Judd Trump explains why he will miss Scottish and Welsh Opens in world snooker title chase – 'I’ve faded away'

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World No. 1 Judd Trump is set to pick and choose his events for the rest of the season after increasing his lead at the top of the sport's rankings with a 10-8 win over Barry Hawkins in the UK Championship final. Trump holds a huge lead of 658,200 points over world champion Kyren Wilson at the summit. "I don’t think I’m going to play a lot of snooker in the next few months," Trump told reporters.

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World No. 1 Judd Trump has opted to pull out of the Scottish Open in Edinburgh and is also set to skip the Welsh Open as he chases a second world title in May.

The Scottish Open takes place next week, from December 9-15, live on Eurosport and discovery+.

The new UK champion extended his huge lead at the top of the rankings to 658,200 points over world champion Kyren Wilson in second place with a 10-8 win over Barry Hawkins in Sunday's final at the York Barbican.

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Trump admits he will pick and choose his events for the rest of the season, which sees him miss the Shoot Out and Scottish Open before travelling to Saudi Arabia for the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship (December 18-20).

He is set to compete in a lucrative exhibition event in the Chinese resort city of Macau over the festive period before returning to the UK for the Masters at Alexandra Palace in London (January 12-19).

It is unclear whether he will participate in the German Masters in Berlin (January 27-February 2), but he is set to avoid the Welsh Open (February 10-16) for a second straight year.

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Trump will defend his title at the prestigious World Open in Yushan (February 24-March 2), World Grand Prix in Hong Kong (March 4-9), the Players Championship (March 17-23) and Tour Championship (March 31-April 6) before the season-ending World Championship (April 19-May 5).

"I don’t think I’m going to play a lot of snooker in the next few months," Trump told reporters. "I would rather be at the peak of my form towards the end of the season.

"Missing events like the Scottish and the Welsh is probably the best thing for me this season. I’ve potentially got to the World Championship burned out in some seasons.

"The way my seasons have been the last couple of years, I’ve faded away at the end of the season. I don’t want that to happen again."

Trump has won the Shanghai Masters, Saudi Arabia Masters and UK Championship in a memorable few months, but is still haunted by his 13-9 defeat to qualifier Jak Jones in last season's Crucible quarter-finals.

Despite claiming his 30th ranking title at the UK Championship, Trump remains with only one victory at the sport's biggest event in Sheffield, in 2019.

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Video credit: TNT Sports

"The worst thing for me is if you win a small event in the build up, then you’re far less likely to win the World Championship," he said.

"To go 13 or 14 games unbeaten is difficult with the standard where it is now."

Trump was due to face English Open semi-final Ishpreet Singh Chadha in the last 64 of the Scottish Open, but his opponent has been given a bye to the last 32.

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