Rocket 8-1 after world U–turn

SPORTS BETTING: RONNIE O’Sullivan’s decision to go back on his decision to miss the entire snooker season and therefore not defend his World Championship title has thrown the betting market on the tournament into turmoil.

Punters will have been placing bets on their fancies on the assumption that O’Sullivan was not taking part so it will be interesting to see the stance adopted by the odds-layers should anyone ask for their stake to be returned in light of this latest news.

Personally, I would be amazed if O’Sullivan could make a major impact on the event given his inactivity from competitive snooker.

It is one thing to do the business in practice. It is quite another to find your very best form when the pressure is on and you have not been competing regularly.

But the bookmakers are taking no chances. Indeed, he is a shorter price than when he landed odds of 10-1 to clinch the title last year!

The best you can get about victory for the Rocket is 8-1.

One firm goes as short as 5-1, making him joint favourite with the precocious Judd Trump.

The latter is a best-priced 13-2, with recent Masters hero Mark Selby a 7-1 shot, Neal Robertson 15-2 and John Higgins 9-1. It’s 14-1 bar those.

It will certainly be fascinating to see how O’Sullivan fares at the Crucible in April, but don’t be surprised if he suffers an early bath.

His one competitive match since winning his fourth world title last year resulted in a a drab loss to a chap called Simon Bedford at a minor tournament in Gloucester.

I suspect Messrs Trump, Selby, Robertson et al won’t be losing too much sleep at the latest strange twist in the tale of the snooker enigma which is Ronnie O’Sullivan.