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World number 42 Joe Perry has won the Welsh Open for the first time, beating world number three Judd Trump 9-5 in the final in Newport.

With the win Perry, who turned professional in 1992, now jumps up to 23rd in the world.

“This is the absolutely highlight of my career by a country mile,” said the 47-year-old.

“I thought it was coming to an end but now I’ve had the best moment of my snooker career – to do it against a great champion like Trump is the icing on the cake.”

Perry had a difficult route to the final, beating seeds Mark Allen, Kyren Wilson, Ricky Walden and Jack Lisowski and came through three final frame deciders on his way to lift the Ray Reardon Trophy and claim the £70,000 first prize.

It was Perry’s first ranking final since the 2018 European Masters and his first win on British soil in a major final.

“I can’t believe it. I felt brilliant today and felt relaxed and calm, but for some reason kept missing easy balls.”

“Judd had an off day and let me off lightly today but I feel like I’ve played really well tonight,” said Perry.

Level playing field

The opening session was nervy and tentative from both players, with the first ball potted in the opening frame being the cue ball.

However, it soon developed into an exciting frame which came down to the black ball, with Cambridgeshire Perry winning it with a superb long range double shot.

The former world champion Trump took the next frame to level the match in only nine minutes but Perry took advantage of a loose safety shot from Trump to lead again at 2-1.

In the fourth frame Perry missed a red with the rest, which ultimately cost him the frame as Trump came to the table and cleared up to level again 2-2 at the first mid-session interval.

Perry had chances to win the fifth frame with some great long pots, but Trump took advantage of an easy miss on the blue by Perry to take the lead for the first time at 3-2.

It was the former Masters finalist Perry who pinched the scrappy sixth frame with the blue to draw level, but a missed black in the seventh frame cost him the chance to regain his lead and Trump was back in front at 4-3.

An uncharacteristic missed pink proved costly for Trump in the next frame and Perry denied the former world number one the chance to lead 5-3, instead levelling it at 4-4 at the end of the afternoon session.

Perry pulled ahead

Perry had a dream start in the first frame of the evening session, making a 108 break – the first century break of the final – and seemed to put down a marker.

There was a tense battle in the 11th frame and Trump made the most of a fluke to level it at 5-5.

Trump missed a black off the spot on 17 points in the next frame and it was Perry who capitalised and took the lead once again, following up with a hard-won 68 break to extend his lead for the first time in the match with a two frame advantage at 7-5 at the mid-session interval.

In the 12th frame Perry just missed a long black and Trump looked to close the gap, but he made more mistakes. Meanwhile Perry’s confidence and composure grew – he potted a superb long red to the green pocket which enabled him to make the clearance, and he moved to one frame from the title.

The momentum was firmly with Perry and he made a 70 break in the next frame to seal the win.

“It was a tough game and Joe played the better of us from start to finish, and fair play to him,” said Trump.

“He’s one of the nicest guys on tour so everyone is very happy for him.

“I was digging in all day just trying to stay with him. There were a couple of chances where I missed easy balls in the middle of the match, but I gave it my all and it just wasn’t to be really.

“Joe put me under pressure from the start and he is the best player over the week and thoroughly deserved to win,” said Trump in his 34th ranking final.

Unusually for the former world champion, it has been a year since Trump last won a ranking event, the 2021 Gibraltar Open.

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