Defending Northern Ireland Open champion Judd Trump considers Belfast Waterfront Hall to be one of the best places on the tour. Trump will travel to Belfast over the weekend where he will face Welshman Andrew Padget in the first round of the Northern Ireland Open.
Trump holds an excellent record in this event, and in the past three years he has beaten O'Sullivan 9-7 to achieve a three-game winning streak. Trump has won three consecutive tournament titles, and only Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry have done it throughout history.
Affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, last year's Northern Ireland Open was held behind closed doors in Milton Keynes. As you can imagine, Trump couldn't wait to enter the arena as the defending champion on Sunday night.
Trump said: "The atmosphere of the Masters, the German Masters and the World Championships is very good, and the atmosphere of Waterfront Hall is completely comparable to those three events. Although the Northern Ireland Open is only a small and medium-sized event, for me, it can be on par with many big competitions, and it comes down to its atmosphere. The northern Irish fans were very enthusiastic, which was similar to the atmosphere of the game in London. The fans will raucously support you. I get a lot more cheers in Belfast than I get here. When I faced Ronnie in the final, the fans were also neutral and it was good for me. ”
"There are only a few great players who have won the same tournament three or more times in a row. If neither John Higgins nor Ronnie O'Sullivan has won the same event for three consecutive years, that's how hard it is to do. Hopefully I can keep this result for another year, but if not, it's a very special race for me too. ”
"I know how difficult it is to beat Ronnie once. To do it three times in a row is simply an impossible task. I don't think any other player can beat him in a row. That makes winning three consecutive race titles even more special for me. In any case, winning the game is already difficult, but winning the championship by beating him in a row makes the significance of this event even deeper. ”
Last month, Trump traveled to Atlantic City for the U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship. Before being eliminated in the tiebreaker of a double-elimination match, he won three games and did well. He said he has plans to return to the 9-ball table in due course and is confident of being the best player in both snooker and 9-ball sport. Trump also said the U.S. could be a potential market for snooker.
"It's really interesting. It's a completely different experience. Playing 9 goals in front of American fans, I'm not used to it, but I want to go there and promote myself. I wanted to bring billiards to different audiences and promote both sports at the same time to spread my name. I hope to have a big snooker tournament there in the future. The interest and recognition of billiards fans in the United States is much higher than I thought. I hope we can continue to develop the sport in the United States. ”
"The attention span of Americans is much shorter than that of Europeans. Fast-paced competitions need to be held in the United States, and perhaps it is more appropriate to develop snooker in the United States in the form of invitational tournaments. Well-known players like me, Ronnie and players who prefer offense can go there and play, and if that can happen, I think snooker will have a certain market in the U.S. in the future. ”
"I'm still going to focus on snooker and I'm never going to let it get in the way of my work. If there was a way for me to combine the two of them, I would try. I'll focus on snooker and maybe put an hour or two into the 9-goal after practice. If I could try to reach number one in both of these sports, it would be a very remarkable achievement for me. Of course, these are just constantly setting new challenges for myself. If I can also make a name for myself on 9 goals, it will also benefit Snooker. 9 balls have completely different crowds and markets, with people from all over the world. Being able to have top players from all over the world is the direction of Snooker's development. ”
The 21st Northern Ireland Open, held in Belfast from 9 to 17 October, is the 3rd ranking round of the 2021/22 World Snooker Tour and a stop in the "Home series". The winner of this tournament has a prize money of £70,000, with a total prize money of 405,000 pounds.