Yahoo Finance Trump slams conditions after Welsh Open exit
WORLD No.1 Judd Trump slammed conditions at Celtic Manor following his Welsh Open exit and suggested he may not return if future tournaments are held at the resort, writes Paul Martin.
Trump was stunned by Hossein Vafaei in the third round in Newport, bringing to an end his 28-match winning streak in best-of-seven matches.
The Bristolian has won four ranking titles in Milton Keynes this season and the change of scene proved far from welcome.
“It’s just so heavy here,” he said. “It’s like playing in China and that’s why the standard has been pretty poor from what I’ve seen of the tournament.
“A lot of my games have been bad. Balls are going safe a lot more often, which doesn’t make for good viewing.
“It’s difficult to play in. People on the outside who stick the tables in there don’t play snooker in there, so they just set it up and think it all looks good.
“When you’re out there playing, it’s a different story. In those conditions, anyone’s going to be able to win.
“I’ll have to see where (the Gibraltar Open) is being played – if it’s here, maybe I’ll give it a miss.”
Hossein Vafaei knocks out Judd Trump! #BVEuroSeries @BetVictor pic.twitter.com/bF7WprCoHz
— World Snooker Tour (@WeAreWST) February 18, 2021
The 31-year-old has been a consistent critic of the humidity inside the match room throughout the week, comparing the table to a waterlogged football pitch after overcoming Si Jiahui in the second round.
“I always like to moan after I win, otherwise no-one does anything – but still no-one does anything,” he added.
“It’s not just this tournament, it’s happened in the past – I’ve moaned in the World Championships and no-one ever does anything.
“It just makes the standard a lot poorer than it should be.
“Milton Keynes has been very consistent for the past year and the standard has been amazing there.
“But here it was playing very heavy. Maybe they’d put it in a different room, the standard would have been a lot better.”
Fellow top-10 players Kyren Wilson and Mark Allen also hit out at the conditions in Newport after being sent home on moving day.
Wilson said he was ‘glad to be out’ following his 4-3 defeat against Tom Ford while Allen labelled his match table ‘embarrassing’ after losing to Ali Carter.
A WST spokesperson said: “We endeavour to provide the best possible conditions at all of our events and always welcome feedback from the players.
“WST are delighted with the way the week has gone so far and are extremely thankful to Celtic Manor Resort for providing a world class venue to host the BetVictor Welsh Open.”
Mark Williams had no such problems at his home venue and continued his quest for a third Welsh Open title with consecutive victories on day four.
The 44-year-old, who has not won this competition since 1999, smashed in 224 unanswered points as he came from 2-1 down to beat Joe Perry in round three before taking on Trump’s conqueror Vafaei.
Breaks of 83, 79 and 90 ensured Williams’ safe progress into the quarter-finals, where Tom Ford awaits in Friday’s evening session.
Mark Williams is the first man into the @betvictor Welsh Open quarter finals!
He’s beaten Hossein Vafaei 4-2 at the Celtic Manor.
Stephen Maguire has overcome bright prospect Pang Junxu by the same scoreline #BVEuroSeries pic.twitter.com/TGBLxiqECN— World Snooker Tour (@WeAreWST) February 18, 2021
Williams’ status as the only Welshman to win the Welsh Open will remain intact for another year following third-round defeats for Ryan Day and Jak Jones.
Snooker Shootout champion Day was beaten 4-1 by reigning champion Shaun Murphy while Jones lost 4-2 against Mark King.
Watch the Welsh Open live on Eurosport, Eurosport app and stream on discovery+
