Judd Trump is the 2021 Champion of Champions
The prestigious 2021 Champion of Champions ran from November 15 to November 21, 2021, at the University of Bolton Stadium.
Mark Allen was the defending Champion but opted out of the tournament.
Three of the Grove players were involved: Ding Junhui, Neil Robertson, and Judd Trump.
Judd Trump won the event for the first time, having been runner-up twice before. He beat John Higgins by 10-4 in the Final.
Judd won Group 1 on the first day of the tournament, beating David Lilley, the Seniors Snooker World Champion, by 4-1, and Ryan Day, the Shoot-out Champion, by 6-0. In the semi-finals, he beat rival Kyren Wilson by 6-0 as well and arrived in the Final having won 16 frames on the trot.
John Higgins started the final strongly, winning the first three frames, but, after that, Judd took control and won ten of the next eleven.
He was obviously thrilled:
Trump said: “It’s an amazing feeling to get this one under my belt. The crowd here has been amazing for a new venue. There’s been the support has been superb for every player. We both felt that the noise and it was amazing. It was so exciting to play in a final. John has been amazing all season. I think he was in control early on but missed one or two he wouldn’t normally miss. Any win against John is incredible. He was always someone I admired when I was growing up.
“There have been times when I was first coming through where I’ve been 4-0 up, 7-2 up, and every time he comes back and beats me. There was a bad one in Shanghai which I will never forget, but it’s put me in the position that I am today. I still learn and I am still willing to learn from him. I have the utmost respect for John.”
Ding Junhui played in Group 3 and was beaten in the first round by the eventual runner-up John Higgins (4-3).
Neil Robertson played in Group 4. He won his first match, beating Mark Williams by 4-2. In frame 4 of that match, Neil made the 800th competitive century of his career, a perfect 100, becoming only the fourth player to reach that 800 centuries benchmark. He was beaten in the next round by Kyren Wilson (6-4).
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