Judd Trump hammered Ding Junhui 10-4 to capture the 2024 World Open title at the Yushan Sport Centre on Sunday.
The Englishman had to wait about four and a half years to get the opportunity to defend the title he first claimed back in 2019.
This was the first edition of the World Open since then, with the intervening years impacted by the global pandemic and travel restrictions.
Trump wasn’t at his brilliant best for much of the competition but, as has been the case so frequently this term, managed to emerge as the last player standing.
The Englishman’s tally of ranking titles for a prolific 2023/24 season now stands at five, with this success adding to his previous glories at the English, Wuhan, and Northern Ireland Opens, in addition to the German Masters.
Trump now boasts 28 trophies at this level, taking him to joint-fourth on the all-time list alongside one of the sport’s legends, Steve Davis.
There were less chances to win ranking events for the likes of Davis back in the 1980s and 1990s.
But there’s no doubting the fact that Trump is a modern-day great of the game, and at just 34 it will be intriguing to see just how many he’ll be able to land by the time his career is over.
The world number two was always in complete control of Sunday’s World Open final after taking the opening couple of scrappy frames to lead 2-0.
It was important Ding, who had a vociferous home crowd on his side, got off to a positive start.
But the 36 year-old looked tired following his heroic effort to edge Neil Robertson in a dramatic semi-final clash on Saturday night.
The scoring prowess that had been his trademark earlier in the event had deserted him, and Trump duly orchestrated a commanding 7-2 advantage by the end of the first session.
When the latter made it 8-2 with an outstanding century break to open the evening bout of play, the writing was on the wall.
Ding enjoyed a brief reprieve in the next frame, benefiting from his opponent’s misfortune to compile a tidy 84 clearance.
However, Trump responded with another ton to move to within the brink of victory, and even though he was forced to wait one more frame, he took the first after the last mid-session interval to complete the rout.
Earning ยฃ170,000 for his efforts at the World Open, Trump’s overall prize money from this season has now surpassed ยฃ1 million.
He has returned to his relentless ways of winning between 2019 and 2021, with only Ronnie O’Sullivan matching his five pieces of silverware since last summer.
For Ding, the former world number one’s wait to add to his 14 ranking titles continues.
The 2019 UK Championship represents his last triumph at this level, but it was a positive week overall and there are plenty of signs that his game is in a strong place.
Both Trump and Ding will be among the favourites at the upcoming Tour Championship in Manchester, where only the top 12 players from the one-year rankings will be participating.
Beyond that is the blue-riband World Championship, and on current form there will be a lot of people fancying Trump to add a second Crucible crown to his ever-growing collection of silverware.
World Open Draw and Results
Round of 128 (bo9)
Judd Trump 5-2 Rory Thor
Sanderson Lam 5-4 Gong Chenzhi
David Gilbert 5-0 Anton Kazakov
Fan Zhengyi 5-2 Dylan Emery
Lukas Kleckers 5-2 Jack Lisowski
Dominic Dale 5-3 Marco Fu
Stuart Carrington 5-4 Gary Wilson
David Lilley 5-3 Scott Donaldson
Jak Jones 5-3 Ryan Thomerson
Ashley Hugill 5-1 Anthony McGill
David Grace 5-2 Rebecca Kenna
Kyren Wilson 5-0 Jimmy White
Jamie Jones 5-0 Rod Lawler
Ricky Walden 5-0 Peng Yisong
Ben Woollaston 5-4 Ben Mertens
Iulian Boiko 5-1 Baipat Siripaporn
Mark Selby 5-3 Xing Zihao
Adam Duffy 5-4 Mark Davis
Si Jiahui 5-1 Stan Moody
Long Zehuang 5-4 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
John Higgins 5-1 Ross Muir
Jackson Page 5-3 Liam Graham
Zhou Yuelong 5-1 Jiang Jun
Wu Yize 5-2 Julien Leclercq
Matthew Stevens 5-3 Hammad Miah
Ryan Day 5-4 Andrew Higginson
Elliot Slessor 5-2 Reanne Evans
Zhang Anda 5-3 Allan Taylor
He Guoqiang 5-2 Jimmy Robertson
Matthew Selt 4-5 Wang Xinbo
Daniel Wells 5-1 Liam Highfield
Mark Allen 5-1 Andres Petrov
Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-3 Alfie Burden
Michael White 5-2 Haydon Pinhey
Lyu Haotian 5-2 Ashley Carty
Aaron Hill 5-4 Joe O’Connor
Robert Milkins 5-2 Barry Pinches
Sam Craigie 5-0 Ken Doherty
Hossein Vafaei 5-2 Liam Pullen
Graeme Dott 5-2 Ian Burns
Cao Yupeng 5-0 Rory McLeod
Noppon Saengkham 5-4 Himanshu Jain
Liu Hongyu 5-1 Jamie Clarke
Ding Junhui 5-3 Zak Surety
Sean O’Sullivan 5-1 Xiao Guodong
Joe Perry 5-4 Martin O’Donnell
Xu Si 5-0 Andrew Pagett
Shaun Murphy 5-0 Mohamed Ibrahim
Neil Robertson 5-0 Victor Sarkis
Tian Pengfei 5-1 Mink Nutcharut
Ishpreet Singh Chadha 5-3 Stuart Bingham
Yuan Sijun 5-3 Alexander Ursenbacher
Ali Carter 5-1 Ahmed Aly Elsayed
Louis Heatchote 5-0 Oliver Lines
Chris Wakelin 5-2 Andy Hicks
Jordan Brown 5-1 Lan Yuhao
Robbie Williams 5-3 Andy Lee
Tom Ford 5-2 Ma Hailong
Jenson Kendrick 5-3 Anthony Hamilton
Barry Hawkins 5-3 Steven Hallworth
Stephen Maguire 5-1 Mostafa Dorgham
Pang Junxu 5-2 James Cahill
Oliver Brown 5-4 Mark Joyce
Luca Brecel 5-1 Manasawin Phetmalaikul
Round of 64 (bo9)
Judd Trump 5-2 Sanderson Lam
Fan Zhengyi w/o David Gilbert
Lukas Kleckers 4-5 Dominic Dale
Stuart Carrington 4-5 David Lilley
Jak Jones 0-5 Ashley Hugill
David Grace 4-5 Kyren Wilson
Jamie Jones 4-5 Ricky Walden
Ben Woollaston w/o Iulian Boiko
Mark Selby w/o Adam Duffy
Si Jiahui 2-5 Long Zehuang
John Higgins 3-5 Jackson Page
Zhou Yuelong 1-5 Wu Yize
Matthew Stevens 5-2 Ryan Day
Elliot Slessor 5-3 Zhang Anda
He Guoqiang 5-4 Wang Xinbo
Daniel Wells 5-3 Mark Allen
Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-3 Michael White
Lyu Haotian 5-4 Aaron Hill
Robert Milkins w/o Sam Craigie
Hossein Vafaei 5-1 Graeme Dott
Cao Yupeng 5-3 Noppon Saengkham
Liu Hongyu 2-5 Ding Junhui
Sean O’Sullivan 1-5 Joe Perry
Xu Si 3-5 Shaun Murphy
Neil Robertson 5-3 Tian Pengfei
Ishpreet Singh Chadha 3-5 Yuan Sijun
Ali Carter 5-3 Louis Heathcote
Chris Wakelin 5-4 Jordan Brown
Robbie Williams 5-4 Tom Ford
Jenson Kendrick 2-5 Barry Hawkins
Stephen Maguire 5-3 Pang Junxu
Oliver Brown 2-5 Luca Brecel
Round of 32 (bo9)
Judd Trump 5-3 Fan Zhengyi
Dominic Dale 2-5 David Lilley
Ashley Hugill 3-5 Kyren Wilson
Ricky Walden 4-5 Ben Woollaston
Mark Selby 5-2 Long Zehuang
Jackson Page 5-3 Wu Yize
Matthew Stevens 1-5 Elliot Slessor
He Guoqiang 3-5 Daniel Wells
Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-2 Lyu Haotian
Robert Milkins 2-5 Hossein Vafaei
Cao Yupeng 1-5 Ding Junhui
Joe Perry 3-5 Shaun Murphy
Neil Robertson 5-2 Yuan Sijun
Ali Carter 1-5 Chris Wakelin
Robbie Williams 2-5 Barry Hawkins
Stephen Maguire 5-1 Luca Brecel
Round of 16 (bo9)
Judd Trump 5-3 David Lilley
Kyren Wilson 5-4 Ben Woollaston
Mark Selby 2-5 Jackson Page
Elliot Slessor 5-2 Daniel Wells
Ronnie O’Sullivan 4-5 Hossein Vafaei
Ding Junhui 5-3 Shaun Murphy
Neil Robertson 5-1 Chris Wakelin
Barry Hawkins 5-1 Stephen Maguire
Quarter-Finals (bo9)
Judd Trump 5-2 Kyren Wilson
Jackson Page 5-2 Elliot Slessor
Hossein Vafaei 0-5 Ding Junhui
Neil Robertson 5-2 Barry Hawkins
Semi-Finals (bo11)
Judd Trump 6-2 Jackson Page
Ding Junhui 6-5 Neil Robertson
Final (bo19)
Judd Trump 10-4 Ding Junhui
Featured photo credit: WST
Trump has now 28 of his 44 ranking finals. It’s the third time he’s won 5 or more ranking events in the same season. He’s the second player after Mark Allen to win the World Open twice.
Ding is now 14 from 24 in ranking finals.
Their only previous meeting in a Chinese event was a Ding victory in the 2016 International Championship.
O’Sullivan still the player of the season for me. He’s won a more prestigious quintet of titles.
The debate about Trump being an all-time great remains a divisive topic. Nick Metcalfe and some others feel he needs a second World title to be included. My personal view is that he’s now reached that status through sheer volume of titles and producing seasons that only a very select few can match.
A little surprising to see Ding need a police escort after his semi-final win.
Like Lewis said, it’s very subjective. But personally, I think any suggestion that Trump isn’t an all-time great, just because he’s won only one World Championship, is preposterous. He’s a winning machine. Yes, he perhaps needs to win more of the established prestigious events. But I’d already have him as my no.7 in the best players of all-time list and he’s still just 34.
I find the ‘having to win two World Championships’ logic deeply flawed. It’s an important metric of course, but if it’s that black and white, then we’re going to be saying that players like Joe Johnson and Graeme Dott are higher up the “greats” list than Jimmy White and Ding Junhui, which obviously isn’t true.
I agree totally about two World Championships not being required to be classed as an all-time great. The World Championship is the ultimate test but in any sport it’s important to remember a career is defined by more than one tournament. He does, however, need to win a greater number of World titles if he’s to dislodge my top 5 of O’Sullivan, Hendry, J Higgins, Selby and S Davis. I’d currently have him about 8th.
Terms like ‘player of the season’ and ‘all-time great’ are of course very subjective, and unfortunately snooker fans are very partisan. One day I’ll come up with a more statistical approach.
Ding Junhui gets a lot of fan attention here, and a lot of it is quite frightening. But the ‘police escort’ probably looks more serious to us than it really is. Uniforms are a common sight in China. As I left the venue in Yushan, I saw two young security guards, in full military outfit, having a game on one of the mini tables in the foyer.
Most of our judgements are based on stats. These records have to be placed into the context of the era they were achieved in. Steve Davis won more than most but in a far less competitive era. This has to be weighted against achievements in the 21st century where the standard is far stronger.