The first snooker title of 2019 will be won on Sunday when Ronnie O’Sullivan takes on Judd Trump in the final of The Masters, with the winner landing another Triple Crown event and the sought after Paul Hunter Trophy.
A tournament of this stature and quality deserves a wonderful conclusion and with two of the most watchable names in the game doing battle for the title, we look certain to get it, in what should be a cracking day of snooker inside Alexandra Palace.
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Ronnie O’Sullivan
I still don’t think we have seen the best of Ronnie O’Sullivan, but when we went into the tournament I didn’t think we were going to need to see that in order for him to make the final. If he wants to win the trophy the signs are that he is going to have to show some of his better form. We saw in the UK Championship that he can do exactly that though so Ronnie fans shouldn’t panic.
What I did like about O’Sullivan in the semi-final was he pretty much put a dangerous opponent to bed before the interval. Ding did come back into the match after the break and got back to 4-3 from 4-0 but in truth he was always swimming against the tide, and when O’Sullivan got the chance to end it, he did so in pretty ruthless style.
Judd Trump
There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the best player in this tournament so far has been Judd Trump. He is yet to trail at any point in the competition, if getting out of the blocks quickly and actively and is shutting the door on any comeback before they get too threatening. Trump has adopted a more cautious approach in this tournament and it has worked perfectly.
If there is a little concern for Trump fans it would come in the form of a couple of misses towards the end of matches when things are starting to get tense. That suggests to me that he wants to win the tournament badly, which is certainly no bad thing, but he might just want it a little too much which sometimes can bring about its own downfalls.
Head to Head
These two have met on 23 previous occasions and O’Sullivan holds the lead but it is only 12-11 so Trump certainly doesn’t fear the genius that is the Rocket and he isn’t beaten by him before the match starts either. Trump won their last match, in the Northern Ireland Open final earlier in the season. That was their eighth final and Trump holds a 5-3 lead in them overall which suggests when he is playing well enough to get to the final he is cueing well enough to beat anyone.
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Betting
I fancy Judd Trump has got what it takes to win this match. We saw in Northern Ireland that he is comfortable taking the match to O’Sullivan but also that he can win from behind against him. I think Trump has played the better snooker so far this week and as long as the occasion doesn’t get to him, and this is a man who has played in a world final so it shouldn’t do, then the 2/1 on Trump winning this final is just too big.
One of the reasons why it is too big is because I firmly believe we are in for a tight classic of a final. These two have met in six two session matches with the latest of those being when Trump won 9-7 in Northern Ireland. Prior to that O’Sullivan has a 10-3 Shanghai Masters final win to his name but the other four have all been tight, ending 9-8, 10-7, 10-9 and 10-7. Last year they played out a 6-5 semi-final in the Players Championship and the year before the same score in the Hong Kong Masters semi-final. Matches between these two often go tight. I expect this one too as well.
Tips
WON – Back J.Trump to beat R.O’Sullivan for a 3/10 stake at 3.00 with Coral
Back him here:
Back Over 16.5 frames for a 5/10 stake at 1.91 with William Hill
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