Trump inflicts more misery on winless Fu - 01/10/2009

Judd Trump 4-2 Marco Fu (best of 6)

Trump's scores first
100-19 (Trump 100), 0-82 (Fu 82), 75-21 (Trump 47), 63-61 (Trump 34, Fu 31, 30), 120-6 (Trump 12)

Judd Trump

MARCO Fu's troubled start to the 2009 PartyCasino.com Premier League Snooker season continued in the latest round of matches.

Fu, who was playing in the Premier League for the first time since autumn 2005, slumped to a 4-2 defeat at the Charter Hall in Colchester.

It means Fu has only claimed one point from his first three matches and he now faces an uphill task to secure a top four place and a spot in the play-offs.

Trump won £6,000 for one night's work - £1,000 for each of the frames he won and an extra £1,000 for his two century breaks.

"It was a big frame to go 2-1 up and I was a bit lucky but to win 4-2 is alright," said Trump.

"It was annoying losing the last frame as I went into the pack after scoring 49 and didn't finish on anything. That frame could prove critical at the end of the day.

"It's nice to play on television every week and really good experience. I just want to be on tv all the time. I still expect to win the competition and my best game is very good.

"To win £6,000 is good but £7,000 would've been better but the bank balance is going up!"

Trump was looking for his second victory of the Premier League season after securing a superb 4-2 triumph over Stephen Hendry from 2-0 down, while Fu had only gained one point from his opening two matches.

This was a must-win encounter for Fu but he made a poor start by losing the opening frame.

A routine shot on the black from Fu failed to drop and that enabled Trump to make an excellent, fast-paced 100 for his third century break of the Premier League season.

A capacity crowd at Charter Hall, Colchester were treated to some fantastic snooker and Fu quickly levelled the score with a break of 82. He looked well placed to make a large century break with three more reds left on the table but missed a shot on one of them into the middle pocket.

The third frame saw a number of errors from both players but the critical moment came when Fu misjudged a safety and that gave Trump an opportunity. He took it well with a break of 47 to regain the lead at 2-1.

Breaks of 31 and 30 in the fourth looked to have given Fu a valuable frame and it should have been 2-2. However, the man from Hong Kong failed to finish the job off and it cost him as Trump battled to claim the frame by two points in a black ball finish.

He ensured the maximum points by winning the fifth and his break of 120 was his second century of the match and meant he had earned £6,000 already from his night's work.

Trump could have won the last as well but faultered after scoring 49 and Fu's 87 gave him the last frame but it was too little, too late to affect the result.