The last four line up at the Champion of Champions is sizzling with quality and on Friday night we will find out the first name into the final when Ronnie O’Sullivan takes on Neil Robertson in a humdinger of a semi-final inside the Ricoh Arena in Coventry.
Both men won two matches to win their group and played some wonderful snooker in doing so. Robertson took care of Martin Gould and Shaun Murphy while O’Sullivan saw off Jimmy White and John Higgins.
Ronnie O’Sullivan
It was a day of two halves for Ronnie O’Sullivan in his group on Thursday. He was bang ordinary against Jimmy White in his first match, claiming afterwards that he has no motivation for the sport anymore, and then in the group final he took it to a new level in seeing off John Higgins 6-3 and if that O’Sullivan turns up here Robertson and the rest have got serious problems because that was spectacular even if he downplayed it.
If there was an area of weakness from the Rocket on Thursday it was in his long game, which was incredibly ordinary by his standards. When it came to the few safeties he did play and in the balls though he was absolutely supreme as always. If he rediscovers his long game then the rest of the circuit might have quite a few issues in the big events to come over the next couple of months let alone this weekend.
Neil Robertson
It feels like a whole tournament ago when Neil Robertson overcame Martin Gould and Shaun Murphy but he is back for a crack at this semi-final. I don’t think it was flawless Robertson by any means on Monday but he underwent a decider with Murphy and came out on top so he should be battle hardened coming into this match, even allowing for the strange events which have hampered his season.
Unlike O’Sullivan, Robertson looked very good from distance in the opening day of the event but in the balls he wasn’t as precise and pinpoint as we’ve known him to be, but another couple of days on the practice table should sort that out a little bit. If his long game works here he could be tough to beat because with O’Sullivan seemingly taking on everything, changes are likely to come regularly for the Australian.
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Head-to-Head
This will be the 28th time these two men have met in all competitions with Ronnie O’Sullivan coming out in 18 of the previous 27 while Robertson has won eight times. There has also been a draw. O’Sullivan heads the frame count 145 to 111 so he generally has the dominance over Robertson at the present time. O’Sullivan has won their last five meetings as well over the last year or two. They have played five previous semi-finals and O’Sullivan has a 4-1 advantage in those and he leads 5-2 in their best of 11 frame meetings. History is certainly with the Rocket here.
Betting
There was something about Ronnie O’Sullivan on Thursday that makes me nervous about backing him here. While he was quite clearly brilliant at times, he was ordinary at others and that makes me wonder if he is a real good thing or not here. If he goes for everything again you would think he will cough up some chances to arguably the best scorer in the game right now so I’ll take a different slant on this semi-final.
That involves the 50 breaks where the line is 7.5 and the price is a very acceptable even money. I don’t think there is going to be many frames without a 50 here. The table is running beautifully with the pockets accepting balls from everywhere and these two when they get in will fill their boots. The concern is that one runs away with it and we don’t get enough frames but 6-3 or closer either way should cover it and that will do me.
Tips
WON – Back Over 7.5 50+ breaks for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with William Hill
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