Series prompting a severe lack of match action for Trump and the rest of the elite.

For Trump, the season truly begins in Northern Ireland on Sunday night as he returns to the Waterfront Hall in Belfast, a venue he feels is among the best in the world.

“Normally, there are events leading up to Northern Ireland to get you match sharp, but I’ve haven’t played in an event for a month and a half now,” he said.

“By the time I get to Northern Ireland, I’ve usually been to China a couple of times and have played in two or three other events. You are feeling sharp.

“The people who have been playing the qualifiers and are through to Belfast will probably be feeling better than the top 16 who haven’t played for a month and a half.

“It is completely different to normal.

“Nobody is going to be sharp because the season hasn’t really started yet. It all kicks off now, but Northern Ireland with the crowd and the amount of people that normally go, it should have been treated as one of the biggest events.

Compared to the other Home Nations events, this is the biggest by a mile. The amount of fans there and the passion of the fans in Northern Ireland makes it a really special event.

When the bounding Bristolian returns to a match environment against world number 99 Welshman Andrew Pagett in the first round on Sunday evening, it will be 50 days since he last played in a snooker tournament.

Even if he wanted to play a match, there was nothing to see here as he headed off to Atlantic City to compete in the US Open nine-ball pool tournament last month.

‘Junior tournament’

Unsurprisingly, he is slightly perplexed about being forced to begin his quest for a record fourth straight title in Belfast having played only two short format ranking events in August that provided as much certainty as Power Snooker.

“It would have been wiser giving everyone four or five months off and starting the season rather than starting the season in August then stopping it again,” he insists.

“We’re in October now and I don’t feel like I’ve played since the World Championship. It’s been stop-start and nothing has happened. There’s been a couple of minor tournaments really.

The best of five ones feel like I’m playing in a junior tournament again really. We’re heading for mid-October so it has not been a great start to this season.”

Trump’s defeat to Slessor saw him temporarily surrender his number one ranking in the game to world champion Mark Selby that he will recapture when the Northern Ireland Open is completed a week on Sunday.

Ronnie O’Sullivan – who Trump has edged out 9-7 in the past three riveting Northern Ireland Open finals – will play his first tournament of the season at the Waterfront Hall, but Trump believes the top 16 are vulnerable because they have been starved of competitive matches.

Former Masters finalist Joe ‘The Gentleman’ Perry has also suggested an ungentlemanly nature to the goings on in being forced to confront so many different events at the same time.

“A concern players had a long time ago was you could get beat in a tournament that won’t happen for another two or three months,” said Perry in the Metro.
“By the time it comes round you could be in a completely different place with your game or in your own head, but you’re already out.

“They were aware of that and changed it to how it should be, with qualifiers just before events or everyone in at round one. My next qualifying is this month for the German Masters and that’s not played till the following year.”

Trump shares Perry’s concerns about the direction of travel. An air of uncertainty comes after the ebullient and innovative World Snooker Tour chairman Barry Hearn stepped back from his role after a decade at the helm of the sport after the World Championship.

“Outwith the top 16, there has been a lot of qualifiers all coming in one spell which can either be a good or a bad thing,” said Trump.

“If you are playing well, full of confidence and you get through them all, it works for you, but if you are struggling, you are stuck in Barnsley trying to qualify for tournaments that won’t be played for a couple of months in advance.

“I think everyone was happy to go straight to the venue and it was opened up to everyone. Even the qualifiers seem to go on forever.

“I think they only had two tables going on in Barnsley. The amount of people that turn on to watch it is not worth the time or hassle. You are better off putting 10 tables in and getting it all over and done with in a day or two.
“Then you can put qualifying within a week of the tournament so you get the proper in-form players appearing at the event.

“At the moment, you get players who are playing well, but in a month or two could be playing terrible.

“But lasting all these qualifiers out for so long. It is ridiculous. The qualifiers last longer than the main tournament.
“You’ve got all these Home Nations events. The qualifiers are taking the same amount of time as the World Championship.”

‘Learn your trade’

Trump is similarly bemused by the thought process that sees the world’s top 16 start off at the venue against players from the lower reaches of the rankings while the rest of the field have played their preliminary matches in Leicester or Barnsley.

“It is so strange. I don’t understand it. They’ve gone backwards,” he opines. “They opened up the draw so everyone could be at the final venue.

“I think everyone was happy with that, but then you get the players who are lower ranked keeping getting the top players. Everyone voted for this five or six years ago to go to this format and now we’ve gone back.

“I don’t think anyone knows what they are doing. I think you have to go with one thing and stick to it.
“You can’t keep going backwards and forwards. The best players will always rise to the top, but personally I preferred the way I got through in the tiered system.

“You kind of learn your trade and play people the same ranking as you. You get your confidence and then you play the top players. I think that is the best way to do it in any sport.

“To be thrown in at the deep end having to play the top players all the time in the first round, I don’t think any other sport does it like that.

“There are a few things up in the air at the moment and they haven’t quite got it right.”

‘Always going to be shocks’

Despite winning the British Open, Mark Williams admits he hankers after the sustained quality of longer format matches to get a justifiable outcome rather than the trend towards quickfire results amid the salivating social need for instant results.

Trump agrees with such sentiments. He feels the experiment of the best-of-five frame matches at the British Open until the last eight devalued the standing of a tournament that carried a £100,000 winner’s cheque.

“They wanted to throw some shocks in. It’s not really been thought out,” he said.

“The tournament has been thrown in there. You want top class events if you are playing for that kind of prize money.

“That sort of tournament lends itself to the Gibraltar prize money when you are giving £30,000 to the winner and players can decide if they want to play it in.

“You can’t give £30,000 for winning Gibraltar and £100,000 for that one with basically the same set-up. It doesn’t make any sense.

“There was always going to be shocks in that. The format was too short. They tried to fit an event in, but everything seems so rushed and desperate at the moment.

“When you get the top players playing each other over such a short format, the matches can last about an hour and a half.

“There is no reason to have it any shorter than the best of seven. It just all felt like a bit of a rushed tournament.”

‘Different class’

Fans will be able to attend the Northern Ireland Open at the bustling Waterfront after the event was staged behind closed doors in Milton Keynes last season due to the pandemic. Trump values the atmosphere in Belfast as highly as the Masters in London or the German Masters in Berlin.

Which is high praise coming for a figure who has carried off 22 ranking titles in all sorts of frazzled arenas having celebrating his maiden victory with a 10-8 win over Mark Selby at the China Open a decade ago.

“I always get good support there so hopefully I can win it again,” said Trump, who has moved out of Essex and back to Bristol to redouble his efforts boosted by the sense of home comforts.

“For me, I’ve won it the past three times, but I think most people would agree, playing in Belfast to the other Home Nations events is in a different class. It feels a lot more special playing there.

“You get it at the Masters and the German Masters. There is a lot of passion and noise in Belfast. The energy from the crowd is something I feed off and enjoy.

That is the kind of tournament where I play my best. It’s been a brilliant standard every time against Ronnie in the finals. I’ve won all of them 9-7, but I’ve had to play my best and the standard has been really high.

“They’ve all been pretty similar, but every time I’ve played there I’ve played well.

“The amount of players that can win an event, defend and beat Ronnie three times in a row is just unheard of really.”

While venerable pundit John ‘JV’ Virgo bizarrely claimed Trump was disappointing last season on the basis of failing to win the World Championship, UK Championship or Masters – an event he was forced to missed after a positive Covid-19 test – there has been no doubt about his sustained level of attacking, consistency, shot-making and all-round tactical brilliance.

Trump has remarkably lifted 14 ranking titles and the Masters since he first defeated O’Sullivan to lift the Alex Higgins Trophy in the 2018 Northern Ireland Open final.

If he can make it four on the bounce, he will be the first player to achieve the feat since Stephen Hendry dominated the World Championship between 1992 and 1996. The significance of such achievement is not lost on him.

“My record has been unbelievable over the past three years,” said Trump. “It will be very, very tough to do it again, but hopefully we can get a good crowd in, bring back the memories of two years ago and get off to a good start.

“I think I can remember doing an exhibition with Ronnie there five years ago, the first time I’d been there and it was a special arena.

“Especially when you get down to the one table and the crowd is big. They seem to love their snooker in Northern Ireland.”

By any standard, apart from perhaps old JV’s, Trump’s ongoing commitment to his cause cannot be disputed.

He is a snooker giant whose love affair with the green baize of Belfast is as richly formed as the Giant’s Causeway.

Desmond Kane

The “bold-underline” higlighting was added by me.

It’s not often that I agree with Judd but I certainly do about most of what he says here. 

It’s quite interesting that he openly says that the tiered system actually helped him to get where he is.

Maybe there are some sour grapes about the British Open, but fundamentally he’s right as well. They wanted shocks, and that’s why they had both the short format and the randon draw although I’m still wondering about a couple of outcomes from first round “random” draw.

I don’t however believe that the tournament was just “thrown there”. I’m afraid that it was quite deliberate actually: it must have suited the bookies to the core.

As for the two table setup and dragging the qualifiers for so long… it may be a case of trying to fufill contractual obligations. I write may because it’s nothing more than a hypothesis and a thought that occured to me. It may be that they are contractully bound to provide a certain number of “television/streaming hours” over the season and that with a rather “thin” calendar this season, dragging the qualifiers is the only way WST found to fufill those obligations.