Judd Trump beat Mark Selby 3-0 in the Group 4 final to advance to Winners’ Group of BetVictor Championship League Snooker at Stadium MK, Milton Keynes.
The World No.1 concluded his victory with a 102 to take his career to tally to 778, now outright third on the all-time list having overtaken Stephen Hendry’s 775 earlier in the group. Trump had come from two frames down to beat Kyren Wilson 3-2 in his group semi-final, a total clearance of 131 in the decider setting up the final with Selby.
The Leicester man also reached the semi-finals by winning a deciding frame; he beat Mark Williams 3-2 having been 1-0 and 2-1 down.
“The way I closed out the last three or four games, I played some of my best stuff,” said Trump. “I was pretty consistent the whole way through, played a good game against Jack and Kyren played well to beat me [in the league phase].
“In the end I had to dig deep against Kyren in the semi-finals. I made a really good comeback and played really well against Mark in the final.”
On surpassing Hendry’s tally of career centuries, Trump added: “It is special for me. People try and discredit it because there are more tournaments, but I am still at a better frame per century ratio and I am scoring as heavily as anybody has scored.
“I have to keep doing my thing on the table, playing the way I play, making my breaks and enjoying myself. Over the next couple of years there is a chance for me, if I can keep this form up, to win as many titles as possible.”
Trump will join Zhou Yuelong, Graeme Dott and John Higgins in Winners’ Group from April 1-2, with three more places left to be earned in the big-money conclusion to BetVictor Championship League Snooker.
Barry Hawkins will join Wilson, Williams and Selby in Group Five having finished fifth in Group Four, where they will be joined by newcomers Joe Perry, Ali Carter and Ronnie O’Sullivan. Tom Ford and Jack Lisowski have been eliminated from the event having finished sixth and seventh respectively in the group.
BetVictor Championship League Snooker sees 25 of the game’s elite players compete for their share of a total prize pot of up to £205,000.
Group Five begins on Wednesday, February 10. Live scoring will be available at www.worldsnooker.com. Group fixtures and results can be found at https://championshipleaguesnooker.co.uk/
Follow BetVictor Championship League Snooker on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for all the latest news and scores from Stadium MK.
PLAY OFF RESULTS
SEMI-FINALS
Judd Trump 3-2 Kyren Wilson
2-101 (100), 6-121 (121), 69-52 (69, 52), 118-0 (51, 67), 131-0 (131)
Mark Selby 3-2 Mark Williams
16-84 (84), 67-37 (52), 54-64 (Selby 50), 99-36 (83), 72-49
THE FINAL
Judd Trump 3–0 Mark Selby
100-5 (62), 72-25, 103-0 (102)
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