Ronnie O’Sullivan believes that it will be one of three players that will get their hands on the World Championship trophy in Sheffield this year.
The ‘Rocket’ was speaking after winning the Tour Championship on Sunday night in Llandudno, beating Neil Robertson 13-11 in the final.
O’Sullivan has been thoroughly impressed by the performances of Robertson, after he also beat him in the final of the Players Championship earlier this month.
Now, with O’Sullivan once again sitting atop the pile as world number one, he believes it is one of Sunday’s finalists, or Judd Trump who will triumph at the Crucible this year.
‘I’d like to congratulate Neil,’ said Ronnie after winning the Tour Championship. ‘Him and Judd have been the best players this season along with myself.
‘I’d be very surprised if one of us three doesn’t win the Worlds because of our consistency over the season.
‘He will win more world titles because he’s shown he’s got the bottle to do it.’
The three contenders have picked up an impressive amount of silverware between them this season, with 10 titles shared out between the trio.
However, with O’Sullivan having beaten both Robertson and Trump in north Wales this week, it is the ‘Rocket’ who will go to Sheffield as the runaway favourite to win a sixth world title.
The World Championship will be Ronnie’s next event as he is not competing at the China Open which begins on 1 April in Beijing.
Robertson and Trump will be playing the tournament as they look to gain one last boost ahead of the big one in South Yorkshire.
The bookies actually slightly disagree with O’Sullivan’s suggestion, as Mark Selby is ahead of Robertson in the betting for the World Championship.
The three-time world champ knows how to get things done at the Crucible, but his form in recent months has been a long way from his best, and it is he who has relinquished the world number one spot to O’Sullivan.
World Championship Odds
- 5/2 Ronnie O’Sullivan
- 4/1 Judd Trump
- 7/1 Mark Selby
- 9/1 Neil Robertson
- 16/1 Mark Williams
- 16/1 Mark Allen
- 16/1 Kyren Wilson
- 18/1 Ding Junhui
- 20/1 John Higgins
Odds courtesy of Betfair
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