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Ssb - ronnie at the double
Ronnie O'Sullivan has never won the Pokerstars.com Masters and World Championship in the same year. The sponsors of the latter, Betfred.com, are offering 16/1 on him doing so in 2010.
Ronnie seems to play well in spells. Last year he played some great stuff to win a fourth Masters crown. At the Crucible he failed to reproduce this form.
So the good news for his many fans is that if he fails to land a fifth Wembley title this week, he could be a racing certainty to become world champion for a fourth time in May. Only once in the last six years has he failed to win either title.
He faces a very tough opening round encounter in the shape of Australian Neil Robertson, who lies a place behind him at third in the current provisional rankings.
One concern I would have for O'Sullivan is his constant chopping and changing of cues. Even for a talent such as he is, this doesn't seem like the most sensible policy.
Yes, he won the Masters last year with a brand new model - a remarkable feat - but it should also be remembered that Joe Perry had the pink to beat him 6-4 in the first round.
O'Sullivan's record in the Masters is second only to Stephen Hendry's and if he wins the title on Sunday he will have won in excess of £1m in prize money at Wembley.
It's 15 years since he first scooped the trophy and he remains the favourite to do so again this season.
Robertson beat O'Sullivan in the quarter-finals of the first two ranking events he won and is a confident, attacking player in much the same style as his opponent.
He played very well at Wembley last year but lost 6-3 to Stephen Maguire in the quarter-finals, a match which ended with five successive centuries.
Neil went home for Christmas and said it was extremely hot, not a problem he has encountered since returning to the UK.
But will he manage to freeze O'Sullivan out?
More...
Ronnie seems to play well in spells. Last year he played some great stuff to win a fourth Masters crown. At the Crucible he failed to reproduce this form.
So the good news for his many fans is that if he fails to land a fifth Wembley title this week, he could be a racing certainty to become world champion for a fourth time in May. Only once in the last six years has he failed to win either title.
He faces a very tough opening round encounter in the shape of Australian Neil Robertson, who lies a place behind him at third in the current provisional rankings.
One concern I would have for O'Sullivan is his constant chopping and changing of cues. Even for a talent such as he is, this doesn't seem like the most sensible policy.
Yes, he won the Masters last year with a brand new model - a remarkable feat - but it should also be remembered that Joe Perry had the pink to beat him 6-4 in the first round.
O'Sullivan's record in the Masters is second only to Stephen Hendry's and if he wins the title on Sunday he will have won in excess of £1m in prize money at Wembley.
It's 15 years since he first scooped the trophy and he remains the favourite to do so again this season.
Robertson beat O'Sullivan in the quarter-finals of the first two ranking events he won and is a confident, attacking player in much the same style as his opponent.
He played very well at Wembley last year but lost 6-3 to Stephen Maguire in the quarter-finals, a match which ended with five successive centuries.
Neil went home for Christmas and said it was extremely hot, not a problem he has encountered since returning to the UK.
But will he manage to freeze O'Sullivan out?
More...
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