Fresh Rocket fancied to serve up another tasty snooker treat

Semi-final
ITV4, 7pm Friday

Ding Junhui was no match for Shaun Murphy in their Champion of Champions group final on Monday but the Magician will do well to pull a rabbit out of the hat to defeat Ronnie O’Sullivan in the first semi-final.

Murphy allayed any concerns that his move to Dublin may have had a negative effect on his game when dominating Ding 6-3 in their Group A decider.

He upset O'Sullivan 10-8 in the final of last year's Coventry tournament, but the Rocket is looking fresh and battle-ready at the Ricoh Arena this season and he showed that when whipping John Higgins 6-3 in their Group Four decider with the aid of four centuries (109, 101, 137 and 114).

That was top-class snooker in a tournament which is also designed to entertain the crowd and it's likely that Murphy will need to find more to live with the Rocket.

O'Sullivan leads Murphy 6-2 in terms of tons scored in the tournament this year and 12-4 (with one draw) in their personal match series.

It's still the best of 11 frames in the semi-finals and O'Sullivan should have enough in his armoury to progress and avoid a final-frame decider.

Recommendation
R O'Sullivan -1.5 frames
2pts 8-15 BoyleSports

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