Judd Trump will look to land a second World Championship title in a few weeks and the world number one has some positives and negatives on his mind before his latest Crucible challenge.
The 35-year-old has had another great season on the table, winning huge titles at the UK Championship, Saudi Arabia Masters and Shanghai Masters.
With his expectations and standards so high, though, he only considers this campaign to be an average one and wants to land another trophy before he heads to Sheffield to make sure his confidence is as bulletproof as possible.
That leaves him just the Players Championship this week in Telford and the upcoming Tour Championship in Manchester, putting a bit of pressure on himself to win one of the two big events.
‘Every season I think you know from March onwards you’ve got three or four massive events,’ he told ITV after beating Lei Peifan in the opening round of the Players Championship on Tuesday.
‘I think you want to win one leading up to the World Championships, if I want to go in full of confidence.
‘Even though it’s been a brilliant season for probably everyone else, it’s quite an average season for me for what I’ve done over the last few years.
‘I’ve been able to raise my standard to a certain standard and I’m able to keep that up every single tournament. When I am able to get that little bit of extra confidence then most of the time I’m able to win.’
Trump could perhaps have won more this season but chose to take a couple of tournaments off, not playing at the Scottish or Welsh Opens.
While that may cost him the confidence of lifting a trophy, he says he is already feeling the benefit of being fresher, whereas in seasons gone by he has arrived at the Crucible in less than peak condition.
‘There’s some venues on tour that I love going to and there’s some I don’t love going to. Before I used to play in everything and was able to win a lot but I wasn’t enjoying it,’ he said.
‘Now the venues that I like a bit more, where I find the tables play better, I want to go in future. From next season I might even skip some of the bigger events where I don’t feel like I’m able to play my best and then really concentrate and give it my all when I do turn up.
‘I’ve been doing it for 18-19 years as a professional, played in every event. I think a lot of the times I’ve come into the World Championship maybe not at my best at the end of the season.
‘I do feel a lot fresher, even in the last couple of events I haven’t won, I’ve scored a lot of centuries and even in that game now [against Lei], I felt fresh and looked forward to playing.’
Perhaps a blessing and a curse for Trump heading into the final few weeks of the campaign is that he is on 88 centuries for the season, with a huge £100,000 bonus on offer if he can reach 100 tons.
He is in a good position to make that total and land the brilliant prize, but admits that he does not want that lingering on his mind at the Crucible when he is concentrating on landing a second world title.
‘I know I’m quite close, but it’s going to take a lot more games so I’m going to have to have some deep runs and make two or three centuries every game if I’m going to have a chance, so it’s going to be difficult,’ he said.
‘I think I’d have to do extremely well in both these next two if I was to get it. Obviously if I lost in the next game [at the Players] and then first game [at the Tour] I’d have it all to do.
More Trending
‘I don’t really want it in the back of my mind [in Sheffield]. On the other hand, when I’m going for a century every frame I kind of forget what I’m doing and it kind of makes it a bit easier. It would be nice to do it at the Worlds and nick £600k!’
Up next for Trump is a mouth-watering quarter-final of the Players Championship against Masters champion Shaun Murphy on Thursday night.
‘It is always enjoyable against Shaun,’ said the world number one. ‘He goes for his shots and you know you have to score well.
‘I think he has become a bit more ruthless in the last season, since starting working with Peter Ebdon. It will be a tough game to play and I will need to play well to beat him.’
MORE: Mark Selby names Ronnie O’Sullivan classic as best match he’s ever played in
MORE: Snooker legend ‘guessing shots’ as he reveals full extent of sight problems
MORE: The Ding Junhui curse haunts this snooker season – but who can break it?
