Judd Trump has built an intimidation factor on the snooker table which ‘only a few players in the history of the game have,’ believes Shaun Murphy.
The world number one has been remarkably consistent over 2024 so far, reaching at least the quarter-final stage of all 14 events he has played this year.
That run of form has seen him win the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters, World Open, German Masters and Shanghai Masters, while moving a long way clear at the top of the world rankings.
Reaching the semi-finals of the Wuhan Open last week kept up Trump’s stunning record of at least the quarters this year and Murphy is blown away by the consistency at the highest level.
‘Ridiculous. Somebody needs to remind Judd that snooker is actually quite difficult,’ Murphy told of Trump.
‘I said after our match in Saudi, I think it’s his ability to just keep potting. Aside from we always talk about how he’s now the fully rounded player, it’s his pure ability to keep going. It is incredible really.
‘You’ll be sat in your chair thinking he’s going to miss and another 40 points will go on his score without you really being sure what’s happened. He’s just phenomenal, a phenomenom.
‘He’s into that category of players that when you get to a weekend of an event, of course he’ll still be in the draw, it’s a shock when he’s not.’
While Trump is clearly performing at a superb level of quality, Murphy feels that even if he is not at his best then he will win a lot of matches as the majority of players no longer believe they can beat him.
‘He’s got that intimidation factor now, he’s got that with most players,’ said the Magician. ‘Most players are beaten before they play him.
‘Because of his style you alwys get a chance to win because he does play aggressively, but most players get that chance and they can’t bring themselves to beat him.
‘Only a few players in the history of the game have had that, it’s like a 12th man. The guy you’re playing doesn’t think they can beat you. There’s only a handful of players who have reached that status in the game.
‘A lot of the rookies come on the tour and it’s a bit like I was with Steve Davis, they’ve had a picture of Ronnie O’Sullivan on their wall. He’s been their idol and they’re nervous to be in the same room as him, let alone have to try and beat him. I found it hard with Steve Davis because he was my idol.’
World champion Kyren Wilson is not one of those players who is afraid of Trump, but is thoroughly impressed with his ability to keep winning so many matches on such a regular basis.
Wilson believes the world number one has more desire to win than anyone else in the game and that is what keeps driving him on.
‘It’s really impressive,’ the Warrior told . ‘That’s all will to win. I don’t actually think anyone else has got as much will to win as he’s got right now.
‘I genuinely fancy winning everything I play in, but I don’t know how he does it because I can’t quite get up for every single event like I do for the World Championship.’
Trump is back in action on Sunday in an event he loves as he begins the defence of the Northern Ireland Open title.
The 35-year-old won the tournament for a fourth time last year, having won it three times on the spin from 2018-20 and he is favourite to get his hands on the trophy yet again.
His opener comes against Ishpreet Singh Chadha on Sunday afternoon, while Murphy faces Jiang Jun and Wilson plays David Grace.
.
.