Rocket touches down in China

O’Sullivan looks to add China Open win to Masters success

Rocket Ronnie O’Sullivan showed his fighting qualities to battle past Joe Perry and win a record seventh Masters title at the Alexandra Palace last week, proving beyond doubt that he is still a major force at the top end of the game.

The 41-year-old Englishman now turns his sight on the China Open, which gets started this week in Beijing. Ronnie doesn’t boast the kind of sparkling CV in this competition that you might expect, and he hasn’t banked the winner’s cheque since beating Mark Williams back in 2000.

Odds support another O’Sullivan win

Despite that drought, Coral sports traders have him priced as the most likely winner, with 7/2 on The Essex Exocet reliving those glory days. The suggestion that he isn’t particularly fond of travelling to China for this tournament was shot down by the man himself in a recent press interview in which he told reporters, and fans, that it’s his desire to win another Welsh Open and China Open before he retires. If holding his form, there’s certainly no reason he can’t achieve that in 2017.

The favourite gets his challenge underway on Thursday evening against young-gun James Cahill. Experts have that one marked down as a straight-forward Ronnie win, and the perfect match to settle him into the format.

Bet on all the China Open matches here