Judd Trump returned to the champion’s circle with a dominant 10-4 victory over Shaun Murphy in the final of the 2026 German Masters on Sunday.
The 36 year-old ended a 14-month drought on the main tour, a period during which he had lost the title-deciding matches of tournaments on four occasions.
It’s a record fourth German Masters crown and a 31st career ranking title in all as he resumes his bid to hunt down the top three on the all-time list.
Only Ronnie O’Sullivan (41), Stephen Hendry (36), and John Higgins (33) have accumulated more ranking titles than Trump.
The £100,000 top prize also sees the Englishman extend his lead at the top of the world rankings list, having led the official two-year list since August in 2024.
Trump began the German Masters final in strong fashion, compiling a century break in the opening frame and backing it up with a run of 71 to lead 2-0.
But Murphy fired back with contributions of 103 and 58 of his own, leading many inside the packed Tempodrom auditorium to believe that a classic might be in store.
After the mid-session interval, however, Trump took advantage of several errors from his opponent to take the front again – winning three on the spin to establish a three-frame cushion.
Murphy’s tenth century break of the event excellently stopped the rot in the eighth frame and guaranteed that he’d be only two frames behind going into the evening bout of play.
Amid an electric atmosphere for the second session in Berlin, the Magician then appeared set to pull back to within one but broke down on a run of 60.
Trump pinched the frame on the black to reestablish his buffer and subsequently extended it further by winning every frame before the last mid-session interval.
When they returned for the last time and with the scoreline reading 9-3, it seemed like only a matter of time before the outcome was confirmed.
Trump botched his first attempt at sealing glory, breaking down on what was effectively match ball to allow Murphy in to just about stay in the hunt with a 55 clearance.
But that was as good as the recovery got, with Trump getting over the winning line in the 15th frame.
It’s a disappointing end to the week for Murphy, who has now lost 16 out of the 29 ranking event finals he has contested in his career.
The Magician had probably been the player of the week until the final with resounding victories over Mark Allen, Kyren Wilson, and Neil Robertson in the earlier rounds, but he was far from his best in the title-deciding showdown.
Trump didn’t quite hit his top gear either but fought hard for his opportunities and was able to continue his recent love affair with the German Masters, adding to his prior glories in 2020, 2021, and 2024.
After a slow start to the 2025/26 campaign, Trump is now up to fifth on the one-year rankings list and will head to the upcoming World Grand Prix in Hong Kong with his confidence renewed.
Featured photo credit: WST
I make it a 44th career title for Trump. He was appearing in a 52nd ranking final.
Dr. Trump and Mr. Selby…
Trump become Mark Selby’ he fears his own shadow. This is the way to win but I can’t stand watching his games.
Emphatic scoreline and the better player but heavily helped by that other type of “Shaun Murphy Special”, not his thumping long pots, but his haphazard mistakes and misses at unexpected moments of frames which snooker fans have come to know well over the last twenty years now. The Juddernaught will be very happy at being back on the top step and I wonder where his tournament performances will go from here for the rest of the season….