Judd Trump has today lost his bid to win a second World Snooker Championship after he lost 13-9 to Jak Jones.
This result means that his triumph in 2019 is still the only time that the Bristolian potter has been the champion of the world.
Trump was locked at eight frames apiece overnight with the Welsh qualifier – but he simply lost his composure in today’s morning session.
The man who has won five ranking titles this season cut a forlorn figure throughout the session and just couldn’t get going.
Jones has reached the semi-final – and the one-table setup – for the first time in his career and has now gone one better than his quarter-final run last year.
After this disappointing defeat, Trump has explained what he thinks he struggled with against Jones.
Judd Trump shares why he struggled against Jak Jones
Well, this wasn’t in the script. The draw had been set for Trump to meet Ronnie O’Sullivan in the semi-finals in a repeat of the 2022 final.
Now, it’s Jones who will prepare hard for a big semi-final against either O’Sullivan or Bingham who continue their match today.
Trump has confessed that he simply struggled to get going – and has bemoaned the time it took Jones to play some of his shots.
He told BBC Sport: “I just struggled. I had a lot of chances but it was a bit slower than I liked and I couldn’t get any rhythm. It was like starting again every time I came to the table.
“I should have been a bit more attacking in the first two sessions and maybe I played into his hands a little bit.
“It’s not easy to have a good run here. Playing like that, he did me a favour because I’d have lost 17-0 (in the semi-final) playing like that.”
Trump can win World Snooker Championship again
It’s disappointing for the 34-year-old but you can bet your last dime that he will bounce back in the future.
The likes of O’Sullivan, John Higgins and Mark Williams have proved that snooker isn’t the young man’s game it once was.
Trump has bags of time on his side to keep winning the big titles and there will be more to come from him at the World Championships.
It’s perhaps a little underwhelming that despite his brilliance and the fact he’s won 28 titles, he’s only managed one world crown.
Still, the format does separate the men from the boys in Sheffield and producing the goods for 17 days is a tough thing to do.
Trump will be sore for a few days with how he played in this quarter-final but he must now work on a few things.
His temperament has never really come into question previously but perhaps slower players are something he needs to learn to deal with.
This was a big occasion for Jones and clearly, his gameplan worked to perfection with Trump sent packing back to Bristol.