Trump accuses O’Sullivan of ‘lying to himself’ after Higgins win | Other | Sport
Judd Trump has accused Ronnie O’Sullivan of ‘lying to himself’ after his comprehensive 5-2 win against John Higgins at the Northern Ireland Open on Friday. World No.1 Trump, 36, has been in excellent form at the second Home Nations tournament of the season this week, racking up victories over Anthony McGill, Jackson Page, Gary Wilson and now Higgins to reach the semi-final.
When reflecting on a fine win against Higgins, who is ranked sixth in the world, Trump appeared to fire a backhanded compliment at the Scotsman, as well as O’Sullivan and Welshman Mark Williams.
Asked if his concentration goes up when he plays against Higgins, Trump told TNT Sports: “Yeah, because I know that everybody wants to win, but there are three people that want to win more than anyone; John Higgins, Ronnie [O’Sullivan] and Mark Williams.
“Honestly, I can see it in their faces, they’re so determined to win, they’ll do absolutely anything, all three of them.
“They all play it off a little bit differently. John doesn’t hide the fact, but Mark and Ronnie lie to themselves a bit, but I just try to instil that into my game.
“They’re so different, but they’re all the same because they want to eat you alive and they’ll win any way possible.”
Trump racked up 92, 93 and 121 breaks during his win against Higgins and looked in fine form. Although it was impressive, his performance was a complete contrast to those across the past week, according to the one-time world champion himself.
Speaking on his form after beating Wilson on Thursday, Trump delivered an honest reflection of his recent performances, admitting he is so far off his best right now.
He said: “I’m about 99 per cent off [my best], I’m very, very far from playing my best, I think. Just the sharpness, when you win matches, you’re really sharp, when you don’t go all the way in tournaments, you have longer breaks, you have a week, two weeks off all the time, and you’re just not that match sharp.
“So, a few little details in there, which you need from getting deeper into tournaments; quarter finals, semi-finals, you feel involved. It’s just that little bit of sharpness, that little bit of confidence out there, it’s just missing at the moment.”
However, on Friday, he was much more pleased with how he performed. “I felt I played a lot better today, I scored very, very heavily and didn’t do that much wrong really, I was very happy,” Trump said. “In amongst the balls, I barely missed anything, one visit every single frame, and that’s what I’m used to. I’ve missed that, but hopefully it’s back.”
Friday’s victory means Trump is in the last four of this competition for the sixth time in his career. He is set to go up against the winner of Mark Allen’s quarter-final clash against fellow Northern Irishman Jordan Brown on Saturday.
