PartialLogo
Snooker tips

Fresh Rocket fancied to serve up another tasty snooker treat

Champion Murphy may get sent from Coventry by Ronnie O'Sullivan

Ronnie O'Sullivan has been in irresistible form in Coventry this week
Ronnie O'Sullivan has been in irresistible form in Coventry this weekCredit: Linnea Rheborg

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


Read every day for no-nonsense previews and expert sports betting tips



Today's top sports betting stories

Follow us on Twitter @racingpostsport

Like us on Facebook RacingPostSport

Adrian HumphriesRacing Post Sport

Published on 8 November 2018inSnooker tips

Last updated 16:55, 8 November 2018

iconCopy