Trump: Zhao Xintong Is Among Snooker's Best Today, Ranks Himself Fifth Among His Era's Top Five

When former world No. 1 Judd Trump was asked about the five greatest players in snooker history, he cleverly avoided the question and instead shared the five outstanding players he has recognized during his 21-year professional career. The 37-year-old Trump has been active on the professional circuit for more than 20 years, entering the sport in 2005 at the age of 16.

After going through the early stages of development and adaptation, Trump gradually established himself and became a highly dominant champion on the tour. He has now won 31 ranking titles, with only three players having achieved more. He has also won the Masters twice and held the world No. 1 ranking for two consecutive years before recently losing that position.

Despite achieving such remarkable success, Trump placed himself only fifth in his selection of the top five players of his era. The top four were Ronnie O'Sullivan, John Higgins, Williams and Selby. Trump said: “If I only consider my era, it is difficult to include players whose peak I did not witness myself. So I would say first is O'Sullivan, second is Higgins, third is Mark Williams and fourth is Mark Selby.”

Regarding his decision not to include Hendry in the top five, Trump explained his view: “Because Hendry belonged to the era before mine, he would definitely be in the top five, maybe second or third.” Although Trump was born in August 1989 and could theoretically have witnessed Hendry's dominance in the 1990s, the former world No. 1 admitted that he could only clearly remember Hendry's performances after the 21st century.

Trump openly said that his memories of Hendry focus more on the defeats in the later part of his career rather than his glorious victories. He recalled: “I remember there was a match where he played Ebdon, which I think I watched when I was young. I missed the great moments of his peak, so it is difficult to judge fairly. I think some players older than me may be able to make a more accurate assessment.”

Regarding Zhao Xintong, who took over his world No. 1 position, Trump believes they do not belong to the same era and said Zhao is currently one of snooker's top players. “It is not really a competition because there is a clear age difference between us. I believe he has been the best player in the world over the past seven or eight months, starting with his Hong Kong World Grand Prix win, followed by two more tournament victories and another final appearance. I feel he has been the player showing the most consistent level.”

At last week's UK Open, Trump gained revenge by defeating Zhao Xintong 5-1 in the quarter-finals. After the match, Trump revealed that he was especially excited to face Zhao because he wanted to beat one of the world's best players: “When you can face opponents like this, it does not matter who is world No. 1. I think you have to be fully prepared for these kinds of battles.”