The World Open final will take place over two sessions of action on Sunday when the best player of the season goes up against the star home player as Judd Trump meets Ding Junhui in what should be a cracking conclusion to the tournament.
Trump goes in search of a fifth ranking event title of the season while Ding will be looking to win a ranking tournament for the first time since 2019. £170,000 is the reward for the winner and a serious confidence boost heading into the final two huge competitions of the campaign.
Judd Trump
I think it is fair to say that Judd Trump hasn’t been his brilliant best this week but such is the standard of his game right now that he doesn’t need to be on top form to come through against the majority of opponents in the world. Whether Ding would fall into that category remains to be seen but it might be that now he is into the final Trump relaxes and shows us his best game. If he does then based on the season so far he is more than entitled to win this final.
Trump has largely had a nice draw this week. Kyren Wilson looked a challenge in the quarter final but he didn’t really show up and Jackson Page was a nice draw in the last four given that he was competing in his maiden semi-final at ranking event level. You can only beat what is in front of you but it would be a surprise if this isn’t the toughest challenge that Trump has had over the course of the week. We know he knows how to handle himself in big finals which is a huge thing here.
Ding Junhui
You have to give a lot of credit to Ding Junhui this week. I think the crowds here have been at even more fever pitch levels than any we have seen in that part of the world, understandably so with this tournament returning after five years, but with Ding being the coveted superstar he has been under a huge pressure to perform and he has taken things in his stride. The crowds are that raucous for him that he needed a police escort to leave the playing area after his win over Neil Robertson in the semi-final.
Ding had to ride his luck in the semi-final when Robertson looked in good position in the deciding frame but given the pressure he would have been under to dish up in that last frame, the fact he handled himself so well should bode well for him in this final, as should the fact that he has beaten Shaun Murphy and Robertson on his way to this final. He’ll have the crowd right behind him so he couldn’t really want a better scenario from which to pull off an upset.
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Head to head
These two have met 14 times in the past and such is how closely matched they are they have both won seven each. Where there is a slight advantage is for Trump in terms of the fact that he has won two more frames than his Chinese foe. He has 92 to the 90 of Ding. This will be the third time they have met in a final and they have shared the first two. This will be their first meeting in this tournament and over the best of 19 frames. Ding won their latest battle which was in the semi-final of the UK Championship earlier in the season.
Betting
I’ve a feeling that Ding Junhui might ride the wave of the crowd support and get the job done here but there is just so much pressure on him to do it that I can’t bring myself to part with any cash to back him to do it. I think he has played well enough this week and I don’t think Judd Trump is firing on all cylinders, not that he needs to in order to win tournaments as we saw earlier in the season. The 2/1 on Ding is hard to ignore but I will pass it up for another bet.
That comes in the form of near even money for over 16.5 frames. I expect this to be a fairly close final. Trump will dig in and he’ll probably get some chances out of Ding whereas Ding will score well and when he settles he’ll play well himself. These two are fairly evenly matched and this doesn’t feel like one of those finals where one of them runs away with it. My gut feeling is that Ding will come out on top but I like the score to be 10-7 or closer either way much more.
Tips
Back Over 16.5 frames for a 3/10 stake at 1.85 with Boylesports
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