Saudi Arabia Masters 2024: Judd Trump set to spend season as world No. 1 after £500,000 win against Mark Williams
By Desmond Kane
Published 08/09/2024 at 08:59 GMT+1
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Judd Trump first became world No. 1 in 2012, with further stints at the summit in 2013, 2019 and 2021, but the new Saudi Arabia Masters champion is set to hold the coveted position for the rest of the 2024/25 campaign after earning a record £500,000 in his 10-9 win over Mark Williams in Riyadh on Saturday night. Williams moves up three places from ninth to sixth after collecting £200,000.
‘Relentless winner’ Trump completes amazing clearance to claim Saudi Masters in epic decider
Video credit: TNT Sports
Judd Trump is set to spend the rest of the season as world No. 1 after earning a record first prize of £500,000 for completing an epic 10-9 win over Mark Williams on the final black at the inaugural Saudi Arabia Masters in Riyadh.
Trump produced a composed 72 clearance in the final frame after his opponent broke down on the cusp of the title in missing a crucial red on 62.
Williams required just one more red and black for victory at the new ranking event, the sport's self-styled 'fourth major' due to its huge £2.3 million prize fund.
Trump's historic win in Saudi Arabia's capital city also sees him pass Steve Davis as the fourth most prolific ranking winner of all time with 29 titles, with Williams remaining on 26 in sixth spot after his agonising near-miss.
Ronnie O'Sullivan (41), Stephen Hendry (36) and John Higgins (31) remain the top three with Trump closing in rapidly since collecting his first ranking title at the 2011 China Open courtesy of a 10-8 win over Mark Selby.
While six-time world champion Davis compiled his victories in a 14-year period between 1981-1995, Trump has taken 13 years to amass his momentous total.
Of course, and of greater significance in comparing generations, there is also a huge change in the snooker calendar from the era when Davis competed, with only six ranking events in 1984 compared to 17 in 2024, with Trump benefiting from increased earning opportunities.
“I’m in shock, I struggled,” said the jubilant Bristolian. “Mark was much the better player. His long potting, I’ve never ever seen anyone pot like that over that distance, every single shot went in, just unbelievable.
“He was making breaks from nowhere, the table was just playing tricky, and I don’t deserve to win. It’s not going to mean anything to him, but he was the much better player, I just found something at the end. "
Welsh icon Williams was the heavier scoring player throughout the final, rolling in four century breaks, as he recovered from trailing 5-3 to lead 9-8, before Trump claimed the final two frames in a dramatic conclusion to the richest ranking event in history outside of the World Championship.
With Trump earning the same amount of money as world champion Kyren Wilson collected for his triumph at the Crucible, he has built up a huge lead at the summit of the game's standings.
Due to the heavy weighting of the Saudi Arabia Masters prize fund on the money-based ranking list, Trump has moved 495,500 points ahead of Wilson, who would need to claim several big tournament victories to close that gap before he defends his world title in April.
Trump went into the event on the same ranking points as Mark Allen, but is now 500,000 clear of the world No. 3, who earned no points for his 5-1 defeat to Xiao Guodong in the last 32.
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‘I didn’t deserve to win’ – Trump claims ‘unbelievable’ Williams was ‘much better player’
Video credit: TNT Sports
To put the financial incentives of the Saudia Arabia event into perspective, Trump is due to defend his English Open title in Brentwood on Eurosport and discovery+ later this month (September 12-22), which has a first prize worth £100,000.
O'Sullivan spent two years at the summit after claiming his seventh world title with an 18-13 final win over Trump in 2022, but the fairness of the system has been questioned in the past by the sport's current No. 1.
“They are big tournaments, but they should all be the same prize money or it should be the same points because you can’t have the biggest event being two-and-a-half times bigger than any other event," Trump told Eurosport.
"You need three or four tournaments of the same prize money at least for the idea of snooker majors to work.
“The World Championship is a special event. Winning it is enough on its own. I don’t think you should automatically be back to No. 1 on one tournament."
Trump has been the most consistent player since starting the season in superb form after winning the invitational Shanghai Masters, defeating Shaun Murphy 11-5, and reaching the final of the Xi'an Grand Prix, where he narrowly lost 10-8 to Wilson.
His next target at the English Open will be the chase to become the second player in history to pass the 1,000 mark in career centuries.
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‘Not to be’ – The missed red that ultimately cost Williams £500,000 prize fund to Trump
Video credit: TNT Sports
He moves onto 997, one behind Higgins (998), with O'Sullivan (1,272) reaching the target five years ago.
Meanwhile, Williams moves up from ninth to sixth in the new rankings after earning £200,000 for reaching the final with former world semi-finalist Si Jiahui also rising nine places from 22nd to 13th in the world, after earning £100,000 in losing 6-3 to Williams in the Riyadh semi-finals.
There is the added consolation for Williams of securing potentially lucrative qualification spots in the World Grand Prix, Players Championship and Tour Championship, where he is defending champion, later in the season.
Elsewhere, Higgins remains the world No. 16 and continues his remarkable unbroken stay in the top 16 since 1995, despite losing 5-2 to Jimmy Robertson in the last 32.
- Saudi Arabia Masters final as it happened – Judd Trump defeats Mark Williams in £500,000 final-frame decider
- Fuming Matthew Selt quits mid-match after missing black with patched-up cue
World Rankings after Saudi Arabia Masters
1. Judd Trump (ENG) 1,474,000
2. Kyren Wilson (ENG) 978,500
3. Mark Allen (NI) 974,000
4. Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) 739,500
5. Mark Selby (ENG) 660,500
6. Mark Williams (WAL) 658,000
7. Luca Brecel (BEL) 654,500
8. Shaun Murphy (ENG) 598,900
9. Ding Junhui (CHN) 466,500
10. Gary Wilson (ENG) 456,400
11. Ali Carter (ENG) 439,500
12. Zhang Anda (CHN) 437,350
13. Si Jiahui (CHN) 349,400
14. Jak Jones (WAL) 332,500
15. Tom Ford (ENG) 343,850
16. John Higgins (SCO) 309,850
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