Judd Trump landed the German Masters title for a fourth time in some style as he hammered Shaun Murphy 10-4 in Berlin, but there is no time to celebrate his first title since December 2024.
It is a lengthy trophy drought by the world number one’s standards, but the wait is over for a 31st ranking title for the 36-year-old.
Only Ronnie O’Sullivan (41), Stephen Hendry (36) and John Higgins (33) have won more ranking titles than the Ace, and his challenge for a 32nd begins on Wednesday in Hong Kong.
The World Grand Prix starts on Tuesday at the Kai Tak Arena, so Trump will be making the 5,400-mile journey as quickly as possible before taking on Yuan Sijun in his opener.
‘Flying in the morning and then I’ll arrive on Tuesday morning. So, yeah, it’s not ideal preparation, really,’ Trump said after lifting the trophy in Berlin on Sunday night.
‘Hong Kong is a big event, but I’ve won before when I’ve had to travel across the world. So, I’ve got to take some positives and I know the form is there and it’s not going to kind of disappear overnight.’
Speaking earlier in the week in Berlin, Trump hoped that big tournaments could be spaced apart more in future, or possibly arranged more with geography in mind.
‘I think there’s still a lot that can change in snooker to make it a little bit easier on the players,’ he said. ‘Because if you do well here, it’s probably detrimental to next week, which should probably be the other way. There’s going to be a mad dash.
‘Hopefully in the future they can take the players’ opinions on board a little bit more and make sure we get a good day or two. Because it’s a long way and a seven-hour time difference, I think it is, to Hong Kong. Obviously, I look forward to spending a lot of time there now, but you don’t want to be turning up grumpy and jet-lagged.’
A World Snooker Tour statement on the packed professional calendar read: ‘We have more big tournaments and higher prize money on our global tour than ever before so inevitably that creates challenges for players who go deep in one event and then travel to the next one. We always take this into consideration in terms of scheduling matches and communicating with those players.’
Trump’s immediate concern after beating Murphy was that the schedule restricted him to just one celebratory drink in Berlin.
‘No, there’s no chance,’ he said of celebrations. ‘I might have one drink, but maybe on the plane or after the tournament in Hong Kong, I’ll definitely have a few.’
The world number one beat Cheung Ka Kai, Ryan Day, Si Jiahui, Xiao Guodong and Ali Carter before meeting the Magician in the final.
There he made breaks of 101, 71, 62, 64, 68, 59 and 61 on his way to a victory which actually felt closer than the scoreline suggested, but Trump claimed a number of tight frames on his way to the £100,000 top prize.
The Ace may have gone the entirety of 2025 without a trophy, but it was hardly a disastrous year, reaching three ranking finals, the showpiece of the Champion of Champions and semi-finals at the World Championship and Masters.
Trump has gone on bursts of success over his career and on the prospect of another coming soon, he feels he has been very close to one already.
‘I think this season could have been the same, really, the amount of chances I gave myself,’ he said.
‘I think I’ve probably thrown away two or three tournaments. I think I threw away John Higgins [at the Masters],[Zhao] Xintong in Saudi, maybe Northern Ireland [final against Jack Lisowski].
‘So, there’s at least three, I think, three or four times where I could have already won and be sat here with maybe three or four events already.
‘I’m looking at it as one of my better seasons. I think I’ve been very, very consistent. Last three months: semi-final, final, pretty much every single event.
‘So, yeah, I don’t think I’m far away from my best and if I can get a couple more coming in from here, then it’ll be a very good season.’
World Grand Prix first round draw and schedule
Tuesday February 3
5am (UK time)
Zhou Yuelong vs Stephen Maguire
Xiao Guodong vs Kyren Wilson
Elliot Slessor vs Stuart Bingham
Mark Selby vs Aaron Hill
11am
Wu Yize vs Anthony McGill
Jack Lisowski vs Chang Bingyu
Barry Hawkins vs Ding Junhui
Mark Williams vs Zhang Anda
Wednesday February 4
5am
Neil Robertson vs Jak Jones
Gary Wilson vs Si Jiahui
Ronnie O’Sullivan vs Joe O’Connor
Chris Wakelin vs Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
11am
Mark Allen vs Ali Carter
Judd Trump vs Yuan Sijun
Shaun Murphy vs Pang Junxu
John Higgins vs Zhao Xintong
