The Champion of Champions has reached the end with the final on Saturday all set up to be one of the best in recent times as two of the best to have ever graced the game of snooker battle it out over the best of 19 frames for the title and the £100,000 first prize.
John Higgins won in China last week and has looked sensational this week and he goes up against arguably the best there has ever been in Ronnie O’Sullivan who looked back to his brilliant best in his semi-final on Friday. This could be a sensational final.
John Higgins
You could have forgiven John Higgins for taking it a little easy this week after such a high last week. Not only did he win last week and undoubtedly celebrated it like he should have done but it was in China and he had to get back for this tournament but he has recovered properly and has looked every bit as good this week.
Higgins has already seen off three top level players this week in Shaun Murphy, Judd Trump and Ding Junhui and now he faces another. He has scored brilliantly and delivered his usual tactical brilliance and you sense he is going to take a lot of beating in this final.
Ronnie O’Sullivan
The Rocket might have had the easier group on paper but he destroyed it like he should have done and he did a bit of a job on Mark Allen in the semi-final too. In fact at times in that semi-final he was unplayable in a 6-2 win and if you think it was because Allen played badly or bottled it think again, his two frames were both won with century breaks.
O’Sullivan remains unbeaten in this tournament in the three years he has competed in it so he knows how to get the job done and generally the longer he is in a tournament the better he gets and whenever he plays someone he respects greatly the better he plays so we should expect a vintage level from him here.
Head to Head
These two have played 58 times previously with O’Sullivan holding a 30-25 advantage and they have also played out three draws. In finals O’Sullivan’s lead is 10-6 from their 16 finals so from that point of view Higgins has something to find going into this match.
Betting
Every way I look at this final I’m expecting a cracker. Both men are playing fantastic snooker and both raise their game against the other. We all remember their famous Masters final which went the distance 10 years ago and I wouldn’t be surprised if we get something similar from the two here.
If pushed I would pick Higgins to win the final but I’m not one to take on O’Sullivan very often and I certainly don’t do it after he delivered a masterclass the night before but given that I expect it to be tight the logical bet is to take over 16.5 frames and sit back and enjoy the contest without sweating about who might or might not win.
Tips
WON – Back Over 16.5 frames for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with William Hill
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