World champion Kyren Wilson thrashed Judd Trump 9-3 to win the Northern Ireland Open title in Belfast.
Wilson raced into a 7-1 lead in the opening session at the Waterfront Hall and sealed a comprehensive victory in the ideal fashion with his only century of a surprisingly one-sided contest.
“I felt like the only thing missing from me today was a century, so it’s ended up with the icing on the cake today,” Wilson told Eurosport.
“What Judd’s been achieving just lately is inspiring, to be as dominant as he has been with the sort of standard on tour nowadays is absolutely phenomenal and I don’t know where he gets the stamina from.
“He makes me raise my game and we can’t keep relying on the class of ’92 (Ronnie O’Sullivan, John Higgins and Mark Williams) all the time, so I’m glad I’m up there with him and can beat him. It’s good for the future of snooker.”
Wilson revealed that his mother Sonya, who was in Belfast to see his victory, had recently recovered from breast cancer, adding: “We found out round about the World Championship so to win that for her was amazing and then for her to spend a week here is brilliant.
“She’s loved it this week.”
Defending champion Trump, who was seeking a record-extending fifth win in the event, equalled the highest break of the tournament with a total clearance of 143 in the 11th frame, but admitted Wilson was a worthy winner.
“I think Kyren was obviously too good today,” Trump said.
“The way he’s bounced back after winning the World Championship is inspiring, it’s nice to see someone that’s able to kick on and hopefully in the future now we can have many more battles.”
Wilson made breaks of 58, 81, 77 (twice) and 88 in the first session, but also crucially stole the second frame by clearing the colours after having needed a snooker.
The seventh frame also came down to a safety battle on the brown, which was won by Wilson to make it 7-0, before Trump made sure of avoiding a whitewash with a break of 83.
Trump kept his hopes alive by winning two of the first three frames when play resumed, but Wilson’s break of 119 secured his eighth ranking title, the Alex Higgins Trophy and the £100,000 first prize.