German Masters viewers were treated to an early piece of perfection courtesy of Judd Trump, who produced a moment of magic on his way to a 5-0 rout of Lukas Kleckers.
ome snooker stars could learn a lot from Judd Trump.
The world No. 2 brought some welcome spice to his matchup against Lukas Kleckers in qualifying for the 2024 German Masters. And a simple piece of improvisation made a big difference to the entertainment as Trump trounced his opponent to advance in Berlin.
That being said, the win was still far from assured when 'The Ace In the Pack' decided to break out the flair shots. Trump, 34, was leading 1-0 and about to take the second frame when he took the scenic route to pot the black by banking his shot off three cushions.
Rather than collect the frame routinely, Trump aimed up the opposite end of the table before rolling the white back to the corner pocket in an inch-perfect fashion. The white eventually returned to kiss the black in as Kleckers fell 2-0 behind.
If it wasn't already clear who was firmly in charge of the match until that point, Trump certainly stamped his authority in style. And at a time when snooker is crying out for more drama, spectators welcomed his impromptu display with open arms.
"Take a lot of skill to play a shot as good as that," gushed one admirer. Others were left short of air thanks to his heroics as another X (formerly Twitter) user wrote: "Judd's magic on the table leaves me breathless!"
Trump's trickery was dubbed "jaw-dropping" and "pure magic" by others taken aback by what they'd witnessed. Trump went on to win 5-0 and will face Welshman Matthew Stevens in the first round proper of the tournament.
He's likely to have a great sight on the title at the Tempodrom after third seed Ronnie O'Sullivan pulled out and was replaced by Barry Pinches. World champion Luca Brecel is also out of the running after a shock defeat to Ishpreet Singh Chadha, while sixth seed Mark Selby was hammered 5-1 by Marco Fu.