The dust has settled on a thrilling 2019 Betfred World Championship, which saw Judd Trump finally realise his dream and claim a first Crucible crown. Here is what has been said in the media on the momentous victory for the Ace in the Pack…

It was a stunning performance in one of the greatest finals from new world No.2 Trump, 29, who led an unprecedented century barrage in Sheffield.

He made seven tons, equalling the individual scoring record for any match at the iconic venue set by Ding Junhui in 2016.

And together with Higgins, the match total of 11 set a new mark for any Crucible match. The total for the tournament of 100 smashed the previous record of 86.

After scooping the £500,000 first prize Trump took his season’s earnings to £1,098,000 – the first player to break a million. Not bad for a game once branded a ‘mis-spent youth’.

But Trump was ecstatic to finally get his hands on the trophy – a destiny mapped out for him since becoming the youngest player to make a competitive 147 at just 14.

Trump, who has added an all-around game to his former ‘naughty snooker’, made breaks of 51, 63, 105, 103, 135, 114, 71, 58, 70, 101, 71, 126, 104, 94 and 62.

It was the biggest margin of victory in a final since Higgins beat Shaun Murphy 18-9 a decade ago.

(Hector Nunns, The Daily Mirror)

Every session in this final, in fact almost every frame, had been top-quality stuff and compulsive viewing.

Trump scores of 126 and 104 were yet more demonstrations of brilliance from a player fulfilling his potential on the biggest stage. The latter was the record 100th of the tournament.

Battler Higgins, a four-time world champion, ensured he would not suffer the embarrassment of losing with a session to spare as he secured the 23rd and 24th frames with respective breaks of 67 and 70.

Yet those who were paid hundreds of pounds for a ticket last night were treated to excellent 94 and 62 breaks as Trump triumphed.

For Higgins, it was heartache in the final for the third successive year.

Naturally the 43-year-old will wonder if he will ever get a chance to win this tournament again.

(Rob Maul, The Sun)

It all left Stephen Hendry and Steve Davis, with 13 titles between them, both frequently reduced in a commentary to one simple word during what was surely the highest-quality world snooker championship final ever seen. “Wow”.

The match had contained an all-time Crucible record 11 breaks of over 100 to also complete the first-ever century of centuries across the entire 17-day tournament – and yet it was some of Trump’s outrageous potting that will live longest in the memory.

The statistic that will mean most to Trump was also simple: an 18-9 margin of victory to finally become world champion and complete what was also John Higgins’ third consecutive final defeat.

This, though, will taste very different to the losses against Mark Selby and Mark Williams over the past two years. For this was simply an occasion when Trump, who turns 30 this year, fulfilled a rare talent that first came to the snooker world’s attention in 2004. He became the youngest player to make a 147 competition break way back then and, while the subsequent journey has been bumpy, there has long been a sense of destiny about this moment.

(Jeremy Wilson, The Telegraph)

At long last the monkey is off Judd Trump’s back. The 29-year-old produced a scintillating display to beat John Higgins 18-9 and finally end his wait for a maiden world title in a record-breaking Crucible showpiece.

This has been Trump’s destiny since lorry driver dad Steve put a miniature table in his four-year-old son’s bedroom. The boy was a bit special.

Trump surged through the junior ranks and in 2007 became the youngest since Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O’Sullivan to play in the World Championship.

It looked like dawn of a new era when he made the final in 2011, but Higgins showed the 21-year-old that crash, bang, wallop is not enough to win this 17-day marathon, coming from 10-7 down to win his fourth title. It has taken eight years, but Trump avenged that defeat in emphatic style.

He held a 12-5 overnight advantage courtesy of a stunning eight-frame blitz on Sunday night and there was no way back for Higgins this time. Trump is the complete player now.

(Joe Downes, The Daily Mail)

It has all finally crystallised for Judd Trump at the Crucible. Snooker’s greatest natural talent is the game’s new world champion. Glorious news for Trump, but an even better bulletin for the sport he waves his wand over.

The man nicknamed ‘The Ace In The Pack’ is suddenly holding all the cards on the green baize after a quite awe-inspiring display of feverish, powerhouse potting. Snooker from the Gods with a devilish side to it all was thoroughly enlivening. The possibilities for the bounding Bristolian at the age of 29 beyond these totemic and tortuous 17 days are endless. There is no going back after this.

Across the slates of the tables, the tectonic plates of world snooker shifted in Sheffield. Perhaps not quite snooker’s version of A Star Is Born on the green baize because Trump had always threatened to revolutionise the sport since he made a 147 break at the age of 14, but there was a coming of age about his quite astonishing 18-9 butchering of a flabbergasted John Higgins on Sunday and Monday.

(Desmond Kane, Eurosport)

Judd Trump says he took satisfaction from “proving the doubters wrong” with his first World Championship title.

Trump, 29, said he received a tweet when he was 6-3 down to Thepchaiya Un-Nooh in the first round which said he was “bottling it again”.

He edged through that in a final-frame decider and reached the final where he dismantled John Higgins 18-9.

“I am going to reply to the tweet,” Trump said with a grin. “It had given me the fire.”

(Shamoon Hafez, BBC Sport)

“You’ve had Stephen Hendry, unbelievable player, John Higgins, unbelievable player, he’s in the same mould as these guys and he has probably taken the game to another level.

“I think Judd’s best game is better than John Higgins’ best game, it’s better than Stephen Hendry’s best game, it’s better than my best game.”

(Ronnie O’Sullivan on Eurosport’s live coverage)

“We saw Tiger Woods win in Augusta and it’s a huge story because people can identify with him. Trump is Mr Perfect at this moment. He’s a nice kid, interesting for the young market and technically good enough to inspire the old market. The mixture is magic.

“If you take the comparison with Anthony Joshua, AJ wants to be a billionaire and I told him, ‘Quite frankly, carry on winning and you will be a billionaire’. Judd’s brand, personality and persona are capable of enormous commercialisation.

“Whereas I would tell other players that winning the World Championship could be worth £10 million, in Trump’s case that could be £50 million or more because he has the personality. There’s only one Judd Trump. It’s a winning formula that could make him the richest player snooker has ever seen.”

(Barry Hearn in various publications)

Source: World Snooker