JUDD TRUMP made a magical 147 maximum break in the final of the Turkish Masters as he claimed a first ranking title of the season.
The Juddernaut lit up the climax of the first ever major tournament staged in the country – with the highlight of a 10-4 victory over Matt Selt in Antalya coming in the 10th frame.
World No3 Trump, 32, picked off the invitingly placed 15 reds all with blacks and then despatched the six colours as a sell-out crowd gave him a rapturous standing ovation.
And former world champion Trump, a leading contender for next month’s Betfred World Championship, closed out the match to pocket the £100,000 first prize.
The triumph was a huge show of character and resilience from Trump, the only one of the top four to take part, who lost in the final of the Welsh Open to Joe Perry the week before.
A sixth 147 of Trump’s snooker career earned him an extra £5,000 for the event high-break, and it was also a relief to end a year’s run without a ranking success.
Trump had become a winning machine by claiming 14 in the previous three seasons, and he remains a phenomenon when it matters most – having won 15 of his last 18 ranking finals.
This was a 23rd in total, and edged him ahead of Neil Robertson into sixth place on his own in the all-time list behind Ronnie O’Sullivan, Stephen Hendry, John Higgins, Steve Davis and Mark Williams.
Trump is also now fifth in the 147s all-time list with six – chasing down Stuart Bingham on eight, but still a long way behind O’Sullivan on 15.
As a side-benefit his run to the title propelled him into the field for this month’s prestigious and lucrative Tour Championship for the season’s top eight players.
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Trump, who finished with a superb 114, said: “The 147 was special, I haven’t made one in a final, they have always been in the first round with no one there!
“I just haven’t been good enough to win ranking titles earlier in the season, so it was really good to play well in this final.
“It has been great to play somewhere with a beach rather than the dungeons we usually get locked away in!
“At times this season I have been struggling quite badly. It was a boost to get to the final in Wales last week. And to win this first tournament in Turkey has been a special one.
“I have had a lot of support from fans of social media in Turkey who said they wanted me to win the first one here.”
Selt said: “The afternoon could have been oh so different if I hadn’t have missed a few, but I didn’t put the pressure on Judd and then you saw what he did tonight.”
