China Open 2011 - the final (part II)

00:43:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

Judd Trump, the 2011 China Open champion
Judd Trump succeeded in winning his first ever major ranking title, as the young man from Bristol defeated Mark "The Jester from Leicester" Selby after a thrilling final, by 10-8.


How can we end a week of grandiose snooker, better than with a terrific final? That’s how Trump v. Selby match was. More than any snooker fan could have ever asked from the sport they love. A genuine battle of cues, a terrific line-up, some really cracking shots, a rain of century breaks and a final result that proves both of the players fought and fought well.


As the scoreline was 5-3 in favor of Judd, the boys were entering their final session. Once more, the one who broke the ice was Trump, a break of 68 leaving Selby in need of a snooker. As the Leicester man was reaching a 32 break, his opponent potted the last red left on the table, this requiring from Selby more snookers....three to be more precise and he was pretty determined to get them all. It was a tremendous effort and in the end he got two snookers, but Judd was going to extend his lead at 6-3.


Mark Selby, the 2011 China Open runner-up
However, the next two frames were conquered by Selby with runs of 132 and 66, a great response from the player who was always behind his "enemy". Still, a 113 hit by Judd was going to put him back in the lead with two points, as the score was going 7-5, but Mark seemed to be restless as he made a terrific 134 to go just one point behind him.
After all those beautiful breaks it was only normal to see some safety shots being played, so the next frame was a very scrappy, yet quite familiar one. Why am I saying this? Well, because Selby ended up needing three snookers (again!) and he sadly failed to take them all (again!).


As the score was now 8-6, the Jester knew he must do something to change that situation. He was always one step behind Judd and as much as he tried and tried he never succeeded in leveling up the match...until now that is!!! A great break of 124 was going to bring him closer to his wish, while a series of 45 and 24 was making the scoreline 8-8. It was, without doubt, a tremendous effort from Mark Selby! He leveled the match for the second time since that 1-1. You must have strong nerves for this one!
Still, this wasn’t quite his day, as the next two frames were cashed by Judd Trump with runs of 57 and...well...another 57. The youngster from Bristol won his second ranking title after the EPTC 1 event, but his first major ranking title ever! What a performance! What a thrill!


The magnificent Trump along with Leo Scullion, the ref
All these conclude the seven days marathon that was going on in Beijing, China and I must admit it was a spectacular show. Snooker was at its best, the players were just terrific, the final was breathtaking and both finalists should get our sincere congratulations.

Selby played more than great during this tournament, but somehow it just didn’t happen for him...this time, at least ;-) As for Judd, he is without doubt a future snooker star, a true professional and he might just put Neil Robertson in trouble at the Crucible two weeks from now :-))
Also I want to congratulate Leo Scullion, the ref in charge, because this was his first ranking final and he did a wonderful job! :-)

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)