O’Sullivan to make it six in World Championship final v Selby
Published:After coming through a marathon 12-hour semi-final clash against world number one Neil Robertson at the Crucible, does Mark Selby have enough left in the tank to prevent Ronnie O’Sullivan from securing a sixth World Championship title?
The short answer to that is probably not. Although 5/2 outsider Selby came through that gruelling contest against Robertson (17-15), taking on a fully rested Ronnie who has crushed his last two opponents and has won all of his five previous Crucible finals looks a task too far for the Jester.
As he did in the recent Masters final at Alexandra Palace when the Rocket prevailed 10-4 over the same opponent, we’d be backing the five-time world champion to make it six in Sheffield at 1/3 with Ladbrokes.
Below are a few other wagers to consider for the Crucible showpiece, live on BBC television.
The Rocket’s first step towards greatness started with his maiden World Championship triumph over John Higgins which finished 18-14 back in 2001.
Since that classic final though, all four of Ronnie’s subsequent victories have been achieved with less than 31 total frames contested.
Ronnie is known as the master break builder as was the case when he turned in four centuries to depose Barry Hawkins in the semis.
He’s not only bettered Selby’s highest break of the tournament so far (133) by turning in a 136 against Shaun Murphy in the quarters, but he’s also posted three more breaks higher than 120.
Selby’s 133 against Robertson is the only time he’s scored above 110 thus far.
In both of Ronnie’s last two matches at the tournament the early exchanges has been close, seeing him level at 2-2 against Hawkins and Murphy after four.
Similarly, Selby’s titanic struggle against The Thunder saw the players level after the opening quartet.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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