Judd Trump ‘bottles it’ after losing epic UK Championship Final to Neil Robertson

Judd Trump blamed himself for “bottling it” after losing an epic UK Championship Final to Neil Robertson, which ran into the early hours of the morning.

Trump had a chance to seal the win with just the pink and black left on the table with the match poised at 9-9, but he missed to essentially hand the victory to Robertson shortly before 1am.

“It’s tough to take,” said Trump afterwards. “I just bottled it in the end - simple as that. The pressure got to me. I’d never miss from there normally. The whole length of the game, it was such a slog I was probably trying too hard.” 

The pair were never separated by more than a frame throughout a nail-biting contest for the £200,000 winner’s cheque.

Trump had looked in the ascendancy at 9-8 but a tricky cannon didn’t come off and Robertson came to the table for a break of 72, which he later described as arguably the best of his career, to force the decider. 

And Trump added: “It was an epic battle really. It probably made for good viewing but, for me, it was devastating. It was a very tough game, it always is against him. It is always a battle and it is always fun, and it is a match I always get excited by and hopefully I can learn from that.”

Robertson had lost his past two finals in 2020 but held his nerve for the tightest of wins.

Afterwards, the Australian said: “We’re both gladiators out there. Even without a crowd, we’re trying so hard to win. Judd, he was so unlucky.”