Judd Trump produced a stirring battle again to win the 2023 English Open with a 9-7 victory over Zhang Anda on Sunday in Brentwood.

The Englishman captured the Steve Davis Trophy for a second time, including to his earlier triumph on the House Nations event in 2020.

Along with claiming the £80,000 champion’s cheque, Trump’s success takes his spectacular tally of rating titles to 24 – sixth on the all-time record.

In opposition to an opponent ranked 52 locations under him within the official world rankings record, Trump had been an amazing favorite.

However Zhang defied his underdog standing to start his maiden look in a rating ultimate in sturdy trend.

The 31 year-old from China gained 5 out of the primary six frames as his esteemed opponent unexpectedly struggled.

Trump gained the final two of the primary session with breaks of 56 and 120 to path by solely a pair in between classes.

A number of miscued photographs led the previous world primary to make the choice to alter his tip forward of the second bout of play.

But it was all Zhang once more upon the resumption, with spectacular contributions of 109 and 98 taking him 7-3 in entrance.

By now an unlikely victory was inside attain, one which might have include different potential riches together with a spot in subsequent month’s Champion of Champions.

Nevertheless, as all confirmed champions have the potential of doing, Trump dug deep and mustered one thing from someplace.

The 34 year-old fought again from 5-2 all the way down to pip John Higgins within the semi-finals on Saturday on the Brentwood Centre.

One other outstanding comeback ensued on this 2023 English Open ultimate, with Trump duly taking the final six frames on the bounce.

Zhang had a few alternatives, however his problem ultimately light, and as soon as Trump bought again on stage phrases with breaks of 135 and 53, the result was nearly inevitable.

It was nonetheless a terrific week for Zhang, who upset Ronnie O’Sullivan within the fourth spherical.

The previous Asian under-21 champion will rise to a career-high world rating of quantity 40 following his performances this week.

Trump, in the meantime, will transfer again into the highest 4 after claiming a fifth profession title within the House Nations collection.

The reigning Masters winner had endured fairly a protracted wait since his final rating victory.

Three defeats in finals – together with on the European Masters this time period – had been skilled since final lifting silverware of such standing on the 2022 Turkish Masters.

With this win, nevertheless, will probably be attention-grabbing to see what sort of affect the enhance in confidence may have on his season.

There’s a busy interval of snooker forward, and Trump has proven up to now how he could be a dominant drive when on a roll.

The Englishman sadly doesn’t have lengthy to rejoice, with the Wuhan Open starting on Monday in China.

2023 ENGLISH OPEN DRAW

Spherical of 128

(held over fixtures)

Mark Selby 4-1 Xing Zihao
Ryan Day 4-2 Ashley Hugill
John Higgins 4-3 Marco Fu
Kyren Wilson 3-4 Oliver Strains
Judd Trump 4-0 Sean O’Sullivan
Robert Milkins 4-1 Robbie Williams
Barry Hawkins 4-1 Anthony Hamilton
Mark Allen 4-0 Mostafa Dorgham
Ronnie O’Sullivan 4-0 Andrew Pagett
Jack Lisowski 4-1 Matthew Stevens
Elliot Slessor 4-2 Ryan Davies
Ali Carter 4-1 Jamie Clarke
Neil Robertson 2-4 Sanderson Lam
Shaun Murphy 3-4 Liu Hongyu
Mark Williams 4-0 Ian Burns
Ding Junhui 4-3 Ma Hailong
Luca Brecel 4-3 Stan Moody

Spherical of 64

Mark Selby 2-4 Martin O’Donnell
Stephen Maguire 4-2 Louis Heathcote
Ryan Day 3-4 He Guoqiang
Hossein Vafaei 4-3 Julien Leclercq
David Lilley 2-4 Mark Davis
James Cahill 2-4 John Higgins
Cao Yupeng 4-0 David Gilbert
Martin Gould 1-4 Oliver Strains

Judd Trump 4-1 Scott Donaldson
Jimmy Robertson 4-3 Allan Taylor
Robert Milkins 4-3 Adam Duffy
Tom Ford 2-4 Yuan Sijun
Hammad Miah 2-4 Ricky Walden
Graeme Dott 4-2 Barry Hawkins
Michael White 3-4 Matthew Selt
Wu Yize 1-4 Mark Allen

Ronnie O’Sullivan 4-1 Jackson Web page
Si Jiahui 4-0 Fergal O’Brien
Jack Lisowski 3-4 Elliot Slessor
Anthony McGill 1-4 Zhang Anda
Lukas Kleckers 1-4 Jenson Kendrick
Liam Pullen 0-4 Ali Carter
Andrew Higginson 2-4 Zhou Yuelong
Stuart Carrington 0-4 Sanderson Lam

Liu Hongyu 4-1 Joe O’Connor
Chris Wakelin 4-1 Jamie Jones
Mark Williams 4-3 Xiao Guodong
Dylan Emery 4-1 Oliver Brown
Dominic Dale 3-4 Gary Wilson
David Grace 1-4 Ding Junhui
Muhammad Asif 4-3 Fan Zhengyi
Andy Hicks 1-4 Luca Brecel

Spherical of 32

Martin O’Donnell 4-1 Stephen Maguire
He Guoqiang 4-3 Hossein Vafaei
Mark Davis 0-4 John Higgins
Cao Yupeng 2-4 Oliver Strains

Judd Trump 4-3 Jimmy Robertson
Robert Milkins 1-4 Yuan Sijun
Ricky Walden 4-3 Graeme Dott
Matthew Selt 4-2 Mark Allen

Ronnie O’Sullivan 4-2 Si Jiahui
Elliot Slessor 1-4 Zhang Anda
Jenson Kendrick 0-4 Ali Carter
Zhou Yuelong 4-0 Sanderson Lam

Liu Hongyu 4-3 Chris Wakelin
Mark Williams 4-2 Dylan Emery
Gary Wilson 2-4 Ding Junhui
Muhammad Asif 0-4 Luca Brecel

Spherical of 16

Martin O’Donnell 4-2 He Guoqiang
John Higgins 4-1 Oliver Strains
Judd Trump 4-2 Yuan Sijun
Ricky Walden 3-4 Matthew Selt

Ronnie O’Sullivan 2-4 Zhang Anda
Ali Carter 1-4 Zhou Yuelong
Liu Hongyu 4-3 Mark Williams
Ding Junhui 4-3 Luca Brecel

Quarter-Finals

Martin O’Donnell 1-5 John Higgins
Judd Trump 5-1 Matthew Selt

Zhang Anda 5-4 Zhou Yuelong
Liu Hongyu 5-2 Ding Junhui

Semi-Finals

John Higgins 5-6 Judd Trump
Zhang Anda 6-2 Liu Hongyu

Last

Judd Trump 9-7 Zhang Anda

Featured photograph credit score: WST