Judd Trump on 'difficult' late night matches at Northern Ireland Open - 'You’ve got no chance'

Updated 14/10/2021 at 07:14 GMT

"I was just a little bit tired and I was just missing easy balls that I’d never miss. I’d never miss them in a whole season, the amount of balls I missed in that game. The concentration just wasn’t there," admitted Trump, who booked a clash with Jimmy Robertson in the last 16 in Belfast. Stream the Northern Ireland Open live and on demand on discovery+, the Eurosport app and eurosport.com.

'You’ve got no chance' – Trump on 'difficult' late night matches

Judd Trump has admitted he missed more easy balls in his match with Lu Ning at the Northern Ireland Open than he would expect from a whole season.

Trump married brilliance with profligacy as his run to the last 16 in Belfast was marred by some glaring mistakes.

The 2019 world champion, who will reclaim the world number one spot from Mark Selby regardless of results in Belfast, came through 4-2 just before 23:00 local time and said the late scheduling had impacted him.

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“For me it’s just so difficult going on that late at night,” he told Eurosport.

“It’s so tough when you’re the second game on [in the evening session] and you don’t know what time [you will play]. You’ve got no chance, you’re just not prepared properly.

“I was just a little bit tired and I was just missing easy balls that I’d never miss. I’d never miss them in a whole season, the amount of balls I missed in that game.

“The concentration just wasn’t there. I knew from the get-go, I was sat there and I felt tired and I thought ‘just battle through today, don’t worry about how you get through’.

He added: “I was always in control but I nearly let it go.”

Trump will also feature in the evening session on Thursday against Jimmy Robertson, although he will not have to wait for another match to finish before appearing on the green baize.