Trump Flies to PTC Victory

Judd Trump took just 41 minutes to beat Ding Junhui 4-0 in the final of the season's second Players Tour Championship event.

Bristol's 21-year-old Trump rattled in breaks of 81, 68 and 121 in taking the £10,000 top prize at the South West Snooker Academy in Gloucester.

Left-hander Trump won a PTC event last season as well as the China Open, then captured the imagination with his brilliant run to the World Championship final.

He started the current season slowly, losing in the first round of the Australian Goldfields Open, but is now back on track.

"I didn't play well up until the last 16 but then I beat Neil Robertson 4-3 on the last black and after that I found some form from somewhere," said Trump. "After that I felt as if it was meant to be, I went for my shots and sped up a bit. In the semis and final there was a good crowd and that gave me another lift.

"I didn't practise enough for the start of the season because I wanted to enjoy myself after what happened at the Crucible. It's a long, tough season and everyone wants to be beat me now. So it's nice to win another tournament because it makes my opponents fear me more.

"The PTCs carry good ranking points (2,000 to the winner) and it keeps me moving forward, plus I'm virtually guranteed to be in the Grand Finals now. It's exciting to have plenty of tournaments coming up and good to know I am in the final stages of all of them. It makes me want to work harder and look forward to the rest of the season."

In the semi-finals, Trump beat Fergal O'Brien 4-0 while Ding edged out fellow Chinese player Xiao Guodong 4-3. PTC1 winner Ronnie O'Sullivan lost 4-3 to O'Brien in the quarters.

The Players Tour Championship is a series of 12 short events, six in the UK and six in Europe. Players are listed in the Order of Merit depending on how much money they win. The top 24 at the end of the season qualify for the Grand Finals, providing they have played in three PTC and three EPTC events. The next event runs from August 17 to 21 in Sheffield.