New year, same Trump

Judd Trump continued his winning streak into the new year with victory in the Championship League Group One.

Crondon Park is only a few miles from house in Romford and the young potter definitely looked right at home in Essex.

Picture by Monique Limbos

After winning the UK Championship at the back end of 2011, he started the new calendar year in exactly the same manner, with another impressive win against more of the world's best players.

Again, he wasn't at his best from the off but turned it up when it mattered producing some excellent snooker to bat away Shaun Murphy 3-2 in a quickfire final.

For all the plaudits, Judd did earn some critics after his big win in York, for challenging himself to go on and dominate the sport.

He was called naive and even arrogant to think at such a young age he could go and blow away the rest of the game's top stars.

In my opin, this ambition is simply another of Trump's many assets.

He has ayouthful and fresh approach to the game, that comes naturally to him.

While some of snooker's more established professionals seem content on sitting back in certain events, skipping tournaments here and there and blaming the system for their slide down the rankings, Trump has been the complete opposite.

Although the Championship League is an exception because it has no ranking points attached, his philosophy remains the same.

He has seen the increased in tournaments as a chance to climb up the rankings at even quicker rate than he would have before.

He's already up as high as number five in the world and is promising to climb to the top. No event is an obstacle to him. He wants to play in everything and the more he plays the more he wants to win.

Judd is critical of himself even when he wins matches. He grumbles about dropping too many frames and continues to strive for perfection.

That's the kind of determined attitude that is developing him into a great champion already.