It’s been a whistle stop week in Shanghai which now culminates in an exciting final between Ronnie O’Sullivan and Judd Trump – two of the sport’s most popular attractions.
This contest threatens to be a box office thriller between two natural showmen who between them represent the old and new generation of snooker entertainers.
In an era when events held in China are numerous, The Shanghai Masters remains a favourite of the players and seems to draw in the best crowds and has done ever since its formation back in 2007. There’s no doubt this juicy match-up will produce yet another great attendance.
In the absence of the home fans’ beloved Ding Junhui, these guys really are the crowd favourites.
Form men
You just need to take one look at the form guide to know we’re almost guaranteed a classic here.
The Rocket is playing some inspiring snooker at the moment and finds himself in his third final from the last four events – a level of consistency he hasn’t produced for a number of years.
But his run here has been a bit of a trip down memory lane so far. This is O’Sullivan’s first final in China since he won this same event back in 2009, although this lengthy wait has been largely down to him not playing in many events over here in more recent seasons. To get this far he’s also had to beat two of his old rivals in the shape of Mark Williams and John Higgins who have progressed to their mutual position as snooker greats almost side by side having all been students from the class of 1992 when they all turned professional.
Trump has looked in devastating form himself so far this week winning the first four of his five matches 5-0 before overcoming Jack Lisowski 6-3 in the semi-finals which takes him back up to number two in the world rankings.
Judd is a contender in every single event he plays in these days and has a thirst for titles which you would expect from a player operating in his peak years. His admiration for O’Sullivan is vast but he has never been afraid to stand up to him on the big stage.
In fact, these two giants of the game have produced their fair share of epic battles down the years. Most famously in finals, O’Sullivan beat Trump 10-9 in the UK Championship in 2014 and they played out another deciding-frame final in reverse when Trump came out on top 9-8 in last season’s European Masters final.
These were seismic battles without any doubt and we could be in line for another. Between them, they have already produced 60 centuries this season (30 each) and sit proudly at the top of the leaderboard when it comes to making tons with Mark Allen the closest behind them on 23.
Sit down and enjoy this one because it will be fast, furious and almost certainly one for the scrapbook.
