Scottish Open snooker 2020 - Judd Trump 'didn't really bottle it' on pink in UK Championship final

ByDan Quarrell

Published 08/12/2020 at 15:42 GMT

World number one Judd Trump has softened in his self-assessment after the crushing final-frame loss he suffered in the final of the UK Championship, and reflected on the crucial shot he missed on the pink in a different way to how he did immediately after the dramatic match, which finished in the early hours of Monday morning.

Judd Trump has opened up about his deciding-frame defeat to Neil Robertson at the 2020 UK Championship, insisting the missed pink was 'harder' looking back now.

Neil Robertson edged a tense finale to win a third UK title after an error-strewn final that finished at 00:54am local time. Trump rolled in the colours in the final frame, but the world number one botched the last pink to hand Robertson the opportunity to clinch victory.

At the time, a crestfallen Trump was harsh in his assessment of what went wrong, but after further reflection he told Eurosport's Andy Goldstein and Jimmy White that he now sees it differently.

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"I look back and the pink was actually a bit harder than what I felt like it was at the time after I missed it," Trump said in the Eurosport studio after his opening 4-1 win over Alexander Ursenbacher at the Scottish Open.

"I think if it was just the pink that I needed then I would have been more disappointed, but I was worried about coming back up for the black and I just didn't cue it well.

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"So if that was the shot to win the match then it was a bit of a bottle, but everyone has missed simple shots over their time.

I'm not disappointed. At the time, for the first half-hour I was, but if you want to keep winning you can't let stuff like that stay in your head, you've got to get rid of it and try to win this tournament.

When asked if he was on his own after he drove back to his flat following the gut-wrenching defeat to Robertson, Trump explained how it really played out after he got home.

'I bottled it' - Trump dismayed after blowing title shot

"No, my brother was there," he said. "My brother was there, I just went in and I just started laughing! And that was it, it broke the ice.

"He just said, 'look, you didn't really bottle it, it was obviously just nerves at the time'. It's a shot that I fancied getting but it was just a bit awkward, that's all.

"I just got excited. If I'd have taken a moment and stepped back, I probably would have potted them. But that's easy to say now!"

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Trump will continue to try to respond in the best possible way to his UK Championship heartbreak at the Scottish Open, which you can watch live on eurosport.co.uk and the Eurosport app.

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