Judd Trump demands fan removal after interruption at UK Championship

World No 1 Judd Trump said a spectator ‘needs to go’ after being interrupted three times during his UK Championship first-round victory over Stephen Maguire at York Barbican

Judd Trump lost his cool at the UK Championship on Saturday, insisting a spectator be ejected after being disrupted three times. The 36-year-old was facing Stephen Maguire in his first-round match at York Barbican when he was compelled to briefly step back from the table following a loud sneeze from an otherwise hushed audience.

The match referee subsequently warned those in attendance to “please be careful.” Yet when Trump returned to line up a red, another sneeze rang out even louder.

The noise visibly unsettled the snooker World No. 1, who glanced towards the crowd with a bewildered expression. Trump then turned to the referee, evidently frustrated, saying: “It’s not funny…that’s three times now.”

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The official then responded: “Yeah, I think that’s on purpose, so we’ll try and remove them now,” before Trump added: “Yeah, he needs to go.”

The Englishman then started studying the table once more ahead of his shot. Matters deteriorated further when Trump eventually played the ball, missing agonisingly to give Maguire an opening before shaking his head as he walked back to his seat.

Nevertheless, Maguire couldn’t capitalise on the opportunity, with Trump eventually emerging as a 6-4 victor at the UK Championship. Trump also discussed the disruption in an interview with TNT Sports after the match.

When quizzed about the incident, he said: “I mean, it’s not hard to sneeze silently or quietly. You don’t have to let it out as loud as you possibly can. Yeah, he was obviously doing it on purpose.”

Following his win, Trump is set to face Si Jiahui in the round of 16, after the Chinese sensation secured a 6-0 rout of Ryan Day in his opening game of the competition. It comes as Trump hasn’t clinched an event since nabbing last year’s UK Championship with a 10-8 triumph over Barry Hawkins.

Despite reaching the final of the Players Championship, the Northern Ireland Open and the Champion of Champions, the Englishman has yet to claim a tournament win in 2025. However, he maintains that he’s had a respectable year in snooker.

Reflecting on his performances, Trump said: “It has been a decent year, a solid six or seven out of 10 with a lot of positives. I reached the semi-finals of the Masters, the semi-finals of the Worlds, reached four finals.

“On that basis, you could say I’m one of the in-form players of the year. Even if I won here, it would not be a good year compared to other seasons – unless I win seven events in a season, then it won’t do anything for me.

“So much is expected of me. If I don’t win straight away, there’s more pressure and you don’t have that time when you’re at the top.

“Having so many good years in a row, it brings you back down to earth, and you just have to work harder. I still really want to win every event and I’m not miles away.”

The UK Championship runs until Sunday, December 7.