Judd Trump dealt Marco Fu a taste of his own medicine as he assembled a remarkable comeback to defeat the Hong Kong number one in the Players Championship Final, claiming the seventh ranking success of his career.
Fu shows his class in tight circumstances
Whilst Trump had squeezed through with a 6-4 victory over Ali Carter in the semi-final, formulating six breaks over 50 in the process, Fu played out an epic contest with Ding Junhui. The two best Asian players in the sport contributed no less than six half century breaks in the first four frames and ten overall. Ding put himself one frame away from the final but lost three on the trot as Fu squeezed through 6-5.
Fu could not maintain that form immediately in the final as Trump registered first with an unanswered break of 83. Yet contributions of 53 and 73 saw Fu edge ahead before Trump pegged him back at 2-2. Hong Kong's finest then hit top form before and after the mid-session interval as a hat-trick of frames, including breaks of 67 and 83, left Trump slumped in his seat as he managed to pot just eight points. However, Fu could not make his dominance count and failed to pot in the final two frames of the session as he watched his opponent make the highest break of the tournament with a 136 and then a 115 as the players left the arena separated by just one frame.
Trump overcomes Fu revival to win the Championship
The revival of Trump before the interval had clearly affected Fu as he failed to make chances materialise into favourable breaks. A missed opportunity in frame ten allowed Trump to draw level, before a third century break of the match saw the Englishman take the lead for the first time since the opener with a 110. Trump then won his fifth and sixth consecutive frames with contributions of 63 and 76 as Fu managed a minimal nine points.
Yet if ever there was an opponent on the circuit capable of digging in for a comeback, that man would be Fu as he proved against Ding. The number eight seed did just enough to win frame 14, before an error-strewn fifteenth was won on the pink. However, Trump showed his class once more as he formulated a fourth century of the match, scoring 102 as a 147 possibility broke down. A break of 58 saw Fu give himself a glimmer of hope, before Trump sealed the title with another half century to take him second in the World rankings.