Judd Trump has won the BetVictor European Series for the third time – landing the £150,000 jackpot bonus.
The Englishman was already in complete control at the top of the European Series race heading into this week’s German Masters.
Reaching the quarter-finals in Berlin has guaranteed he’ll pocket the tidy sum with one full tournament still to play.
The European Series comprises eight events on the calendar that are sponsored by bookmaker BetVictor.
The player who earns the most prize money during that period is rewarded with the hefty bonus.
Shaun Murphy won the first competition with his victory in the season-opening Championship League last summer.
Barry Hawkins then took the front following his triumph over Trump at the European Masters in Fürth.
The latter, however, secured back-to-back European Series titles with his successes at both the English and Northern Ireland Opens.
That left it increasingly unlikely that the 34 year-old would be caught in the standings.
Despite Mark Allen’s win at the Snooker Shoot Out and Gary Wilson’s successful Scottish Open defence, the closest challenger before the German Masters remained Hawkins.
But already more than £100,000 adrift, Trump’s rivals required a dazzling finish to the series in order to usurp the world number two.
That, of course, didn’t materialise with Trump himself extending his own impressive run of form this week at the Tempodrom.
On Thursday, the recent World Grand Prix runner-up compiled a hat-trick of century breaks to beat Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 5-2 in the German capital city.
It’s the third time Trump has topped the European Series order of merit, adding to his victories in the 2019/20 and 2020/21 campaigns.
“I knew going into that game what I needed to do,” Judd Trump told the World Snooker Tour.
“There was that added incentive, that added bit of pressure. It wasn’t just a normal game.”
“When I can play somewhere near my best it is always special – especially in that kind of arena, in that atmosphere.
“I’m very pleased to win it again. I’ve been consistent in all of the events. It is something that I look for at the start of a season.
“I try to lift the series every year. To do it with one event to go is good.”
Results at the upcoming Welsh Open, which is the last counting tournament in the European Series, will now have no impact.
The German Masters, meanwhile, is down to its final eight contenders.
Trump will face John Higgins on Friday after the Scot overcame Allen, with reigning champion Ali Carter and fellow Englishman Sam Craigie also in the top half of the draw.
On the other side lies 2019 winner Kyren Wilson, who ended the mini resurgence of Neil Robertson with a 5-3 defeat of the Australian.
Wilson will play Fan Zhengyi in the last eight, while Ryan Day meets 2023 World Championship semi-finalist Si Jiahui.
All four quarter-finals take place on Friday at the Tempodrom.
2024 German Masters draw
Round of 128 (bo9)
Ali Carter 5-4 Michael White
Peng Yisong 5-4 Alfie Burden
Pang Junxu 5-2 Jimmy White
Haydon Pinhey 5-3 Rod Lawler
Zak Surety 5-3 Jack Lisowski
Alexander Ursenbacher 5-0 Ma Hailong
Hossein Vafaei 5-0 Mink Nutcharut
Elliot Slessor 5-2 Iulian Boiko
Sam Craigie 5-2 Sean O’Sullivan
Liam Pullen 5-1 Stuart Bingham
He Guoqiang 5-4 John Astley
Mark Williams 5-3 David Grace
Graeme Dott 5-3 Victor Sarkis
Ashley Carty 5-2 Noppon Saengkham
Andrew Higginson 5-4 Jiang Jun
Shaun Murphy 3-5 Xu Si
Mark Allen 5-4 Manasawin Phetmalaikul
Louis Heathcote 5-1 Andy Lee
Stephen Maguire 5-1 Rebecca Kenna
Joe O’Connor 5-2 Andy Hicks
John Higgins 5-3 Daniel Wells
Martin Gould 5-4 James Cahill
Zhou Yuelong 5-4 Jak Jones
Tian Pengfei 5-4 Reanne Evans
Jamie Clarke 5-3 Hammad Miah
Scott Donaldson 5-4 Gary Wilson
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 5-1 Jamie Jones
Zhang Anda 5-3 Mostafa Dorgham
Martin O’Donnell 5-2 Himanshu Dain
Matthew Selt 5-4 Dylan Emery
Matthew Stevens 5-3 Anton Kazakov
Judd Trump 5-0 Lukas Kleckers
Barry Pinches 2-5 Julien Leclercq
Ken Doherty 5-0 Jenson Kendrick
David Gilbert 5-0 Dean Young
Jordan Brown 5-4 Long Zehuang
Robert Milkins 5-4 Allan Taylor
Robbie Williams 5-3 Jackson Page
Ryan Day 5-3 Stan Moody
Oliver Brown 5-0 Andres Petrov
Andrew Pagett 5-3 Ahmed Aly Elsayed
Chris Wakelin 5-3 Mohamed Ibrahim
Aaron Hill 5-3 Muhammad Asif
Yuan Sijun 5-2 Ding Junhui
Mark Joyce 5-1 Wu Yize
Si Jiahui 5-4 Lyu Haotian
Alfie Davies 5-4 Sydney Wilson
Mark Selby 1-5 Marco Fu
Neil Robertson 5-1 Sanderson Lam
Jimmy Robertson 5-3 Liam Highfield
Joe Perry 5-0 Ryan Thomerson
Xing Zihao 5-1 Ross Muir
Kyren Wilson 5-3 Oliver Lines
Ben Woollaston 5-1 Anthony Hamilton
Ricky Walden 5-1 Adam Duffy
David Lilley 5-2 Liam Graham
Xiao Guodong 5-1 Ian Burns
Tom Ford 5-0 Baipat Siripaporn
Mark Davis 5-2 Ashley Hugill
Barry Hawkins 5-2 Stuart Carrington
Ben Mertens 5-3 Rory Thor
Fan Zhengyi 5-1 Cao Yupeng
Liu Hongyu 5-0 Dominic Dale
Luca Brecel 2-5 Ishpreet Singh Chadha
Round of 64 (bo9)
Ali Carter 5-1 Peng Yisong
Pang Junxu 5-1 Haydon Pinhey
Zak Surety 5-2 Alexander Ursenbacher
Elliot Slessor w/o Hossein Vafaei
Sam Craigie 5-2 Liam Pullen
He Guoqiang 5-1 Mark Williams
Graeme Dott 5-2 Ashley Carty
Andrew Higginson 2-5 Xu Si
Mark Allen 5-2 Louis Heathcote
Stephen Maguire 3-5 Joe O’Connor
John Higgins w/o Martin Gould
Zhou Yuelong 5-0 Tian Pengfei
Jamie Clarke 5-2 Scott Donaldson
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 5-4 Zhang Anda
Martin O’Donnell 0-5 Matthew Selt
Matthew Stevens 3-5 Judd Trump
Julien Leclercq 5-3 Ken Doherty
David Gilbert 2-5 Jordan Brown
Robert Milkins 5-2 Robbie Williams
Ryan Day 5-3 Oliver Brown
Andrew Pagett 5-3 Chris Wakelin
Aaron Hill 1-5 Yuan Sijun
Mark Joyce 1-5 Si Jiahui
Alfie Davies 5-1 Marco Fu
Neil Robertson 5-0 Jimmy Robertson
Joe Perry 5-1 Xing Zihao
Kyren Wilson 5-1 Ben Woollaston
Ricky Walden 4-5 David Lilley
Xiao Guodong 1-5 Tom Ford
Mark Davis 5-1 Barry Hawkins
Ben Mertens 3-5 Fan Zhengyi
Liu Hongyu 3-5 Ishpreet Singh Chadha
Round of 32 (bo9)
Ali Carter 5-2 Pang Junxu
Zak Surety 5-2 Elliot Slessor
Sam Craigie 5-1 He Guoqiang
Graeme Dott 4-5 Xu Si
Mark Allen 5-2 Joe O’Connor
John Higgins 5-3 Zhou Yuelong
Jamie Clarke 1-5 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Matthew Selt 2-5 Judd Trump
Julien Leclercq 5-1 Jordan Brown
Robert Milkins 1-5 Ryan Day
Andrew Pagett 1-5 Yuan Sijun
Si Jiahui 5-1 Alfie Davies
Neil Robertson 5-1 Joe Perry
Kyren Wilson 5-1 David Lilley
Tom Ford 5-2 Mark Davis
Fan Zhengyi 5-2 Ishpreet Singh Chadha
Round of 16 (bo9)
Ali Carter 5-0 Zak Surety
Sam Craigie 5-4 Xu Si
Mark Allen 2-5 John Higgins
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 2-5 Judd Trump
Julien Leclercq 2-5 Ryan Day
Yuan Sijun 3-5 Si Jiahui
Neil Robertson 3-5 Kyren Wilson
Tom Ford 3-5 Fan Zhengyi
Quarter-Finals (bo9)
Ali Carter 1-5 Sam Craigie
John Higgins 2-5 Judd Trump
Ryan Day 1-5 Si Jiahui
Kyren Wilson 5-0 Fan Zhengyi
Semi-Finals (bo11)
Sam Craigie 2-6 Judd Trump
Si Jiahui 6-3 Kyren Wilson
Final (bo19)
Judd Trump 10-5 Si Jiahui
Featured photo credit: WST
The juddernaught continues a fine season but Neil Robertson’s resurgence hasn’t gone past an upswing by another of this season’s underperforming stars Kyren Wilson. He hasn’t had many results this season so this may help his confidence getting a nice win against Robertson and going through to the sharp end of a tournament.
Go on judd Ronnie is not playing you should win