Changing of the Crucible guard on the cards as Trump sets standard

Eighties legend Steve Davies failed to qualify for this year’s Betfred.com World Championship and the man who dominated the Nineties, Stephen Hendry, has hinted he may retire this summer.

Between them they chalked up an amazing 13 world titles to control the sport and left little room for fresh, young cuemen to challenge the status quo.

But with World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn leading the way in giving snooker a major facelift and looking to market itself to a new generation of fans, it has opened the door for young pretenders to take their chance.

One player who has grabbed that chance with both hands is 21-year-old Judd Trump.

Not since the halycon days of Paul Hunter has a player come along who has captured the imagination of the British public to offer real teen appeal.

Leeds star Hunter was loved by his fans, and the media, a down-to-earth Yorkshire lad who had an amazing snooker talent.

But since his death, aged 27, from cancer in 2006, the sport has been desperate for another young player who can combine raw talent with a youthful appeal.

Judd ticks both those boxes, and after winning the China Open earlier this month, approaches the quarter-finals at the Crucible this week on the crest of a wave.

Many outside of snooker circles had never heard of Trump before his breakthgrough success in the Far East.

But having made a maximum break of 147 aged just 14 – the youngest player to ever achieve that feat and breaking Ronnie O’Sullivan’s 1991 record – and a former English youth champion, the Bristol potter has long been tipped for success.

None though could have predicted his sudden rise to fame – he failed to progress beyond the last 32 in any of last season’s ranking events – but his breakthrough in China, where he beat Mark Selby 10-8 in the final, has allowed him to couple his undoubted talent with an influx of confidence.

Now Trump – whose only ever appearance at the Crucible came as a raw 17-year-old back in 2007, and who has failed to qualify for the last three years – has a swagger about his play, and honestly believes he has the game to win snooker’s biggest tournament come May 2.

After knocking out defending champion Neil Robertson in the first round, he cantered to a 13-6 win over Martin Gould on Saturday, and plays 2006 world champion Graeme Dott tomorrow in the quarter-finals in Sheffield.

Not bad for a player who had never won a match at the Crucible before this year.

“I always knew if I could bring a decent game with me then I could go out and win it and I still believe that,” said 21-year-old Trump, who would be the second-youngest player to win the world title after Hendry, who won it aged 21 in 1990.

“I’m so full of confidence that I’ve got the game to win it,” he added. “I’m on such a high and I’ve got used to winning now when, before, I had got used to losing.

“But I have to bring myself back to reality as I’ve only won two games, so it’s nothing special.

“I still have a long way to go and a lot of tough players to beat. It’s not halfway through the tournament yet but it feels like I’ve been here for ever,” said Trump, who first picked up a snooker cue when he was aged just three, playing on a mini table at home.

“I’m learning all the time and so far I’m doing what I need to. I’m loving it and the atmosphere is unbelievable.

“You have to enjoy it and you have to get up for these games otherwise there’s no point in playing the game.

“There’s no better stage than the Crucible playing in front of all of the people and everyone watching at home so you have to get up for it,” added Trump, who spent the weekend back in London to detach himself from the tournament distractions before returning to Sheffield today to prepare for tomorrow’s quarter-final.

A meeting with Crucible veteran Dott, the gritty potter who was last season’s runner-up, is a hike in quality of opponent for Trump – who like many sports folk these days, is a keen Twitter fan, often tweeting during breaks in his matches at the Crucible – and will give him his sternest test yet of his title aspirations. One player who is in a good position to assess Trump’s emergence is Gould, the 29-year-old London potter who was beaten in their second-round encounter. Gould lost out to 29-year-old Australian Neil Robertson on his way to a first Crucible title last year and believes there are comparisons between the two.

“Someone like Judd, who is only 21, doing well is great for the game and it gives youngsters at 16 or 17 something to aim at,” said Gould.

“We’ve all known Judd for many years and known what he could do and it’s also a great motivation for me as I’ve also come up step-by-step so hopefully it would be nice to win an event like Judd has done.

“It’s down to Judd how far he goes in the tournament. If he scores like he has been doing and potting the long ones then his name could be on the title.

“I lost to Mark Allen, who reached the semi-finals, and then Neil Robertson last year and he went on to win it so maybe now Judd can do it.”