The final of the Shanghai Masters takes place on Saturday when arguably the two biggest box office stars in the game compete over the best of 19 frames for the title and a monster first prize when Judd Trump takes on Ronnie O’Sullivan out in China.
Both men have cruised into this final playing some really top snooker and given that they are experienced campaigners at this stage of tournaments we should be set for a thrilling conclusion to what has been a very good week of snooker.
Judd Trump
It took until the semi-final for Judd Trump to drop a frame this week. That is how well he has played in this tournament and even then he only dropped three frames and had Jack Lisowski at arm’s length throughout. That sent him into his second major final of the season having made it to the European Masters final last month.
Trump has scored well in the main this week and having previously beaten the likes of Stephen Maguire and Luca Brecel without conceding a frame we know he is playing well and that his confidence will be high. He will need to take his chances in this final but he won’t be scared of O’Sullivan which is good to see.
Ronnie O’Sullivan
It is not just Judd Trump who has had to see off some tough opponents on his way to this final. O’Sullivan’s last three victims have been Barry Hawkins, Mark Williams and John Higgins and between the three of them they took just three frames. That is how well the Rocket has been firing this week.
One word of caution would be that O’Sullivan breezed into the final of the Champion of Champions last week and then could get nothing going against Shaun Murphy but with that so recent and probably still in his memory he may well be hell bent on ensuring that does not happen again. That may not be good news for Trump.
Head to Head
There is no separating these two on the head to head. In the 20 meetings they have had in the past both men have won on 10 occasions. They have played six finals previous to this one and perhaps surprisingly Trump has a 4-2 lead in that record so that may well give him some confidence here. Trump has won two of the last three meetings.
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Betting
I think we are all set up for a classic final here and that is reflected in the odds where the prices on things like centuries and total frames being very much on the low side. That is right though given the excellent snooker the two have produced but it does make finding a value bet a little more difficult.
There is one I like though and that is in the 50 breaks. I expect this final to be relatively close and these two don’t play many frames where there is not a 50 break whether it is at the beginning of the frame or when they are clearing up to win one. I expect that trend to continue in this final so over 13.5 50+ breaks is my bet for what looks a tasty finale.
Tips
Back Over 13.5 50+ breaks for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Paddy Power
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