Cue Sports Weekly: Judd Trump Avenges Old Final Losses in Shanghai, and Pune Is Just Five Days Out

Judd Trump Beats Kyren Wilson to Win Shanghai, Finally

There's history behind this one that makes it worth more than just another trophy. Trump lost the 2015 Shanghai Masters final to Kyren Wilson 10-9, and Wilson had beaten him in their last three meetings in major finals since. On Sunday, at the Luwan Gymnasium, Trump finally got his revenge — 11-6, and his second Shanghai title overall.

He made the perfect start. A 7-3 lead after the first session, built on three straight frames to close it out, including a clearance of 67 to steal frame six after trailing 66-0. Wilson, to his credit, didn't fold quietly — a century kept him in touch at 8-5, and later a 134 break threatened a genuine comeback once Trump had pushed out to 9-5. It wasn't enough. Trump closed it out 11-6, and afterward admitted it felt personal: "He's beaten me in the last few finals. It was nice to start the season in that kind of manner and get one over on him."

Frame 15 is the one worth knowing about specifically. Wilson conceded 14 points on fouls in a scrappy safety exchange, and in doing so left Trump a free ball. Trump didn't waste it — a break of 51 followed, putting him one frame from the title.

It's Trump's first tournament win of the new season, and a strong opening statement — a 36-year-old world number one still settling old scores.

Pune Countdown: Five Days to Go

This is genuinely close now. The 2026 WPA Heyball World Championships get underway in Pune on 12 August, field locked at 128 players — 64 men, 64 women — drawn from all six WPA continental confederations. Five days out, and this is shaping up to be the standout heyball event of the year.

If you haven't already, now's the time to get properly across the differences between heyball and the pool most club players grew up on. Our Heyball vs 8-Ball comparison tool walks through the table, the pockets, and the clock — five minutes there and Pune's broadcast will make a lot more sense.

And if a foul dispute has ever derailed a heyball session at your local table, our Heyball Foul & Ball-in-Hand Explainer is worth a look before the tournament starts — covers the break rules, the shot clock, and what actually happens when things go wrong.

Drill of the Week: The Long Straight Blast

Discipline: Universal — works for 8-ball, 9-ball, and heyball Difficulty: Beginner to intermediate

What it trains: Consistent cue delivery over distance, and reading whether your stroke actually stays straight under pressure

Setup

Place a single object ball roughly two-thirds of the way down the table from your cue ball, with both balls positioned in a straight line running into one of the corner pockets — not down the center of the table, but on the diagonal that points true at that pocket.

The Task

Pot it. Simple as that. But do it twenty times in a row, and track how many go in clean versus how many drift wide, especially as you tire toward the end of the set.

Why It Works

A long straight shot looks trivial on paper, which is exactly why club players rarely practice it and then blow it in a match when it actually matters. Any tiny flaw in your stroke — a slight side-on delivery, a wandering bridge hand, cueing off-center without realizing — gets massively amplified over distance. Short shots forgive bad technique. Long ones expose it immediately. If your pot percentage drops noticeably after shot twelve or so, that's fatigue creeping into your fundamentals, and now you know it's there instead of finding out mid-frame.

Looking Ahead

Pune takes over the cue sports conversation from here — full coverage once the tournament's underway next week. On the snooker side, attention shifts to the Wuhan Open, the next ranking event on the calendar, running 23-29 August.

If you're organizing your own club night or local event in the meantime, our full Tools section now covers the essentials — the free draw maker for generating a random bracket in seconds, plus both foul explainers for settling disputes before they drag out longer than the shot itself.