We already know that Tom Ford is into the final of the International Championship and on Saturday we will find out who he faces for the trophy as Ronnie O’Sullivan takes on the home ace Zhang Anda in the second semi-final.
O’Sullivan is no stranger to winning big tournaments having won many of them all across the globe but he hasn’t reached a ranking event final since the 2022 World Championship. Zhang Anda is looking for a second final in as many months.
Ronnie O’Sullivan
Whenever these bigger tournaments pop up on the calendar it is always wise to look towards Ronnie O’Sullivan as a potential champion because he has made no secret of the fact that he doesn’t really have much time for the lesser events in venues he believes are substandard. This certainly isn’t one of those. O’Sullivan also knows he needs to compete well in the events he does fancy the job in so that he remains at the prominent end of the world rankings.
He has had a fairly comfortable passage through to this semi-final. The toughest opponent he has faced has been Ali Carter in the quarter final which he won 6-4. The one concern would be that the standard in that match was horrible and it might be that the week has caught up with the Rocket. If that was the case then the day off he had on Friday could be pivotal. O’Sullivan is experienced in these events and knows how to navigate them so you would have to think he’ll be hard to beat here.
Zhang Anda
Only he will know what has caused it but there has been a significant turnaround in the career of Zhang Anda this season. He reached the first big final of his career at the English Open last month where he led Judd Trump 7-3 before feeling the full force of Trump over the last six frames. There was a feeling that his run there was a bit of a freak week but he has shown since then that isn’t the case. He won a match at the Wuhan Open and qualified for the Northern Ireland Open and Scottish Open then has had this week.
It isn’t as though he has had an easy run this week either. He has defeated the likes of Mark Williams, Lyu Haotian and the man who is probably his hero in Ding Junhui to make it into this semi-final. Williams went on social media after that match and highlighted how well Zhang played in their encounter and he isn’t the worst judge going around. Zhang has suddenly started scoring really well but he showed in that quarter final win over Ding that he is capable of holding his own in the safety department too.
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Head-to-head
These two men have met on four previous occasions with Ronnie O’Sullivan holding a 3-1 lead over the Chinese player. He also leads 15-9 on the frame count. Zhang will know that he won their last meeting on his way to the final of the English Open last month. This will be the first time the pair have faced off in semi-final with their previous meetings being in the earlier rounds of tournaments. This will also be the first time they have met over two sessions and longer than a best of nine so quite how much history will have on this one remains to be seen.
Betting
I think the consensus is that Ronnie O’Sullivan will win this match and I certainly wouldn’t necessarily want to go against that school of thought but I don’t think the former world champion will have it all his own way. Zhang Anda won their last meeting at the English Open so although that was only over the best of seven frames he does know he can get the better of O’Sullivan which might be crucial, especially should this one get tight.
It is hard not to be impressed by the scoring power Zhang has displayed this week. He has made six centuries in his four matches and also another six 80+ breaks so he is scoring like a dream. O’Sullivan has played well in the main this week but I don’t think he has fired on all cylinders and Zhang is clearly inspired both by playing at home and the form he has shown. He led Judd Trump 7-3 in that English Open final last month and that all gives me the encouragement that he can win at least six frames here, if not the required nine.
Tips
Back Z.Anda (+3.5 frames) to beat R.O’Sullivan for a 3/10 stake at 1.80 with Boylesports
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