The match wasn’t as one-sided as the score suggests: quite a number of frames were close. The worrying thing for Jack is that, despite getting chances, he didn’t win any of them, he missed all the crucial balls.
Judd was obviously delighted and paid tribute to Brandon Parker: “It is incredible, another win. It was obviously tough for me and Jack to both miss the Masters. It was nice that we both got to the final in this one. It’s always tough playing against him, being my friend. It’s never going to be as enjoyable as winning against somebody else. It is a game you always have to play your best in. I’m enjoying my snooker. Whenever you win, you are always going to enjoy it. It is just important for me to keep doing the right things. I’ve not stopped practising hard. I’ve kept up that momentum. I’ve not rested at all over the last couple of years. I’ve put the work in and am fully getting the rewards. Brandon was someone who created snooker in the European countries. He started off with some minor events and in the end he turned the German Masters into a fully-fledged ranking event. Berlin was a really special place for the German Masters. I can remember last year, he was so proud of what he had achieved.”
Jack tried to stay positive: “I’m not going to get too down on myself. There are a lot of events coming up and it is a good time to be hitting form. I’m definitely doing that. Hopefully, I can nick a title soon, as long as I don’t keep running into Judd in finals!”. (quotes source: WST)

Ding Junhui and Luca Brecel were the other two Grove players involved in the tournament. Judd had beaten Ding by 5-3 in the quarte-finals, whilst Luca had lost by 5-2 to Jack at the last-16 stage.

all detailed results are available on snooker.org

The tournament was played under social distancing rules at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes from December, 14 to December 20, 2020.
Neil Robertson was the defending champion but lost by 4-2 to Robert Milkins in the first round (last 32). Ding progressed to the last 16 where he lost to Hossein Vafaei, by 4-1.

The two remaining Grove players in the tournament, Judd Trump and Jack Lisowski went all the way to contest the final. Each of them faced a potentially tough task in the semi-finals: Judd beat Ronnie O’Sullivan by 6-1, whilst Jack got the better of Mark Selby, winning the match by 6-4.

The Final looked to be a one-sided affair when Judd lead by 7-2, but Jack showed a lot of heart and battled his way back to 7-5 and 8-7. Judd however eventually prevailed, winning by 10-7. It was a great match and both finalists were happy with their performance.
Speaking after the match:

Jack said:

I upped my game tonight and put him under pressure, I was on a roll. But I lost a couple of frames from 50 or 60 ahead. The clearance he made to go 8-6 was ridiculous. I’m pleased to have pushed the best player in the world and made him work for it. It has been an amazing week and my game is going in the right direction.

And Judd added:

It was an extremely good game, Jack made it very hard for me,” said Trump. “He played some of the best snooker I have ever seen, everything he looked at was going in. I had to make a couple of really good clearances. The clearance to go 8-6 was massive because I didn’t want him to get back level.I had to stay patient tonight and capitalise on the tiny mistakes he made. I’m proud of the way I held myself together and barely missed a ball. That shows the level I had to play to because I still lost the session 5-4. If he keeps playing like that I have no doubt he will be in the top five in the world in no time.
This is the best start I have ever made to a season and there isn’t much I can improve on. I just have to keep trying to play to this level, keep up the hunger, the ambition, and the enjoyment, then hopefully more success will come. When you are number one in the world you have to keep practicing because everyone is chasing you, so you can’t let up. The only way to stay on top is to practise harder than everyone else

All detailed results are available on snooker.org.

Day 1 – Last 128 + last 64

Last 128

Yu Delu got a bye, he was due to play John Sutton.

Neil Robertson 4-0 James Cahill
Scores: 116(116)-0; 131(131)-0; 118(103)-13; 92-23
Centuries: Neil: 116, 131, 103

Judd Trump 4-2 James Wattana
Scores: 70-8; 89(54)-41; 1-71(71); 107(57)-0; 0-107(63); 77-15
Referee: Marcel Eckardt

Li Hang 4-3 Jack Lisowki
Scores: 24-68; 71-17; 70(70)-14; 57-68(60); 72-44; 22-67; 57-21
Referee: Nico De Vos

Cao Yupeng 4-2 Craig Steadman
Scores: 123(71)-1; 82-29; 64-57; 45-90(90); 14-103; 84(69)-45
Referee: Joery Ector

Mark Davis 4-3 Lyu Chenwei
Scores: 62-42; 35-63; 17-63; 59-45; 42-78(55); 49-38; 68-1
Referee: Andy Yates

Gary Wilson 4-0 Zhang Anda
Scores: 113(81)-17; 82(64)-24; 90(75)-16; 74-32
Referee: Joery Ector

Last 64

Michael Wasley 4-2 Li Hang
Scores: 6-96(65); 78(78)-0; 22-83(65); 69-57(53); 73(72)-4; 72(64)-71(71)
Referee: Dave Palmer

Judd Trump 4-0 Mark Joyce
Scores: 110(110)-0; 76-0; 143(104)-0; 93(65)-14
Centuries: Judd: 110, 104

Neil Robertson 4-0 David Morris
Scores: 73-29; 81(72)-32; 66(51)-9; 91-0

Mark Allen 4-3 Cao Yupeng
Scores: 133(133)-0; 15-70; 70-50; 60-49; 48-85; 0-78(78); 60(52)-19
Centuries: Allen: 133
Referee: Tatiana Woollaston

Joe Perry 4-0 Yu Delu
Scores: 85-32; 78(65)-12; 85(60)-7; 60-31

Day 2 – Last 128 + last 64

Last 128

Liang Wenbo 4-0 Cao Xinlong
Scores: 71(71)-2; 87(68)-35; 79(54)-67; 69-45
Referee: Rene Tinge

last 64

Liang Wenbo 4-0 Gerard Greene
Scores: 70-0; 86(86)-0; 80(80)-15; 94-22

Day 3 – Last 32

John Higgins 4-0 Liang Wenbo
Scores: 92(58)-0; 88(51)-0; 103(103)-0; 68(65)-54
Centuries: Higgins: 103
Referee: Tatiana Woollaston

This pretty much sums up Wenbo’s match … not his day!

Neil Robertson 4-3 Jamie Cope
Scores: 48-59; 69(50)-0; 2-67(53); 109(94)-1; 113(113)-23; 12-65; 63-23
Centuries: Robertson: 113
Referee: Hilde Moens

Judd Trump 4-2 Michael Wasley
Scores: 70-15; 45-67; 32-67; 80(73)-1; 87(87)-16; 64-51
Referee: Jan Scheers

Day 4 – Last 16

Mark Williams 4-1 Judd Trump
Scores: 72(68)-23; 74-40; 72-47; 61-66(59); 95(56)-6
Referee: Brendan Moore

Gary Wilson 4-2 Neil Robertson
Scores: 71(50)-45; 1-71; 43-60; 81(81)-0; 49-28; 75(53)-9
Referee: Paul Collier
The fifth frame ended abruptly when Neil failed to make contact with a red, three times in a row, when he was not snookered. It’s very rare this happens at professional level.

Django is a competent table tennis player. Despite a huge handicap start, Django was the winner on the day.