The first round concludes at The Masters on Wednesday with the afternoon match seeing two of the best to have graced the sport going at it inside the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes when Ronnie O’Sullivan takes on Ding Junhui.
There two have had plenty of battles in the past and we are always treated to some amazing snooker when they collide. We should be in for plenty more of that as these two men compete for a place in the quarter final.
Ronnie O’Sullivan
The world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan hasn’t had his best season to date but there are still plenty of others who would swap with him. The highlight of his campaign came at the Northern Ireland Open where he made the final before losing to Judd Trump. He also made the final of the Scottish Open but Mark Selby easily got the better of him before he went down again to Trump in the semis of the World Grand Prix in his last tournament.
The one thing that O’Sullivan is renowned for is raising his game in these elite events. He has made it perfectly clear that he doesn’t like being involved in the bunfight of the 128 man events where he can’t get on a practice table and the setup isn’t great. He has no excuses on that front here as he sets about chasing down this title for a seventh time. It won’t have been lost on him that the three standout players in the game – Trump, Robertson and Selby – are all gone from this event.
Ding Junhui
Since Ding Junhui won the UK Championship last season his form has been very much up and down. This season there have been more signs of life but each time he looks in great touch he then either produces a stinker of a display or runs into someone that puts enough pressure on him to make him wilt. He is more than capable of winning a tournament of this kind but you sense he is going to need his best to come through not just this match but the draw that follows.
Ding hasn’t been past the quarter final of an event this season. He has reached the last eight on four occasions but not gone past there. Interestingly it was O’Sullivan who ended his chances in two of those competitions and that might be ominous here. One advantage Ding does have is that this is not being played in front of 2000 fans at Alexandra Palace as we’ve seen him crumble against O’Sullivan in those conditions in the past and you sense he would do the same again. Playing him behind closed doors is much easier but Ding will still have to perform.
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Head to Head
There have been 24 previous meetings between these two men with Ronnie O’Sullivan having a huge advantage when you consider how good Ding has been through the years. The world champion has won 16 of their past battles with Ding coming out on top in just five of them. There have also been three draws. O’Sullivan has a healthy lead in the frame count as well with his advantage being 148-96. O’Sullivan goes into this match having won their last three meetings. This will be the fifth time they have played at The Masters. O’Sullivan has won each of the previous four.
Betting
It is hard to look past Ronnie O’Sullivan here if for nothing else than the fact that Ding has had him on toast in both their meetings so far this season before fading when the pressure was applied. I am a little reluctant to take the Rocket in this match though because he’s plenty short enough given the quality that Ding does provide technically, even if he isn’t the strongest mentally when it comes to this particular battle. We’ve also seen the big names look rusty so far this week so that is another concern.
The bet I like in this contest is for there to be more than 6.5 50+ breaks. These two players aren’t involved in too many frames where there isn’t a 50 break and generally when they meet over this distance there are more than 6.5 50 breaks. This table looks to be playing lovely for 50s so I’m not expecting too many scrappy frames given that both men like to get the balls open and dish them up. I don’t expect Ding to win here but I expect him to win enough frames and add to the 50 scoring to see this line covered.
Tips
WON – Back Over 6.5 50+ breaks for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Betfair
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