World Championship final - reaction as Trump beats Higgins 18-9

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As well as the honour of winning his first world title Judd Trump also collects a hefty winners cheque of £500,000.

Not bad for for 17 days work eh.

It also means he becomes the first player to earn over £1m in a season, as his total winnings reaches £1,098,400.

Paying for that first round is a bit more palatable now isn't it.

I'm not sure Judd Trump will tire of watching this.....

Imagine it'll have to wait until after he's bought that first celebratory round later though as he promised in his post final interview.

We all knew Judd Trump was getting another game together as well as just being able to pot them.

But that standard was astonishing. To be able to dismantle a player like John Higgins, tactically as well as knocking them in has helped him rise in stature and in his own mind as well.

You feel that his strike rate in tournaments is going to go up.

The emergence of a few players is the thing to take from it. John Gilbert impressed me no end when he beat Mark Allen.

The overriding thing is that performance from Judd Trump in the final though. I can't get away from that.

Judd Trump has withstood a lot of people saying he would not win the World Championship.

In another era he might have won it at a younger age but he's still got a lot of years left to dominate this game.

Simon: What a performance by Judd Trump. Phenomenal snooker from another planet. He could have been against two players and he still would have won easily, well played.

Gareth: Disappointing for John Higgins to lose his third final in a row. Glad there wasn’t any retirement announcement at the end, he’s playing too well to even consider it.

Ok so we've just seen Judd Trump thrash John Higgins but how did he reach the final.... it wasn't always plain sailing but he got better as the tournament went on.

• Overturned a 6-3 deficit to win a thrilling final-frame decider against Thepchaiya Un-Nooh in the first round
• Fought past Ding Junhui in the second round with a 13-9 win after going 9-7 down
• Eased through to the semi-finals with a comfortable 13-6 win over Stephen Maguire
• Beat qualifier Gary Wilson 17-11 in semi-final

So Judd Trump becomes a winner after losing to John Higgins in the 2011 Crucible final.

And that means he completes snooker's Triple Crown, of the Masters, UK Championship and the World Championship.

You can read more about that in our final report here.

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More from the 2019 world champion Judd Trump speaking to BBC Sport:

"I had to go away and rebuild my game. Special thanks to my brother who moved up with me and has been a massive help and one of the reasons I have done so well this season.

"My dad is the biggest snooker fan in the world, and it's inspiring to see his motivation in snooker. There have been some tough times, bad losses, but I had inspiration to win it for him.

"It’s an incredible achievement for me from where I was at start of season. I had not done that well, but my brother came up and I have been practicing harder and the results have paid off as well."

I think you need to be inspired by somebody of the same generation. He might be the man to do it. He turned the final into a procession.

It was amazing. The standard in that final may have been the greatest standard we have ever seen. And he was at the brunt of it.

What he did has usurped his performance at the Masters. What he did was just sensational. I never thought he was that good. I had no idea he was that good.

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Now here comes the new world champion Judd Trump speaking to BBC Sport:

"It is incredible achievement for me from where I was.

"I have worked so hard for this, for people around me it is so special. It was an amazing final, the standard from the very first ball.

"I always raise my standard against John and still don’t beat him. That is probably the best I have ever played in a major final.

"I was still not relaxed coming into the final sessions, the standard he was playing, It is amazing for him to reach three finals, I always try and learn as much as possible, without doubt he is one of the greatest to play the game, I always look up to him."

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So is Judd Trump now officially recognised as the best player in the world....?

Well believe it or not the world champion isn't. He finishes the season second in the world rankings behind Ronnie O'Sullivan.

According to that system John Higgins is the fifth best player in the world.

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John Higgins is a classy guy. I feel for him a bit really - he didn't have a chance against the Judd Trump 'Juddernaut' did he?

He's up doing his post match interview already:

"I was the lucky one to not have to pay for a ticket, he was just awesome. I was lucky to get nine frames really.

"It will be the first of many I am sure, to produce a standard like that is incredible. He was unplayable.

"I never expected to get to the final, I came up against an unstoppable machine."

And he's got them.

Judd Trump is the new world champion.

In goes a red, and a blue, hard or soft every pot finds the centre of the pocket.

John Higgins has hardly been out of his seat this evening.

Judd Trump looks nerveless. Normally it's squeaky bum time at this stage but he's not flinching so far.

He's got a chance to wrap it all up here. The break is at 42 and counting.....