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Trumps crucible scars ?

Postby GJ

Judd is still a young player but he has now lost 3 crucible matches from a big lead.

im not suggesting hes finished or anything but as a stevens fan i know how tough defeats can mount up.

Re: Trumps crucible scars ?

Postby TheRocket

Good point. I still believe, had he won it in 2011, he would have won far more titles now. He throw a couple of chances away now but I'm sure, he will win the World soon.

Re: Trumps crucible scars ?

Postby vodkadiet

TheRocket wrote:Good point. I still believe, had he won it in 2011, he would have won far more titles now. He throw a couple of chances away now but I'm sure, he will win the World soon.


They also said White, Stevens, Hunter, Maguire would win. They are always saying Ding will win, Robertson will win several, Selby now several, and quite a few others. If there were 4 World Championships a year maybe, but there is only one.

Re: Trumps crucible scars ?

Postby Roland

I'm reserving judgement on Judd. I think he's a fantastic player and I love his crowd pleasing shots because no one can hit the ball like him. He's got mental frailties though which the top players know how to exploit. I think it'll take him a few more years to get a foothold and start to win more regularly. He's still young but I think he needs a few more seasons under his belt before we really start to see how good he can be.

Re: Trumps crucible scars ?

Postby AC or LT?

Judd his a spent force. He's a potential Hendry style early bloomer who missed the boat, he doesn't have the kind of safety game you need to compete as you get older and his amazing long potting will collapse one day. He needed to win in 2011, had he done that he'd have probably won in 2013 (he wasn't gonna break the curse) and this year along with at least 3/4 other rankers.

Getting to a world final early in your career and losing it will either make your career or ruining it. And history books show it ruins careers more often than not.

Re: Trumps crucible scars ?

Postby Roland

He's not a spent force, that's silly talk. And he has a safety game. He's not played better than he did in the spring of 2011 since though, and that should be a concern for him. He has more scars and appears to be in the process of adapting his game. Anyway, I'll cover Judd in one of my playing style features soon.

Re: Trumps crucible scars ?

Postby JDM375

I must admit I do quite like Judd, know he isn't the most popular don't blame people for not liking him as I do agree he is a tad arrogant and times but he's a young lad enjoying life. Might be advised by his management not be too brash at times. I do cringe at some of his comments.

I just find Judd a bit frustrating to watch, he has a decent long game, brilliant cue power and a decent century rate and he has improved his safety considerably (OK not at a Selby, Higgins level yet) but it is much better than it was.

Shot selection is where I would like Judd to work on next, countless times he can pot a brilliant red but than hammers the medium length colour down the green pocket for example and then misses it and leaves his opponent in, some times players with great cuepower can over depend on it. They look great when the go in, but when they miss it is frame over every 9 times out of 10.

His cueball control does let him down at times, he does pull of some great recovery shots though but around the black area, you feel that a Ding or ROS will be far more likely to get over the line compared to Judd, despite his century stats.

His game is in a much better place than it was 6-12 months ago, but it isn't anywhere near his 2011 form yet.

He's only in his mid-20s so he still has some years left in him and he can work on his weak areas, which to be fair he has appeared to start to. Will it help him get back to winning, I don't know (it should with his ability) but I expect far better results next season.

Would Judd have won more if he won in 2011 WC, possibly but he wasn't ready as judged by the Monday of that final, but like people have said he has suffered three disappointing losses, mind you not much he could have done v Robbo, had a bad roll at 11-10 and the missed black at 11-12 you could argue but Neil wasn't missing and played excellent safety.

He has the game to win it, but many in the past have and didn't get the title. Some times players run it great opponents, sometimes they get the nerves and sometimes they are not suited the the venue, I don't think Judd has a issue with he latter, he seems to thrive in Sheffield.