Judd Trump is more than happy to be in the World Snooker Championship quarter-final having not played his best game, believing that not even Ronnie O’Sullivan can maintain top form throughout the epic tournament.
The defending champion edged out Yan Bingtao 13-11 on Friday night, to follow a tight 10-8 victory over Tom Ford in round one.
There were flashes of brilliance from the world number one, including a superb 127 break in the final frame, but he has not been showing the kind of form that has seen him win six ranking titles since he lifted the trophy at the Crucible last year.
This is not dissimilar to how Trump performed en route to winning the World Championship last year, though, with a steady start building into an immense crescendo as he destroyed John Higgins in the final in Sheffield.
In contrast, O’Sullivan absolutely destroyed Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 10-1 in the first round this year, grabbing headlines for producing the shortest ever Crucible match at 108 minutes.
Trump is happy to see the Rocket firing on all cylinders early, and would rather build up to his best stuff than peak in the opening round of the 17-day marathon.
O’Sullivan came out of the first session of his second round match with Ding Junhui level at 4-4 on Friday night and Trump says that already illustrates how tough it is to maintain the highest standards throughout the World Championship.
‘It’s good to play well at the start, but the odds of keeping it up the whole tournament are very slim,’ Trump said after beating Yan. ‘ If you can just battle your way through the first couple of games and peak in the quarter-finals then you’ve only really got a week left of having to play well.
‘I don’t think anyone’s good enough to blow people away every single session, I think we’ve seen that today against Ding. He [Ronnie] has come out drawing that game.
‘It’s very difficult for anyone to play amazing every single session. But if I can flick it on in the quarter-finals onward, like I did last year, I’ll be happy.
‘You don’t want to be making headlines in the first and second round. You want to be making headlines come the weekend, come the final. That’s when you want to be peaking, playing your best stuff.
‘I think most people’s memories from last year are how well I played in the final, they don’t remember my last 16 bad session or a bad session against Thepchaiya [in round one], no one remembers that, it’s all about what happens in the final day and the final frame.’
Known for his flamboyant and entertaining style, Trump has always felt it necessary to put on some kind of a show for the fans, or in this year’s case the viewers.
However, when it comes to the World Championship, he has developed a steely determination to pick up wins rather look for style points.
‘I’m past caring about how it’s done,’ said the world champion. ‘I’m here to win as many world titles as possible, no one remembers the loser in a last 16 or what happens in the last 16.
‘The winner’s picture is always around the Crucible, I’m here to try and win it and I’ll be doing everything possible.
‘I’d love to be able to flick a switch and play amazing all the time but sometimes you don’t need to play your best snooker and if you can get by playing 50 or 60% and just scraping through and hopefully saving a bit in the tank for later in the tournament.
‘I’m just out there playing against the opponent and if my B game’s good enough to win then so be it. I think at some point in the World Championship you’re going to get a real test and you’re going to have to really up your game. To be honest no one’s really played amazing against me for me to have to raise my level.’
Trump will be facing Kyren Wilson or Martin Gould in the quarter-finals and he is expecting that to be the point he starts showing his truly world class form.
‘It’s a very long tournament, obviously you want to win the matches as easily as possible and save the stress, but I’ve got a couple of days off now, recharge, get some good practice in,’ said Judd.
‘I’ll be very ready to go in the quarter-finals and you’ll see the best snooker I’ve played so far.’
MORE: Ronnie O’Sullivan: ‘I’m only 70% of the player I was, but that’s enough’
MORE: Ronnie O’Sullivan has questioned Ding Junhui’s motivation but he lacks none at the Crucible
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