David Hendon: Careers are defined by the Crucible, can Judd Trump silence the doubting voices once and for all?

TNT Sports commentator David Hendon has questioned whether Judd Trump can "silence the doubting voices once and for all" by winning a second World Snooker Championship in 2025. The current world No. 1 tasted Crucible success in 2019, but is yet to become a multiple champion at the iconic Sheffield venue. The World Championship gets underway on April 19, live on TNT Sports and discovery+.

Judd Trump is a one-off. A dazzling, natural talent since boyhood, he has entertained and amazed during his 20 years on the World Snooker Tour.

The Bristolian left-hander’s skill and unique shot-making has never been in doubt and, mixed more recently with tenacity and a sharp, smart eye for the right shot, his game is formidable. He is already guaranteed to start next season as world No. 1.

Yet several decades down the line, snooker fans of the future will study the one roll of honour which really matters and Trump’s legacy will, to a large degree, rest on how many times he appears on it.

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However stacked the circuit is, the World Championship is the one title everyone wants to win, the one by which every player is ultimately measured. Trump, of course, has won it in 2019. So can he now become a multiple champion and silence the doubting voices once and for all?

Trump has been playing snooker to a high level from a very young age. At eight, he won the Bristol league’s division four title. At ten, he was the national under-15 champion.

He first played at the Crucible as a raw, but obviously talented 17-year-old in 2007. He went for everything, as if safety play had been outlawed, and lost an entertaining match against Shaun Murphy.

By 2011, he had won his first ranking title, the China Open, and enjoyed a barnstorming run to the world final, playing what would become known as ‘naughty snooker', which was a catch-all term for his audacious shot selection and ultra-attacking approach.

This was crowd pleasing, but did not get the job done. John Higgins, the ultimate percentage player, beat him 18-15 in the title match.

'Simply sensational' - Trump makes history with 146 century in whitewash win over Vafaei

Video credit: TNT Sports

Trump was now on the radar and won the UK Championship later that year. He began picking up trophies while all the time learning to mix attack and defence, curbing some of his wilder instincts.

Then in 2018 came the inspired decision to invite his younger brother, Jack, to travel with him on tour as a companion, helper and general wise counsel. Since they teamed up six and a half years ago, Trump has won 22 ranking titles, taking his career total to 30.

The highlight of this period was his triumph at the Crucible in 2019. He played spellbinding snooker in the final, making seven centuries in defeating Higgins 18-9. A third world final appearance followed in 2022, when he was beaten 18-13 by Ronnie O’Sullivan.

Trump has won another UK Championship, the Masters twice and taken his career centuries tally to over 1,000 at the age of 35. Nobody can deny he is a special player.

But snooker’s Hall of Fame contains a pantheon within a pantheon reserved for those who have scaled the Crucible mountain on multiple occasions. O’Sullivan and Stephen Hendry have each won seven world titles in Sheffield. Steve Davis has six to his name, Higgins and Mark Selby four apiece and Mark Williams three.

The professional circuit is blessed with many high-profile, lucrative tournaments. Trump has already set a prize money record this season, earning £1,480,600, having appeared in six finals, winning three titles.

But he knows the World Championship casts a long shadow over the rest of the tour. Like Wimbledon or the Grand National, it attracts wider attention than regular events and represents the pinnacle of snooker. However much WST want to bang on about the ‘Triple Crown’, this is the true major, the real test, the big daddy.

Careers are defined by the Crucible, for good or ill. It is the venue, the tournament, which sorts out the snooker men from the boys. To win it once is a huge achievement. To win it again marks you out as one of the all-time greats.

One problem is that it does seem harder to win than ever. Trump has come along at an ultra-competitive time. There are far more genuine candidates for the title than was once the case, even 15 years ago. Players can find a high level and still lose, as Mark Allen found out last year against Higgins.

But Trump’s level in the last two World Championships has not been good. He lost in round one to Anthony McGill in 2023 and last season was poor in going down to a quarter-final defeat to Jak Jones.

Trump makes highest break of World Grand Prix so far with 'fabulous' 145 century

Video credit: TNT Sports

Was this pressure? Burnout? Lack of focus? Players are good at finding excuses, but the answer almost always lies within.

There is only one World Championship per year and the pressure is therefore intense. Some of the most famous snooker legs have turned to jelly inside this theatre of dreams – and nightmares. Trump is not immune to this. No one is.

With some detractors, it seems Trump cannot win, even when he does. You know that if he becomes a multiple world champion, they will point out he has not won it four times, like Higgins or Selby. If he wins it four times, they will remind him that Hendry and O’Sullivan have seven.

This is unfair. He is the best player of his generation and one of the best snooker has ever seen. His career, by any measure, has been a huge success.

And yet… If he ends his career as a one-time world champion, it will feel like a poor return for his potential. Trump knows this, and he also knows there is only one person who can put it right.

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