Gould aims to be silent but deadly
Martin Gould will take a killer instinct into his clash with young hotshot Judd Trump at the Betfred.com World Championship after being branded snooker's 'Quiet Assassin'.
The 29-year-old from north-west London has been tagged the 'Pinner Potter' and was even rumoured to refer to himself as the 'G.O.A.T' - standing for 'greatest of all time', - based on his practice form. He laughed that off after his 10-8 victory over Hong Kong's Marco Fu today, but is happy with the sobriquet afforded him by Joe Johnson.
"Apparently I've been nicknamed the Quiet Assassin by Joe Johnson," said Gould referring to the Yorkshireman who triumphed at the Crucible 25 years ago. "Beforehand I'm not quiet, but when I get into the arena I become the Quiet Assassin."
Gould almost gunned down Neil Robertson in the second round last year, but lost 13-12 after leading 11-5. Now he must prepare to bring down the man who ended the Australian's defence of his title this year.
Judd Trump was backed by Robertson to reach the semi-finals after his shock success on Saturday, and the 21-year-old has never been so confident after winning the China Open at the start of April.
The clash of two of snooker's most attacking players starts tomorrow evening and Gould is predicting a shootout.
"I don't think it will take very long," Gould said. "Neither of us has anything to lose, we've both got everything to win. One of us is going to make our debut in the quarter-finals of the World Championship.
"Judd's a great player. I've only seen him play a few times, but he's one of those who on his day can pot anything, the same as the likes of me, Ronnie (O'Sullivan) and others.
"He's going to now be classed as one of the better players after winning China and getting himself into the top 16. He deserves whatever comes his way.
"He's definitely improved. He's become more of an all-round player than he used to be. His safety game is not quite the best, but you see him pot a long ball and you think 'Why does he need safety?' There won't be much safety in our match whatsoever."
