Judd Trump played ‘arguably the greatest positional shot ever’ at the Champion of Champions on Thursday night, as snooker pundits salivated over the incredible effort.
The world number two was level at 3-3 with Shaun Murphy in Bolton, but 55-1 behind in the seventh frame when he came to the table.
From there he produced what fellow professional Alfie Burden called on social media the ‘best clearance ever witnessed bar none.’
That included a pot on the yellow which was straight forward enough, but Trump managed to swing the white around two cushions and through a tiny gap to nudge the final red off the cushion and over the middle pocket.
He went on to clear the table and would eventually win the match 6-4, but it was that shot that was still being talked about afterwards.
On commentary for ITV4, Alan McManus said: ‘Wow, wow! Unbelievable shot! There’s a hot shots competition, we know we love it, that should be in it twice. My goodness me. This is other worldly!
‘It’s through a gap that’s not there. Got to miss the brown by a hair, got to miss the blue by a hair. Wow. This wasn’t a snooker shot, this was an occasion, that’s how good that was.’
It was commentator Phil Yates who declared: ‘That is arguably the greatest positional shot ever.’
Trump said himself after winning the match: ‘I didn’t want to leave the table, it was one of them shots where when I’ve won tournaments it goes in.
‘I knew I hit it well, I was just hoping it would avoid the brown, It’s one of them shots that comes off once in a lifetime. Even if the brown wasn’t there it’s a great shot it’s just made it look a bit more special to avoid that.’
Former world champion Ken Doherty added: ‘Those clearances and shots like that come around once in a blue moon and you just have to savour them.’
Snooker fans will all have their favourite shots and Trump’s may join the likes of Alex Higgins’ blue in the 1982 World Championship…
Ronnie O’Sullivan’s left-handed final red as he made a 147 in the final frame to win the 2014 Welsh Open…
Mark Selby’s treble on this red to keep his 147 hopes alive in the British Open last year, which he went on to make…
Trump will hope to continue his fine form when he meets Barry Hawkins in the semi-final of the Champion of Champions on Friday night, although despite his miraculous shot against Murphy, he thought he underperformed in the game.
‘I felt like I played terrible. So to see the stats…I don’t know what happened there,’ he said.
‘When you’re out there you don’t really know what’s going on. It’s one of the worst I’ve felt all season, I felt tight, I felt horrible, I didn’t feel like my cue action was there.’
MORE : Judd Trump on fine form, harsh judgement, the world champion and nobody caring
MORE : John Higgins relishing chance for revenge on Mark Allen at Champion of Champions
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