Trump in Turmoil: Snooker Superstar’s Game Unravels Amid Cue Confusion
Judd Trump is heading into Christmas with a serious snooker dilemma — and it all comes down to his cue.
Despite his unquestionable talent and status as one of the sport’s top contenders, the former world champion has now suffered four consecutive final defeats, the most recent being a tense 10–8 loss to Mark Selby in the UK Championship. The run of near-misses has forced Trump to confront an uncomfortable question: is his cue still working for him, or is it time for a change?
Earlier this season, Trump made the bold decision to “retire” the cue that carried him to his 2019 World Championship title, opting instead to experiment with a new one. But the shift didn’t produce the spark he hoped for. Eventually, he returned to his trusty old cue, searching desperately for the form and confidence it once gave him. So far, however, the magic has remained elusive.
With the prestigious Masters at Alexandra Palace looming next month — a tournament he has already lifted twice — Trump plans to travel back to his training base in Dubai to reassess everything. There, away from the spotlight, he hopes to make sense of his current struggles.
Trump admits he simply hasn’t been at his sharpest. “Unless you put the hours in, you’re never going to be as sharp as you need to be,” he reflected. Although he has still been reaching finals, he feels vulnerable against opponents who are performing at their peak. “When someone plays well, I keep getting found out,” he said. His game is stable, but not at the dominant level he maintained two or three years ago.
Now he plans to dive back into practice, test different cues, and possibly search for a brand-new one altogether. He’ll spend part of December at exhibitions in China, but before the Masters, it’s back to work — and back to solving the mystery of which cue can bring back his consistency.
For Trump, the goal is simple: find that one spark that reignites everything.
