Judd Trump put on a spectacular display to beat Ding Junhui 4-0 and claim the second Players Tour Championship event of the new campaign.
Trump had begun the season in inconspicuous form after defeats in the opening rounds of PTC 1 and the Australian Open earlier in the summer.
However, the Bristol potter admitted that he had consciously taken a month off to recover from his breakthrough China Open triumph and subsequent run to the final of the World Championship at the tail end of last season.
In the final, Trump made light work of his Chinese opponent in a repeat of their epic last four clash at The Crucible back in April.
The Englishman ended the match in style with a century, completing the encounter in less than an hour, and, with it, became the first player to win two PTC events – the series having started this time last year.
Earlier in the day, Trump had edged 2010 world champion Neil Robertson in a 4-3 thriller that included a 141 century break from the 21 year-old – the highest break of the tournament.
In the quarter-finals, Trump easily despatched of Yu Delu 4-1 as he grew in confidence and outplayed Ireland’s Fergal O’Brien 4-0 to book his place in the final.
Dubliner O’Brien continued his excellent start to the new season having already reached the last 16 of PTC 1 and qualified for the Shanghai Masters next month.
The 39 year-old enjoyed two fantastic victories over Ali Carter and Ronnie O’Sullivan – where he came from 3-1 behind to defeat the former world number one in a deciding frame thriller – before running out of steam against an ominous looking Trump.
In the other semi-final, Ding had withstood a sterling fight back from his inexperienced countryman Xiao Guodong to eventually prevail 4-3.
But it will be Judd Trump that will take all the plaudits from PTC 2, and deservedly so following some criticism he received from his early season form.
In a recent interview here, Trump stated that “the season starts now for me. Going into the next tournament and then Shanghai, I’d say that is when the form will come back.”
Well, never have truer words been spoken and his form appears to be back with a vengeance.
The last time Trump played in China he won his maiden ranking event title. Who is to say he will not repeat the trick when the top pros visit Shanghai in September?
