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by Glenn Baird - January 6, 2020
In what is likely to be a hotly contested Masters Championship, Judd Trump, last year’s winner, has remained out in front as the favourite to win snooker’s first big tournament of 2020.
With very little between him, Neil Robertson and Mark Selby, the bookies appear to be hedging their bets and sticking with what they learned in 2019 by making the stand out snooker player of 2019 the favourite to lift the Dafabet trophy for the second year in a row.
2019 was a year to remember for the 30-year-old English man. He started the year by winning the Dafabet Masters before going on to claim the World Grand Prix just a month later. Then, in May he was crowed the best player in the world by winning the World Championships for the first time in his career, ousting 4 time world champion John Higgins in a one-sided final that BBC Snooker pundit and 6 time world champion, Steve Davis said: “The standard in that final may have been the greatest we have ever seen and Judd Trump was at the heart of it.”
Add to this wins in the International Championship, the World Open, the Champion of Champions and the Northern Ireland Open, along with cementing his place at number 1 in the overall rankings and it is fair to say that 2019 was a year to remember for the man from Bristol.
At 9/4, he is the odds on favourite to lift the trophy for a second year in a row, but as we have seen in the past form as relentless as Trump’s proved to be last year can be difficult to maintain in the long run. Mark Selby will be looking to recapture the sort of form that saw him dominate the snooker landscape for 3 years, whilst Neil Robertson, won the first world championships of the last decade will want to show the world that he still has what it takes.
One name that always has the potential to tip over the apple cart and defy the odds is everyone’s favourite snooker entertainer, Ronnie O’Sullivan. Having chosen not to take part in the tournament, last year’s finalist will be sorely missed for the exceptional entertainment that he provides every time he competes.
O’Sullivan has stated: “I just chose not to enter and everything is fine. I just didn’t want to play, I’m looking forward to other stuff.”
Whilst the weight of expectation may well be pressing down on Trump’s shoulders there can be little doubt and just about every other player in the tournament will be pleased that they don’t have to face off against the unpredictable skill of Ronnie the Rocket, who I’m sure all snooker fans will be hoping is back competing soon.
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