7-1 Robertson to retain his title

SPORTS BETTING: 

SINCE his return from a self-imposed snooker exile almost three years ago, Ronnie O’Sullivan has been very much the man to beat.

When he is on his top game, the rest of the world’s top players might as well stay at home.

An example of O’Sullivan’s peerless talent came in the recent televised Champion of Champions event, which he won comfortably despite a brave rally from his opponent in the final, Judd Trump.

We all know that if the Rocket plays well in the UK Championship which got under way yesterday then, in all probability, he will win it. But this is not one of O’Sullivan’s best tournaments these days.

The Rocket hasn’t won it for seven years and though he still has four UK titles, that’s not a great record for a player who clinched his first win as a teenager, 21 years ago.

O’Sullivan remains the man to beat though, and the bookies know it. A top-priced 9-4 favourite, O’Sullivan also has the luxury of a kind draw, which should see him reach the quarter-finals without fuss.

But the quarter-finals are likely to feature at least six of the world’s top eight players, so is O’Sullivan really good value at cramped odds - particularly since all matches before the final are a relatively-short best of 11 frames?

I don’t think so, but defending champion Neil Robertson most definitely is.

This column’s 7-1 recommendation for the title 12 months ago, he is the same price this time round and, like O’Sullivan, has a draw he might have made himself.

I can’t see any way he will fail to reach the semi-finals, and even though O’Sullivan will probably lie in wait at that stage, Robertson is not a man likely to be fazed.

The opposite half of the draw is tougher, but the back-to-form Trump (9-1) looks sure to make a bold bid and I would not be surprised to see Shaun Murphy reach the last four – at the main expense of world champion Mark Selby – following his success at the Ruhr Open, which included a maximum 147.

RECOMMENDATION: Neil Robertson, 7-1 (general).