Judd Trump was furious with his Champion of Champions defeat against rival Neil Robertson and claimed the Australian did not deserve to win. The Ace was frustrated with what he perceived to be Robertson slowing down their match in Bolton.
The two former world champions met in the group final but an unusually sluggish affair ensued. There were lengthy frames between two players who generally rack up high scores.
Robertson claimed a 3-1 lead and managed to battle through a tough match, eventually winning it 6-4. But Trump was furious and insisted he was unfortunate to be knocked out of the tournament.
He told ITV: “I thought I was very unlucky. To be honest, I think Neil knows that he didn’t deserve to win like that, but that happens. He put in a good spell to go 3-1 up, then after that he had quite a few chances, missed quite a few long balls and got safe every time. It’s just one of those days.
“It was a tough game, it was very slow,’ he said. ‘I love Neil but there was a lot of slow play and he’s a much better player when he just gets on with it.
“Hopefully he gets on with it for the rest of the tournament, it would be nice to see him go and win it again, he’s a great player. It just got a bit bogged down out there.”
Robertson, who potted a stunning shot with a blue, has progressed to the semi-final. He will face three-time world champion Mark Williams for a place in the Champion of Champions showdown.
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The 42-year-old did not entirely agree that Trump deserved to win. He insists he was able to match his opponent and kept his ‘discipline’ to see out the encounter.
Robertson said: “Incredible game, Judd showed all his qualities there. The great champion he’s been over the past 18 months, well his whole career really. His safety play, his discipline, everything was incredible. I matched it with him, I stayed with him, kept my discipline as well.
“That blue is definitely one of the highlight shots of my career, in terms of the pressure and everything that was at stake.”
Meanwhile, Ronnie O’Sullivan is in action later today. The Rocket, who is back in the UK after a spell playing in Asia, will face Xiao Guodong this afternoon.
