Ronnie O’Sullivan could produce entertaining show in opener

Day two
ITV4, 1pm & 2.30pm Tuesday

Ronnie O'Sullivan and Stuart Bingham often produce tight encounters, but over the best-of-seven-frames format of the Champion of Champions first round it could be worth taking a chance that the Rocket turns on the style against his Essex rival.

Both players are relatively fresh – Bingham will still be basking in the glory of his English Open triumph in Crawley last month – but with O’Sullivan having missed the International Champ­ion­ship in China last week the title favourite could be fired up for Coventry where he has enjoyed playing in recent years.

Bingham, who was crowned world champion in 2015, is so good that O’Sullivan would rather not risk the clash going to a deciding frame so a bet on the favourite to successfully concede a start of a frame and a half to the Basildon potter may be worth having.

That's an 8-11 shot, but Bingham would need to take at least a share of the first six frames contested for the punt to be foiled.

In the second of the day two first-round matches John Higgins is certainly capable of defeating Ryan Day, but the Scot has not always prospered in this event.

Higgins went all the way in Coventry two years ago, defeating O’Sullivan in a high-quality final, but that was the only time the Wizard of Wishaw has made it past the quarter-finals in five trips to the Ricoh Arena.

The betting suggests Day is not without a chance, so it may be wiser to get a look at the players’ form before punting.

Recommendation
R O'Sullivan -1.5 frames
1pt 8-11 BoyleSports

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