Northern Ireland Open snooker 2020 - Judd Trump leads Ronnie O'Sullivan in final after first session

ByEurosport

Updated 22/11/2020 at 16:34 GMT

Judd Trump has been too good for the Rocket so far with the latter not at his best at the Marshall Arena in the pair's third meeting in a row at the Northern Ireland Open final. Trump triumphed in the previous two finals against the world champion. Watch the conclusion live on Eurosport 1, eurosport.co.uk or the Eurosport app from 6:45pm GMT.

Judd Trump leads world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan 5-3 at the end of a tense afternoon session in the Northern Ireland Open final in Milton Keynes.

Trump has been playing some fine snooker in the highly-anticipated clash between two greats of the sport.

The session began with a poor safety from O'Sullivan, gifting Trump the opportunity to jab in a long blue into the yellow pocket. The reigning champion then pocketed the pink to secure a cagey first frame.

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A bizarre second frame saw O'Sullivan elect to give Trump a second run at swerving the cue ball around the black to pot a red hanging over the pocket, with the two-time defending champion obliging, before the Rocket played on despite needing six snookers.

With the session seemingly slipping away, O'Sullivan produced a sensational fluke in the third which finally got the 44-year-old on the scoreboard. He missed a green to the bottom left by a mile, but watched it go off four cushions and then drop into the left middle before he added the brown, and a difficult cut on a blue.

Trump took a 3-1 lead with a break of 69 before returning after the interval to pocket a crucial pink and deepen O'Sullivan's problems in the fifth.

O'Sullivan desperately needed the sixth and he dug deep as he pocketed a brilliant red to keep him within touching distance, but Trump restored his three-frame advantage in style with a clinical break of 128.

The Rocket finished up by reducing the arrears to two with a 137 clearance - his sixth century of the tournament and a much-needed break heading into Sunday's evening session.

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