The final of the Northern Ireland Open promises to be one of the most eagerly anticipated title deciders in the short history of the Home Nations tournaments as Ronnie O’Sullivan takes on Judd Trump for the Alex Higgins trophy in Belfast.
The two will meet over the best of 17 frames for the title and a welcome confidence boost heading into the UK Championship in just over a week. More importantly it would qualify them for all the various one year ranking events too.
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Judd Trump
Right from the first match he played this week, Judd Trump has looked in awesome form and you had the feeling from early on that he would be around for the weekend. If you wanted to be critical you could argue that he had a favourable semi-final draw but there was nothing nice about playing Jack Lisowski and Ryan Day in the third and fourth rounds respectively.
We have seen a little more of the Trump that got to the world final seven years ago. He is taking on his long pots and going after the frames and he is always a much better player when he is doing that. That suggests he has been pounding the practice table and his confidence is surging as a result. He becomes a huge danger to O’Sullivan in this final.
Ronnie O’Sullivan
Having not been tested at all in the first five rounds, Ronnie O’Sullivan had to come through an absolutely crackerjack of a semi-final against Mark Selby on Saturday afternoon in what many are dubbing the match of the season so far. O’Sullivan eventually fluked the final red in the deciding frame to make it through to his third final of the campaign, in just four tournaments.
O’Sullivan has been in excellent scoring form as he hurtles towards the 1000 centuries mark and we have seen a clear change in approach the longer the week has gone on. At the start of the week he gave off a carefree attitude but he has been serious in the last couple of matches and you know he will be desperate to win this title.
Team News
These two entertainers have met on 22 past occasions with O’Sullivan narrowly ahead on their career meetings courtesy of 12 wins to the 10 of Trump. This will be the eighth time they have played in a final and Trump currently leads 4-3 in title showdowns but it is Ronnie who has won their last three meetings all told. O’Sullivan has won 120 frames in their previous meetings to the 102 of Trump so history suggests Ronnie has the edge but it isn’t by much.
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Betting
If you are a snooker fan it is hard not to be excited about this final as it should be an absolute belter between certainly the two best players in the week and most probably the two most entertaining snooker players currently on the globe. We should be in for two sessions of excellent snooker.
I think this final will go deep into the second session too. We’re not going to see too many frames that aren’t won in one visit here and with the long game of the pair in good order they should punch and counter punch all day long. Two of their last three meetings have gone the distance and I’m confident when this one ends the score will read no worse than 9-6 whichever way the title goes.
Tips
WON – Back Over 14.5 frames for a 5/10 stake at 2.00 with William Hill
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