China Open Snooker 2016: Final Result, Prize Money and Reaction

Judd Trump finally won his first ranking tournament of the 2016 season, beating Ricky Walden 10-4 in the final of the China Snooker Open on Sunday.

The Ace in the Pack overcame a rough start to the first session and produced some superb snooker to win eight straight frames to move within a single stanza of the title.

Walden managed to win a scrappy 13th, but Trump's win never looked in doubt, and he closed the deal with a break of 55.

As shared by Bet365, the 26-year-old may start running out of space on his trophy shelf really soon:

Per World Snooker's official website, Trump will pocket a cool £85,000 of the £510,000 total prize money package on offer.

Read on for the full recap.

Judd Trump 10-4 Ricky Walden

In-form Walden entered the final with plenty of confidence after his upset win over John Higgins on Saturday, but he was the underdog against Trump, who has looked close to unstoppable at times this week.

Referee Jan Verhaas became the first man to officiate 31 ranking finals, and Steve of Maximum Snooker congratulated the Dutchman on his achievement:

Walden started the final well, playing simple, solid snooker and causing Trump plenty of problems with his safety game.

Trump usually dominates the more tactical frames, but Walden put him in all sorts of uncomfortable positions during the first session.

He also got lucky on a few occasions―as shared by Snooker Room, this incredible fluke cost Trump the second frame:

Trump finally got on the board in the third frame, but Walden continued his fine form in the fourth with a superb 108 break, taking a three-frame lead into the first interval.

Per Matt from Pro Snooker blog, Walden seems to enjoy playing in the Far East:

But the interval was exactly what Trump needed. The Ace in the Pack came out of the short break on fire, controlling the table with improved safety play and potting balls almost at will. He pulled a frame back with a break of 90, which would turn out to be his highest of the match.

In no time, he tied things up at 3-3, and he grabbed the last two frames as well to take a 5-3 lead after the first session.

Things went from bad to worse at the start of the second session for Walden. He lost the next two frames as well, and while Walden has a tendency to complete unlikely comebacks, things weren't looking up for the 33-year-old:

Trump didn't even look that fantastic in the second session, as he left his opponent plenty of chances with some sloppy safety play. Walden had his chances in every single frame, but time and time again, he missed routine pots or found himself snookered after a poor safety.

Eurosport's David Caulfield weighed in on what he saw:

A miss on yellow toward the corner pocket handed Trump his eighth straight frame, winning nearly all of them on the colours.

And while Walden reclaimed some of his dignity by pulling one back with a break of 64, Trump bagged his second career China Open title in the next. He previously won the tournament in 2011, his first rankings title.

Per World Snooker's official website, Trump expressed his delight at winning the tournament for the second time:

"

I’m very happy to win this again. It’s the first time I have won a tournament twice and it gives me a lot of confidence.

I didn’t play well at the start of the match, but from 3-1 down I played better and built a good lead. Ricky struggled today and my safety was better than his. I didn’t play as well as I did earlier in the week but it’s a good result.

"

The Juddernaut couldn't have asked for such a dominant performance at a better time, as his fantastic run in China should provide him with plenty of momentum heading into the World Championships, set to start at the iconic Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England, on April 16.

Trump's 2016 season had been a major disappointment until his triumph at the Championship League in March, and just one month later, he looks like the most in-form player in the world.

Follow @ReverschPass