The Englishman continued his relentless pursuit of titles at the weekend.
Success in the Gibraltar Open for Judd Trump sees him rise to joint-fifth on the all-time ranking event winners list.
The world number one defended his Gibraltar Open crown with a 4-0 thumping of Jack Lisowski in the final on Sunday evening at the Marshall Arena.
It was the third title-deciding contest of the campaign between the pair – the first time the two same players had participated in that many ranking event finals with one another during the same term.
Both of the previous matches ended in favour of Trump and there was rarely any doubt that this outcome would be any different.
The 31 year-old compiled breaks of 106 and 94 to see off what was another disappointing challenge from his close friend off the table.
Lisowski, who fought strongly earlier in the day to pip Lu Ning and Stuart Carrington in deciders, has now lost in all six of his final appearances at this level.
The 29 year-old is doing well to get himself into these positions, but the maiden trophy that he desperately craves remains elusive.
One consolation is that all the ranking points that Lisowski has accrued over the last few months look set to guarantee his position in the top 16 and an automatic spot at the World Championship.
For Trump, it was another week of utter domination as the former world champion lost just three frames across his seven victories in total.
The champion’s cheque worth £50,000 is added to the £150,000 bonus he earned for topping the BetVictor European Series ahead of Mark Selby and Jordan Brown.
“I’m pretty happy with how I played throughout the tournament,” Trump said after lifting the trophy.
“I played really solid. I had a really tough game in the semi-final against Matt Selt. He was playing some brilliant stuff and I managed to steal a very big second frame.”
“I was solid again in the final against Jack. I know how good he is, so for me it’s about getting that quick start and putting him under pressure.
“He only really missed one ball in that game, and I just sort of capitalised on every single mistake.”
Trump boasts five triumphs this season, taking his tally of ranking event wins to 22 on the career list – the same as one of the legends of the game, Mark Williams.
Only Ronnie O’Sullivan, Stephen Hendry, John Higgins, and Steve Davis are placed ahead of him on the pecking order.
But at the rate in which Trump is rattling off these glories, it won’t be too long until he elevates his figures even more.
“It’s something that I didn’t even consider two or three years ago,” continued Trump, who has won 13 ranking titles in the last 25 months.
“I was winning one or two events a year, and if I finished my career with 20 or 25 events I would have been absolutely over the moon.”
“Fast forward three years and 14 events later, and I’ve kind of taken the game by storm.”
Some will argue that there are more ranking events these days compared to decades ago, and there is certainly some truth to that, but at the same time that shouldn’t take away from the impressive speed in which he is building his tally.
In Gibraltar last year, Trump won a record-breaking sixth ranking title of a single campaign, and he will have three more opportunities to either match or break that number this season.
Following a very brief dip in form during February, Trump is back with more silverware to add to his cabinet and he will undoubtedly be the main man to stop once the World Championship comes around next month at the Crucible Theatre.
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