TeddyT

This has been the poorest season for Ronnie O'Sullivan for some time but the big payday on offer here and the fact that he has signed a three year deal as a Saudi Arabia ambassador is very likely to focus his mind in a way he seems reluctant to do these days for regular tournaments. O'Sullivan has also opened a snooker academy in Riyadh so definitely appears to be buying into snooker's presence is Saudi Arabia. Crucially though, he has landed a very appealing draw which doesn't see him enter the tournament till the quarter-finals. Likely to play Ding or Murphy at that stage, neither of which have much of a record against him. From there, it will Selby or Allen in the semi where I'd fancy O'Sullivan to beat either of those over the seven frame format. If he makes it to the final he could face Trump or Kyren Wilson both of whom would offer a stern test but if we are on at 7/2 then there are opportunities to hedge if that appeals.

I make it 14-7 to Murphy on the h2h between these two in matches of 7 frames or more. That's a significant difference considering that both players have been highly ranked over a number of years. Perhaps Murphy knows how to beat Ding consistently? Nevertheless, Ding doesn't appear to me to be enjoying his snooker at the moment and ended the final frame early of his recent match with Luca Brecel when he didn't even need snookers. Then today he has beaten the Saudi amateur 4-0 with a century break but it appears that the amateur had plenty of chances to score and got 15, 54, 46 and 14 points in the four frames played. Murphy is very good at exploiting situations when his opponent is not on top form and even money to win tonight looks an excellent price.