‘It gets in the way’ – Judd Trump frustrated by Masters tie policy after edging out Barry Hawkins to reach semi-finals

Judd Trump feels his form is trending in the right direction, but lamented having to wear a tie at the Masters.

He will also be able to jettison his lounge tie, as he will be on in the evening and will be sporting a bow tie.

Masters etiquette dictates players wear lounge ties in the afternoons and bow ties in the evenings.

Trump has been leading the charge for snooker to modernise and bring in a more relaxed dress code.

That is unlikely to happen at the Masters in the near future, much to Trump’s frustration.

“For me I don’t feel comfortable wearing the tie,” Trump said in the Eurosport studio. “I don’t feel comfortable. It gets in the way of my cue action.

“Not to make excuses, but a lot of my misses are because of the tie getting in the way. It makes me nervous that I don’t know what is going to happen.

“It takes me to make a century or a big break to feel okay.

“For me I feel a lot better in looser clothing, a t-shirt or just a shirt.”

Expanding on the issue with the tie, citing Ronnie O’Sullivan as an example, Trump said: “Because I cue the ball so flat compared to a few of the other top players it makes it a lot more difficult for me.

“The cue is coming a lot more parallel, whereas Ronnie cues down on the ball so it does not hit (the knot of his tie).”

In a clear message to snooker chiefs, Trump said: “In every other sport you have stuff that helps you.

“I am bewildered as to who makes that up. I am sure the standard would go up if you are a lot more free.

“At night you wear a bow tie but in the day you have to wear this. So obviously when my games get put on in the day I am stuck wearing this.

“Tomorrow I am on at night so it will be a little bit easier for me.

“There can’t be many sports where there is a different uniform for the day and the night.”

Trump improved as the contest with Hawkins progressed, and said he felt extremely confident towards the end of the match.

“I felt good in the end there,” Trump said. “I felt a lot more relaxed, a lot more comfortable under pressure and felt like I was not going to miss.

“I noticed at 3-3 that I felt alright. I was nervous at the start, missing easy balls and then something clicked and I felt relaxed and was able to play my best game again.

“I felt good and that if I got a chance I was going to take it.”

Hawkins had a chance in the final frame, but Trump felt from the moment his opportunity arrived he was confident of taking it.

“Barry got in and played a bad positional shot and I thought he got a bit lucky to be on that red and I thought that was it,” Trump said. “Luckily for me he missed it.

“There were a couple of good balls at the start of the break to get myself in position and from then on there were a couple of nice touch shots. I played quite nicely and I always felt I was not going to miss anything easy.”

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