Kurt Maflin backs Judd Trump to ‘come back just as strong’ after upsetting him at European Masters

Kurt Maflin stunned Judd Trump in the last 32 of the European Masters on Wednesday night, but feels the Ace’s struggles for results will come to an end, probably at the World Championship.

Trump has won a big tournament this season, lifting the Champion of Champions trophy in November, but after winning 11 ranking titles over the previous two seasons, it is a downturn in results for the 32-year-old.

Ranking tournaments have been the issue for the Ace this season, with his fall in the second round of the European Masters meaning that he has been to just three quarter-finals this campaign and not beyond.

Maflin extended that run with a 5-3 win on Wednesday, but does not see Trump’s results as concerning, believing that his incredible bout of success was impossible to maintain.

Such is the talent of the former world champion that he will be picking up trophies again, possibly at the Crucible in May.

‘Overall it was a solid performance. I missed a couple, Judd missed a couple,’ Maflin told WST after the big win in Milton Keynes. ‘I potted some crucial long balls. I just wanted a chance at 4-3 to finish it off.

‘Judd couldn’t keep going at the rate he was a couple of years ago, he is only human, it was unbelievable what he was playing over those 18 months, it’s got to taper off a little bit.

‘But, for sure he will come back just as strong, when that will happen, who knows? Probably at the World Championship.’

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A player’s struggles are all relative and Maflin would be absolutely thrilled