Best of Snooker in Slovenia – 11 May 2017
Judd, Luca and Oli were involved in an exhibition, yesterday evening in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Judd won over Ronnie O’Sullivan by 5-3 and Oliver Lines beat Luca by 3-1. The event was attended by a 1500+ enthusiast audience. After the exhibition, Judd expressed his appreciation for the knowledgeable Slovenian crowd and vowed to return to Ljubljana, with Ronnie, soon.
This is an article in the Slovenian press, giving an account of the evening. It also features a photo gallery, so make sure you check it.
The automatic translations are not fantastic, here is an “improved” one:
Five times World Champion, 41-year-old Ronnie O’Sullivan , whose rapid style of play earned him the nickname “the Rocket”, and current n°3 in the world, 27-year-old, Judd Trump who plays a similar game to the Rocket, were welcomed to the table by a loud applause of the audience, which comprised fans of all generations from children to grandparents. They played a ‘Best of Nine’, first to five. The first frame was comprehensively won by Trump, and, as well as the next frame, it started with a few safety exchanges after which the players began delighting the audience with great shots, some bad misses and a bit of banter. The third game was won Trump also: being behind, he stole the frame after O’Sullivan missed, and that brought him 3-0 up already. The audience very much wanted the Rocket to win the fourth frame but they also wanted to see if he could improve on his highest break up to then, a very modest 42. The fifth frame was again dominated by Trump, who also impressed with the first century of the evening: he made a 117 to lead 4-1. The sixth frame was won by the most talented snooker player in history, O’Sullivan, and so was the seventh with some nice long shots along the way. The eighth game proved to be the last of the match as Trump won it with a 107 to take the final victory.
After the match they were asked what is most the important thing to become a professional player snooker, and this was the answer: “The most important is to enjoy snooker, to play as well as you can. Otherwise, it is an important practice, practice, practice, five hours a day. ” Trump was already in Ljubljana for the second time. He declared “At first I was surprised because I did not know that this game is so popular here. I think the audience is very knowledgeable about snooker, the reception Ronnie got when he came into the hall, it gave me goosebumps. I hope that we returned to Ljubljana“. O’Sullivan answered questions about role models, not least, because himself also set an example for many young people around the world. “I had role models, of course, I liked Jimmy White, who played fast, aggressive. Later, myself, I wanted to play like Steve Davis, only a little faster.” he added jokingly. About the future, he added: “There are no plans, I only hope that I can stay as long as possible with younger players like Trump“.
The audience in Tivoli, started the evening by warming for two members of the new generation of young players, 22-year-old Belgian, Luca Brecel and Oliver Lines, from England only 21. In a best of 5, first to 3, the latter, who is the son of Peter Lines, a professional snooker player himself, beat the opponent by 3-1. The young audience was impressed with some very attacking shots, especially in the last frame were Brecel played some excellent safeties only for Lines to escape them again and again and finally take the win.
Already last December, Ljubljana had hosted the first event of this series: it featured the world n°1, Mark Selby , Neil Robertson , Shaun Murphy and Judd Trump. It was won by Selby, who, recently became World Champion for the second time in a row and third time in his career.
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