Australia’s 2010 World Champion Neil Robertson admitted he is highly motivated to add the Machineseeker German Masters title to his CV after scoring a superb 5-2 win over world number one Judd Trump at the Tempodrom in Berlin.
The Thunder from Down Under has 24 ranking titles to his name and has won just about every accolade in the game, but is yet to triumph in Berlin. He is now just three wins away from a maiden crown as he prepares to face Yuan Sijun in the last eight on Friday. Yuan came through a thriller with Johnstone’s Paint Masters champion Shaun Murphy 5-4.
Trump arrived in Berlin as defending champion, after beating Si Jiahui in last year’s final. He’s a three-time winner of the event, but will have to wait at least another 12 months to add a fourth.
This evening’s encounter got off to a cagey start, with Robertson taking a tight opener. He then missed a black off the spot to go two ahead. Trump forced a re-spot, but a fine safety from Robertson extracted an error and allowed him to eventually secure that 2-0 lead.
Trump then claimed two on the bounce to restore parity at 2-2. Robertson won the fifth and then fired home breaks of 86 and 131 to burst over the line in free flowing fashion.
Robertson said: “Every player coming here wants to get down to the single table and I’m just one win away. This is pretty much the only tournament I haven’t won. Motivation is extra high, if it wasn’t already.
“I got to the final a few years ago here against Judd and it was an amazing occasion. The crowd love it. They get more enthusiastic the closer it gets to the final. They applaud even straightforward shots and it is a privilege to play here. I always get tremendous support in Germany.“
World Champion Kyren Wilson came through a repeat of last year’s Crucible final against Jak Jones with another victory, this time prevailing 5-3 after a hard fought battle.
The pair crossed cues in snooker’s biggest match last year, when both players were seeking to become World Champion for the first time. After 32 fiercely contested frames, it was Wilson who triumphed 18-14.
Wilson has kicked on to have a fine campaign as Crucible king so far, picking up silverware at the Xi’an Grand Prix and the BetVictor Northern Ireland Open, as well as making the final of the recent Johnstone’s Paint Masters.
Jones has also enjoyed a strong campaign, having fired in 53 centuries with only Trump able to top that number. However, after falling short in Sheffield against Wilson he’s still searching for a maiden career ranking crown.
This afternoon’s encounter saw Jones lead 3-2, before Wilson crafted runs of 103 and 60 on his way to three frames on the bounce and a 5-3 win. He now faces Anthony McGill in a repeat of their epic 2020 Crucible semi-final, which he won 17-16. McGill came through with an impressive 5-2 win over former International Champion Zhang Anda.
Irish 22-year-old Aaron Hill is through to his second ranking event quarter-final after holding off a Tom Ford fightback to win 5-3.
Hill reached his maiden quarter-final at last season’s Wuhan Open, where he fell just short against Wu Yize 5-4. He will be hoping to take at least one step further this time and make the semis. The Cork cueman now faces Xiao Guodong, who was a 5-1 winner against Elliot Slessor.
“It’s another game. I’ll try to have the same preparation I’ve had all week, but it will be a tough match. That is what you expect when you are playing in this end of the tournament. I’m delighted to be here now, but hopefully I’m not finished yet,” said Hill.
“The crowd has been amazing all week. I’d like to thank them actually as they’ve been a great support to me. I beat Mark Williams in the first round and I think they like an underdog. Hopefully they can stay on my side.”
China’s Wu is also through to the last eight after a 5-2 win over Swiss number one Alexander Ursenbacher. He faces Barry Hawkins, who received a bye after Ricky Walden had to pull out on medical grounds.
There is also the interview with Aaron Hill at the end of this report, but because they opted for sharing it with their new platform “Play” it’s geo-blocked in many countries, in all countries that are supposed to have a broadcaster for the event.
Here is a screenshot of what I get at the bottom of the quoted piece:
How stupid is this? It doesn’t make sense really. This is a report. Are you also supposed not to read it because you had no “legit” opportunity to watch the action either? And I highlighted “supposed” because they were lazy and didn’t do their research properly or simply don’t care about some countries. I live in Greece. Contrary to what WST seems to believe, we don’t have access to Eurosport, we don’t have access to Discovery+ and we don’t have access to HBmax in Greece. There were “plans” to make Discovery+ and HBmax available in Greece but they were not (yet?) implemented. For months now I can only watch snooker if it’s on YouTube, Facebook or by using a vpn, which of course comes at a cost , on top of the cost of HBmax that I only managed to buy by pretending to be in the Netherlands (using the said vpn). IF really WST wants to be WORLD snooker they have to stop senselessly restricting access to the sport because it doesn’t help its growth. But does UK-centric WST really care about growing the game in mainland Europe. I’m doubtful, really!
But back to the snooker …
I watched two of the matches.
Neil Robertson played well. He’s not at his very best yet, but he’s getting there. Judd Trump on the other hand is no more at the stratospheric level he showed early in the season. That’s only normal. He’s human. Nobody can sustain top form all the time. Fatigue and dips in form are inevitable.
The Yuan Sijun v Shaun Murphy match deserved better than a single line in the WST report. It was a compelling match and many German fans stayed to watch despite the late finish1. Yuan showed considerable tactical skills as well as potting ability. He also proved to be very solid under pressure.
2025 WSF Championship
The event can be followed on snookerscores with two tables shown on YouTube, without geo-restrictions.
That event is at the QF stage and this is this morning program
There were 172 players in the field at the start of the event, 41 of them from England. Only two of them remain and they are older players. Not one of the English young players made it to the final day.
The youngest player still standing is Chinese Gao Yang (20). Brian Cini (24) is from Malta, Umut Dikme (28) from Germany, Mateuz Barnowski (27) from Poland, Florian Nuessle (23) is Austian, Fergal Quinn (24) is from Northern Ireland. In contrast both Englismen still standing play on the seniors tour. Stuart Watson is 48 and Barry Pinches is 54. This is not a dig at Stuart and Barry, they are there on merit but they are not the future of the sport.
Clearly, the future of snooker is not English, should not be English, and the strongly England-centric nature of WST isn’t helping its development, quite the opposite. You will tell me that maybe English youngster concentrate more on the Q-Tour, but many of them were in Morocco this week, and, anyway, the Q-Tour is dominated by Zhao Xintong this season.
Maybe WST press officer didn’t? It would explain the one sentence “reporting” on that match ↩︎
World Champion Kyren Wilson battled hard to beat Zhou Yuelong 5-3 and set up a repeat of the Crucible final against Jak Jones at the Machineseeker German Masters in Berlin.
The Englishman has enjoyed a fine campaign since claiming World Championship glory last year, having already racked up two titles at the Xi’an Grand Prix and the Northern Ireland Open.
Wilson made the final at the Johnstone’s Paint Masters in London just over a week ago, where he fell just short 10-7 against Shaun Murphy in the title match.
The Warrior had trailed 2-0 in today’s game, requiring a snooker in the third, but got the required penalty points and stole on the black. He then claimed the fourth to make it 2-2 at the mid-session.
When play resumed, runs of 72 and 100 helped him on his way to coming through with a 5-3 victory.
Afterwards, Wilson admitted he is relishing facing Jones again and said that it has been hard to recover from his loss in the title match at Alexandra Palace.
Wilson said: “Jak came back at me in the world final and I had to fight hard to keep him at bay. I was under so much pressure in that match. I needed to get the win and the burden of becoming World Champion off my back. I’ve kicked on now. He’s had a good season as well, making a lot of centuries. I’m going to need to play really well.
“At 2-0 down today, I was all at sea. I couldn’t really settle in the match, but Zhou got off to a great start. I managed to get a snooker in the third frame and that flipped the match on its head.
“It is tough recovering from the Masters, because the Triple Crown events have so much on them. When you get to the final, you only have one more hurdle and you are so close. To fall at that stage is difficult to take. I feel like I’m a winner and I want to win as much as I can. I’ve had a couple of days off and straight back into it to prepare for this week.”
Jones has been in fine break building form this season and continued that that with a contribution of 106 during his 5-3 defeat of four-time World Champion John Higgins.
The Welshman has hammered home 52 centuries so far this term, only Judd Trump has made more. The 32 he’s crafted in the BetVictor Championship League mean he now holds the record for most ever centuries made in a single event.
World number one and defending champion Trump came through with a 5-0 whitewash win over Joe O’Connor this afternoon.
The Ace in the Pack fired in runs of 77, 76, 75, 80 and 100 on his way to a straightforward win this afternoon. He now faces a blockbuster last 16 meeting with Neil Robertson.
Australia’s Robertson made four centuries on his way to a narrow 5-4 win over Hammad Miah. He powered home breaks of 125, 100, 113 and 131 during the match.
Swiss number one Alexander Ursenbacher scored a superb 5-0 win over Ali Carter and will now face Wu Yize, who edged Mark Allen 5-4 in a thriller.
Recently crowned Masters champion Murphy continued his perfect start to the week with a 5-0 whitewash win over Thepchaiya Un-Nooh.
The Magician is yet to drop a frame in Berlin, as he seeks his first ever German Masters crown. He top scored with 100 this evening and now faces China’s Yuan Sijun in the last 16.
Englishman Murphy said: “From whatever is left of my career, there could be five years or there could be ten, I really want to push on. I don’t want there to be such a big gap between successes. Does that mean I’m going to win this week? No, but I’m going to try my best.
“I said to some friends that what I’d achieved might sink in when I’m introduced by Rolf Kalb as the Masters champion. That has certainly been the case. To be introduced as a major winner again, has certainly given me an extra bit of bounce in my step. More importantly it has given me that self belief.”
Anthony McGill produced a fine display to beat 2023 World Champion Luca Brecel 5-2. That sets up a last 16 clash with former International Champion Zhang Anda, who defeated Robert Milkins 5-2.
The report seems to be comprehensive enough and I can’t comment as I saw nothing of it.
The reason for that is that I was busy marking scores for the 2025 WSF championship and, considering how many simultaneous matches were on, that task took all my attention. You can follow how that event unfolds on snooker.org and on snookerscores.
That event is now in the knock-out stage. The structure is a bit bizarre. Seventy players emerged from the group stage. It meant that 12 of them had to play a somehow preliminary “last 128” match, to reduce the field to 64. Among those players was On Yee Ng who had become the first female to reach the knock-out stage in a WSF Championship and she won her first “knock-out” match as well, before succumbing by 4-0 to Alex Millington in the round of 64. She also contributed to the “century list” with a break of 102.
Today we will start with the round of 32, followed by the round of 16. Two tables are streamed on Youtube.
It’s an interesting event this one because it does show that snooker is NOT the British monopoly many may think it is. There is no Welsh, Scottish, Irish and just one Northern-Irish player left in the draw. Of the 32 players remaining on course, 15 are English, 1 is Northern Irish, 2 are Thai, 2 are Chinese, 2 are Belgian, 2 are from Hong-Kong, 1 is Maltese, 1 is German, 1 is Polish, 1 is Austrian, 1 is from Singapore, 1 is Jamaican1, 1 is from Qatar and 1 is from Pakistan.The Ukrainian player, Mykhailo (Michael) Larkov is only 16 and currently lives and practices in Belgium with a Belgian coach.
Rory Mc Leod, who, of course represented England before ↩︎
Mark Allen brushed aside David Lilley 5-0 at the Machineseeker German Masters in Berlin, but afterwards admitted he is already setting his sights on ending the season as World Champion.
The Pistol is chasing an elusive Crucible Crown, having otherwise completed the Triple Crown set with victories at the Masters in 2018 and the UK Championship in 2022. He says the rest of his season is now completely structured around mounting a title tilt in Sheffield this April.
In the meantime, breaks of 74 and 71 helped him to get over the line this afternoon. Victory sets up an intriguing last 32 meeting with Wu Yize, who thrashed Jackson Page 5-1.
Allen said: “Wu has a massive future and he’s been in two finals. The sky is the limit with him, but It has happened so many times with young prospects from China. They show promise and have a lot of pressure which they haven’t dealt with very well. It will be interesting to see how he does, because he is definitely exciting for the sport.
“To be honest, all eyes are on Sheffield for me now. It has been that way for a while. I’m starting doing longer matches when practising. Not taking anything away from the events leading up, but I’ll be experimenting here and there to see if I can get something to work.
“I am trying something very different this year. I am trying to find something that I believe will work in Sheffield. I’ve gone there with lots of confidence off the back of winning tournaments and not done well. I feel like I need something that will last me for 17 days and I haven’t had that before.”
Switzerland’s Alexander Ursenbacher scored a massive 5-3 win over Jack Lisowski, as he steps up his bid for tour survival.
Next up for Ursenbacher is a last 32 meeting with former German Masters winner Ali Carter. After today’s win was secure, he clenched his fist and received a big ovation from the Berlin crowd. It was a moment which Ursenbacher savoured.
Ursenbacher said: “I’ve got so many supporters here. I just thought that at some point a German speaking player had to win a match here. It was a big goal for me. There was a lot of motivation behind it and Jack is obviously a fantastic player. I think sometimes he is a bit too quick. That is the way he plays, but I think I took advantage. In the first frame I couldn’t feel my bones. I was scared to hit the white and everything was shaking. The second and third frame I felt alright.
“Pressure is just an illusion. It is there but it isn’t real. We make it up in our minds. I walked in here a few days ago with nobody here and I felt cool. Today, because there are people sitting there I was shaking and could barely walk. It becomes easier. It never goes away but I’m trying to deal with it.”
World number 59 Aaron Hill summoned a superb 115 in the decisive frame to beat three-time World Champion Mark Williams 5-2.
The Irishman has had an underwhelming campaign thus far, but today’s win puts him in the last 32 of a full format ranking event for the first time this term.
“I’m delighted, especially the way I finished off in one visit. It is great to beat someone like Mark Williams,” said 22-year-old Hill.
“It was only a couple of years ago I was dreaming of playing in venues like this. It was always a goal of mine to qualify for this event, because it is such a unique venue with good crowds. They gave me great support there and it was a great feeling.”
England’s four-time World Champion Mark Selby scored a 5-2 win over Liu Hongyu to progress, while Belgium’s 2023 Crucible King Luca Brecel won 5-2 against Jiang Jun.
Again, I can’t really comment. The only thing I saw was a couple of frames of the Hill v Williams match and, without downplaying Aaron Hill’s merit, from what I saw, Williams didn’t play great.
The 2025 WSF Championship
The group phase finished yesterday and “only” 70 players remain on course for a professional tour card. Among them is On Yee Ng. At the start of the event there were 172 entrants, representing 37 countries. The field was a real “mixed bag”. From celeb veterans like Tony Knowles – he’s 69 – to hopeful talented kids like Adam Abbas from England, who is only 12. Adam remarkably qualified for the knockout stage. He lost to Vladislav Gradinari this morning.
The 2025 German Masters got underway yesterday in Berlin. There had been some notable withdrawals ahead of the event and there was one more late minute one: Hossein Vafaei. WST didn’t give any reason for it but it could possibly be visa issues, it would not be the first time it happens either.
Anyway, here are WST reports on what happened yesterday on the baize in Berlin:
Neil Robertson celebrated being named on the Australia Day 2025 Honours List by thrashing tour rookie Antoni Kowalski 5-1 at the Machineseeker German Masters.
The Thunder from Down Under was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the General Division on Sunday. Similar to the MBE, the OAM is the highest civilian honour that can be bestowed by the Australian government.
The 2010 World Champion is widely regarded as one of the greats of modern snooker and is by far and away Australia’s greatest ever player. However, despite winning the BetVictor English Open earlier this season, he has work to do to qualify automatically for April’s World Championship. He’s currently ranked 20th in the world with only the top 16 making it straight to the Crucible, which he failed to qualify for last year.
There are signs that his form is returning though having beaten John Higgins at the recent Masters in London, before bowing out against eventual winner Shaun Murphy. This afternoon’s encounter saw Robertson fire home breaks of 57, 57 and 102 on his way to victory. Next up he faces Hammad Miah, who scored a surprise 5-2 win over Chris Wakelin.
“I always hoped that one day I would receive this honour. I was never really sure if it would happen or not, but to get the email saying I was up for consideration made me excited. I hoped it would go through and when I found out the news that I was on the honours list it made me feel so proud. Definitely the proudest moment of my career for sure,” said Melbourne cueman Robertson.
“A lot of people know who I am in Australia, but snooker is such a tough sport to break through with there because we are so good at so many sports. Most of them are outdoor sports, it is tough to compete with those, but this is massive recognition for what I’ve done and hopefully it will encourage me to do greater things.“
Scotland’s 31-time ranking event winner Higgins secured his progression with a hard fought 5-3 defeat of Mark Davis.
Runs of 68, 91, 53, 70 and 124 helped the Glaswegian over the line today. However, his defeat at the hands of Robertson at the Masters saw him surrender a 5-1 lead to lose 6-5 and looking back, Higgins concedes that was a loss which hit him hard.
“This is a sport that has given me so much over the years but it begins to take your soul bit by bit. This has been a good sport for me, but as you fall down the rankings it can begin to take that bit of goodness. It is a brutal sport sometimes,” admitted Higgins.
“That was a good win today. Mark has always been really tough and given me some tough battles. It is always a good game when I play him and that was another one.“
World Champion Kyren Wilson recovered from his Masters final loss to beat Hong Kong’s Ka Wai Cheung 5-3, while former International Champion Zhang Anda beat Graeme Dott 5-4.
Newly crowned Johnstone’s Paint Masters champion Shaun Murphy continued his red hot form with a 5-0 demolition of Liam Graham at the Machineseeker German Masters in Berlin.
Murphy claimed the Paul Hunter Trophy for the second time in his career, ten years on from his first, with victory at Alexandra Palace eight days ago. The Magician secured the title with a pulsating 10-7 win over World Champion Kyren Wilson in the final, having made a spellbinding 147 against Mark Allen in the semis.
Scotland’s Graham is currently engaged in a battle for tour survival, after getting himself back in the race to remain a professional with a run to the final of the 9Club Shoot Out before Christmas. However, he was powerless to further advance his position today, as Murphy blitzed for the line.
The Englishman composed breaks of 55, 79, 108 and 106 as he surged to victory. He now faces a mouth watering meeting with Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, who whitewashed Stuart Bingham 5-0.
Murphy said: “I’ve had just a couple of days off this week and really enjoyed the victory. Those Triple Crown wins don’t come around every year. However, I’ve just had a couple of days then straight back to work and put the hours in. I didn’t want to come here, after the Lord Mayor’s Show, to this venue that I love so much and lose. I’m delighted with the victory and now we march on.
“There is a difference between people who win an event from time to time and players you talk about for a long time. If my career ended today then I would be very proud of what I’ve achieved in the sport but I feel I have plenty left in the tank and I’m going to try and wring every last drop out of it.“
World number one and defending champion Judd Trump prevailed 5-2 in a hard fought contest with David Grace.
Trump defeated Si Jiahui in last year’s title match to capture the trophy for a third time. His next opponent this week will be Joe O’Connor, who scored an impressive 5-1 win over Stephen Maguire.
Ben Woollaston top scored with 120 in a blistering 5-0 defeat of David Gilbert, while Barry Hawkins came through 5-4 against Alfie Burden.
I can’t comment. I saw nothing of it, not a single ball. For most of the time I was working for snooker.org, “marking” the scores of theWSF championship that is currently underway in Morocco. It’s a huge amateur event . No less than 64 matches were played yesterday only. There is one tour card to be earned and there are quite a number of ex-pros in the draw. Two table are streamed on YouTube. It runs until coming Saturday.
My post today will not be about snooker … there’s plenty going on on the green baize and the German Masters is about to start in Berlin but my thoughts today are elsewhere
Today, it’s exactly 80 years since the Russian army “liberated” Auschwitz concentration camp. They didn’t find many prisoners there, only the weak and ill had been left behind to die, the others had been forced to leave, by foot, in the cold and many of them didn’t survive.
It is estimated that around 1.1 million prisoners perished in Auschwitz camps, mainly Jews, but not only Jews. Sinti and Roma were deported too, as were homosexuals and there were criminals sent to the camps as well.
What Hitler and the Nazis did was not a first either. The Ottoman regime and in particular Sultan Abdel Hamid II had done the same to the Armenians at the end of the 19th century and early 20th century. Massacres and deportations…
Note that I write “Hitler and the Nazis” not “the Germans”. I have many German friends. Evil is not a “nation’s trait” and those friends I have, most weren’t even born.
All those human persons who suffered and perished … what was their crime? Many were only children, babies even. What did they do to deserve this abomination? Nothing … their only crime was that they were perceived as “different”, hence threatening. Also those in power needed to create a distraction from the awful economical situation1, something that could “channel” the people’s discontent towards an alleged enemy within rather against those in power. Centuries of antisemitism driven by the Christian powers made the Jews an ideal and easy target.
Still … such horrific crimes by a nation that produced so many wonderful artists, writers and scientists … I don’t understand, I’m not sure there is anything to understand. But …
We MUST remember … so that it never happens again.
… not to anyone, not anywhere, not ever again...
We MUST remember … and learn
Why do I care ? Because it’s part of my own family history, because I remember the tattoo on my dentist arm, because in the early 60th I was still taught at school – a catholic school – that Jews were evil, that they stabbed the wafers in the churches and that the wafers bled, that if ever we entered a Synagogue, God would strike us with thunder … and I knew for fact that it was nonsense, but some other kids bought it.
So if you can spare a bit of time today or in the coming days, here are some suggestions … things to listen to, books to read, films to watch… none of which describes the Shoah in horrific details but are all the more moving for it.
The Mauthausen Trilogy written by Iakovos Kambanellis, music by Mikis Theodorakis (songs)
That situation was partly created by the aftermaths of WW1. France in particular had made sure the Germany would be humiliated. Hitler’s discourses about the “superior race” was particularly well received under the circumstances, always would be. ↩︎
Xiao Guodong beat David Gilbert 3-2 in an exciting finish to the final of Group Seven of BetVictor Championship League Snooker Invitational to become the seventh and last player into the Winners’ Group.
China’s Xiao, who landed his first ranking title earlier this season at the Wuhan Open, will return on February 4th and 5th for the Winners’ Group, alongside Judd Trump, Hossein Vafaei, Si Jiahui, Kyren Wilson, Mark Selby and Matthew Selt, when the title and a place in the 2025 Sportsbet.io Champion of Champions will be up for grabs.
Ricky Walden finished top of the group phase on Saturday with five wins out of five, but then suffered 3-2 reverse against Gilbert, who made a break of 135 in the deciding frame. Xiao, who finished second in the group table, beat Noppon Saengkham 3-0 in the semis without conceding a single point, scoring runs of 75, 100 and 123.
In the final, Xiao led 1-0 and 2-1 but Gilbert, who earlier made a 147 during the group phase, battled back to 2-2 with a 101 in frame four. Xiao was on 59 in the decider when he missed the penultimate red, and Gilbert had a chance to clear, but a tricky pot on the last red to a centre pocket hit the far jaw, and that proved his last shot.
Judd Trump calls for German Masters changes ahead of bid for fourth title
Phil Haigh
Judd Trump is defending his German Masters title next week (Picture: Getty Images)
Judd Trump has hailed the German Masters as a top three event on the calendar, calling for the tournament to increase in stature to match its reputation.
The ranking event at the Tempodrom in Berlin is one of the highlights of the snooker season, played in the unique arena in front of a lively German crowd.
Trump is a three-time German Masters champion and will be in Berlin next week looking to defend his title in an event he looks forward to more than most.
In fact, the world number one rates the atmosphere as close to the likes of the Crucible and Alexandra Palace.
‘Berlin is probably third place in terms of the crowd interaction and how good the crowds are, especially when you get to that final weekend and how passionate they are,’ Trump told Metro.
‘The crowds in Berlin and the noise when you come into the final is very close to, or on a par with, the Masters.
‘I think those two are out there on their own in terms of how good you feel when you play on the final weekend.’
Trump beat Si Jiahui in the Berlin final last year (Picture: Getty Images)
Trump is a big fan of his annual trip to Germany, but would like to see the event having even more prominence on the calendar given how highly he rates the experience of playing in Berlin.
Players tend to judge how big events are based on prize money and there has been a boost to the prize fund at the German Masters this year, with the winner leaving with £100,000, up from last year’s £80,000.
However, that leaves the event level with the Home Nations and Trump thinks it deserves to be much bigger than the likes of the English Open in Brentwood.
‘I’d like to have seen it grow somehow,’ he said. ‘I think the tournament deserves to be bigger than it is.
‘I don’t think it should be on a par with some of the other events like the Home Nations, although Northern Ireland is the exception.
‘I think Germany should be up there, just behind the UK [Championship], but it’s not really gone anywhere, it’s stagnated a little bit. There should be a few changes to make a bit bigger than it is because the crowd over there deserve it.
‘It’s a little bit disappointing because I feel like they could even hold the Tour Championship or something over there. The crowd deserve something bigger. Its excellent to have a tournament there, but the fans deserve a bigger, more prestigious event.’
Trump is having a fantastic season so far (Picture: Getty Images)
Trump himself has made big changes to his life this season, leaving his Bristol base to split most of his time between Dubai and Hong Kong.
‘My practice tables are getting taken out next week so it’s pretty permanent now,’ he said. ‘My main base will be in Dubai but my girlfriend lives in Hong Kong. I have residence in both Dubai and Hong Kong so I’ll be split between them depending where the tournaments are.
‘It’s very different, completely different from what I’m used to. I’m used to my old life of just going to practice and then sitting at home all night, every day.
‘Now there’s a lot more opportunities to do different things. It’s a more outdoorsy lifestyle, living in those different places, a lot more time after snooker to spend in the sun, or go to the beach or whatever. It’s a bit better and more inspiring than being in the miserable weather for months.’
Trump’s girlfriend is well-known figure skater from Hong Kong Maisy Ma, who he says is understanding of his globe-trotting lifestyle in the public eye.
‘She’s used to being in the limelight herself, she still does TV work,’ he said. ‘It’s a good balance because she knows what I’m going through, I think that helps as well.’
The world number one is having another great season, with big wins at the UK Championship, Saudi Arabia Masters and Shanghai Masters, while he is enjoying his more glamorous lifestyle, making him even more dangerous on the table.
‘When you’re winning it’s a lot easier to be happy,’ he said. ‘When you’re travelling around and you fancy your chances of winning every event, you’re not dreading going to venues. It definitely helps.
‘Where I’m living as well, it makes it easier to accept defeat. It’s easier to travel back to that. You’re in a bit of a bubble for the first few years when you make changes in your life or new things happen, you’re a lot happier when you lose to go home.
‘It couldn’t be going much better and it helps on the table because I’m trying my best but it’s not the end of the world if I do lose. I think that helps me play my best and be more relaxed when I’m out there.’
Judd Trump is absolutely spot on in this interview. The German fans, and, in general, the mainland Europe fans deserve better. He’s also right in stressing how much happiness in your private life helps succeeding in your professional life. Britain, I’m afraid, is not the best place to live in, especially post-Brexit Britain… unless you are very rich probably. I have been traveling to Britain regularly since 2009 and I can see the difference. There is more poverty, more alcoholism and more insecurity now than 15 years ago. But, even without putting the economical aspect into the equation, the weather is a huge factor1. It is well documented how lack of natural light, and sun, during the winter months affects our mood and and general well-being negatively.
It is the same in Belgium as well of course, and in northern Europe in general. That’s why I chose to live in my husband’s country, Greece, and I feel much better for it. ↩︎
Thailand’s Mink Nutcharut hit back from 1-3 down to defeat world champion Bai Yulu 4-3 in a thrilling finale at the WSF Women’s Championship in Saïdia, Morocco.
Victory for the 25-year-old represents her second world ranking title win following her win at the Australian Women’s Open last October and continues a remarkable streak that has now see Mink lift the first title of the calendar year during each of the previous four years (2022-2025).
The title is her ninth world ranking event win overall, which sees her join an illustrious list of the top 10 most successful players of all-time on the World Women’s Snooker Tour, alongside Reanne Evans, Allison Fisher, Kelly Fisher, Karen Corr, Stacey Hillyard, Ng On Yee and Maria Catalano, equalling the tally of both Lynette Horburgh and Mandy Fisher.
For beaten finalist Bai, the 21-year-old can take the consolation of a new career-high world ranking position of number three, as she moves above England’s Reanne Evans for the first time. The Chinese star has now reached six finals from her eight tournaents contested to date, winning three.
Following a week of snooker in Saïdia the final came down to a repeat of last season’s World Championship final, which had seen Bai claim a memorable triumph 6-5 on the final pink.
The reigning world champion player made the stronger start in their latest encounter as she hit breaks of 49, 41 and 32 on her way to a 2-0 lead, before the next two frames were shared as Bai moved to within one of claiming her second trophy of the season following victory at the UK Championship.
World number one Mink had other ideas, however, as she produced her highest break of the match with a run of 65 to reduce her arrears to one frame, before she added the next to force a seventh and deciding-frame.
Both players had opportunities but it was Mink who took an early lead with a run of 36, before a nerveless long pot on the brown, followed by blue and pink ultimately proved to be enough to avenge her defeat in Dongguan Changping last March.
Mink also hit the highest break of the event with her run of 80 during the round robin group stages, eclipsing the maximum attempt of Bai which ended on 73 during her quarter-final win against Narucha Phoemphul.
CHALLENGE CUP
The Challenge Cup tournament for players who did not reach the quarter-finals was won by Hind Bennani of Morocco, who defeated Yasmine Eythrib 2-0 to lift her first WWS Tour title.
Bennai, who has previously competed at the UK Championship and Belgian Open tournanents, did not drop a frame as she saw off Soukaina Alouane, former African Games winner Yousra Matine and finally Eythrib on Wednesday to lift the trophy.
World Women’s Snooker would like to thank everyone who contributed to a historic first-ever world ranking tournament in Africa, including the World Snooker Federation, Morocco Snooker and the spectacular Radisson Blu venue
Leone Crowley defeated Kaylan Patel 5-0 in the final of the 2025 WSF Junior Championship to earn the title and a two-year World Snooker Tour (WST) tour card.
Crowley, from Cork, came through an international field of 57 cueists from 22 countries to win the biggest title of his career to date.
The 18-year-old makes history as the first ever player from the Republic of Ireland to win the prestigious title and earns professional status for the first time in his career.
He made an impressive start to the tournament by topping his group with a clean sweep of victories and just two frames dropped en route to the knockout stages.
This fine form continued as Crowley, who regularly practises at Mark Allen’s snooker camp in Belfast, whitewashed Scotland’s Ayaan Iqbal before showing his battling qualities to overcome Poland’s Michal Szubarczyk in a deciding frame having trailed 3-2.
His place in the title match was secured by overcoming Amaan Iqbal 4-1 in a hard fought contest that last for almost four hours on Wednesday evening.
There he faced England’s Patel, who was aiming to become only the second Englishman after Stan Moody to lift the WSF Junior Championship crown.
Following a trio of group stage victories, Patel had defeated fellow countryman Adam Abbas (4-1) and O’Shay Scott (4-1) to reach the last eight.
He looked certain of a semi-final place when he stormed into a 3-0 lead over Riley Powell, but the Welshman rallied to win three frames in a row and force a decider. Patel, however, held his nerve in the final frame to compile a break of 50 before earning his final place with an impressive 4-0 defeat of the highly-rated Zhou Jinhao from China.
Unfortunately for Patel, he was unable to repeat this form in the title match and Crowley raced into a 4-0 lead at the mid-session interval in relatively comfortable fashion despite not compiling a half-century break.
Crowley kept his cool after the break and took the fifth and decisive frame by a scoreline of 73-24 to complete the biggest victory of his life.
“I feel very good. I have been playing the game for the last ten years and I’ve put a lot of hard work into this so I am just happy to have made my Dad proud and myself too. My family back home were all watching it so I want to thank them for all the support” said Crowley.
“I 100% believed that this was possible – if you don’t believe then you’re not going to achieve your goals. I was feeling good coming into the game. It was scrappy but there was some good safety play and I felt confident when I was in front that I would get over the line eventually.”
Looking ahead to the next two years, Crowley said: “I want to gain experience and hopefully I can stay on the tour. I don’t want to say too much but hopefully, after those two years, I will stay on – that’s the goal. My hero is Judd Trump, so I would like to play him.”
The WSF Open Championship takes place on 24 January – 1 February and can be watched live on the WPBSA YouTube channel and WSF Facebook page.
Congratulations to the Winners!
I’m happy that Crowley won rather than Patel simply because I believe that 16 is far too young to be on Tour. It’s such a competitive and brutal environment and I don’t think that many 16 years old are psychologically and emotionally equipped to deal with the pressure it generates and the demands of professional sports.
World number one Judd Trump made a trio of centuries as he beat Joe O’Connor 3-0 in the final of Group Six of BetVictor Championship League Snooker Invitational to secure a place in next month’s Winners’ Group.
Trump will join Hossein Vafaei, Si Jiahui, Kyren Wilson, Mark Selby, Matthew Selt and one more player in the Winner’s Group in February when the title and a place in the 2025 Champion of Champions will be at stake.
O’Connor finished top of the group phase with six wins out of six, then edged out Noppon Saengkham 3-2 in the semi-finals. Trump won four of his six group games before beating David Gilbert 3-1 in the semis. Breaks of 113, 103 and 101 saw Trump dominate the final.
Having made 16 centuries in two groups this week, Trump has moved his tally for 2024/25 to 65, raising his hopes of making 100 tons in the season. The first player to achieve that will earn a £100,000 bonus. Jak Jones, meanwhile, has made an incredible 32 centuries in this event, extending his record for the most tons made in a single tournament. And he’ll look to add to that tally in Group Seven.
Jack Lisowski became the second player in as many days to miss the final black when he had the chance to make a 147. His break came in the opening frame of his group match against Jones, and Lisowski ran out of position from pink to black then failed to pot a near-impossible thin cut to a top corner. O’Connor had also missed the black on 140 on Wednesday.
Jones, O’Connor, Gilbert and Saengkham advance to Group Seven on Friday and Saturday, where they will join Xiao Guodong, Zhou Yuelong and Ricky Walden.
2025 German Masters – Withdrawals galore
O’SULLIVAN, DING, HE AND DALE WITHDRAW FROM MACHINESEEKER GERMAN MASTERS
Ronnie O’Sullivan has withdrawn from next week’s Machineseeker German Masters due to medical reasons.
O’Sullivan was due to play Dylan Emery in his opening match. Emery will now receive a bye to the last 32.
Ding Junhui has also pulled out of the event. He was due to face Ross Muir, who receives a bye to the last 32.
He Guoqiang has withdrawn for medical reasons. He was due to face Ali Carter, who receives a bye to the last 32.
Dominic Dale has pulled out. He was due to face Tom Ford, who receives a bye to the last 32.
The event runs from January 27th to February 2nd at the Tempodrom in Berlin.
It’s a real shame for the event, the only one remaining played in mainland Europe. I’ surprised by Dale withdrawal as WST had recently posted a piece where Dominic explained how he was looking forward to the event. No reason has been given for his withdrawal, nor for Ding’s withdrawal.
As always when Ronnie withdraws, some fans doubts his motives. But Ronnie has now withdrawn from the exhibition he was due to play in Finland with John Higgins…. and that’s a serious concern. Clearly something is not right and all I can wish is for him to get better soon and sort out whatever needs to be sorted in his life, if that is the underlying problem.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 