Ronnie O'Sullivan takes on Jackson Page in the opening round of the China Open on Sunday, as the tournament returns to the calendar for the first time since 2019.
O'Sullivan played at the Shanghai Masters last week, opening up with a comfortable 6-1 win over Liu Linhao before crashing out to Kyren Wilson in the next round.
Page didn't feature at the Shanghai Masters, with his last competitive match coming at the end of July in the English Open qualifiers, where he won 4-1 against Phil Okane.
Ronnie O'Sullivan v Jackson Page Tips Summary
Best Bet - Ronnie O'ullivan -2.5 frames @ 4/6
Alternative Bet - Ronnie O'Sullivan to win 6-2 @ 15/4
Ronnie O'Sullivan v Jackson Page Prediction
Best Bet: Ronnie O'Sullivan -2.5 frames @ 4/6
For this match, seven-time world champion O'Sullivan is priced at odds of 1/5 to progress to the second round.
That is despite The Rocket not playing that often of late. He might have won his first game of the Shanghai Masters, but when running into a player such as Wilson, O'Sullivan failed to get over the line.
Against Page, however, he should feel confident of securing a straightforward victory. These two players have faced each other on three occasions dating back to 2017, with O'Sullivan winning all three.
More importantly, though, was the manner in which the Englishman won those matches.
Last time he thrashed Page 10-1 at the 2024 World Championship, while also defeating the Welshman 4-1 at the English Open in 2023 and 6-3 at the 2017 UK Championship.
At his best, Page could perhaps be an awkward opponent for O'Sullivan, but given that the seven-time world champion will be looking for a deep run in a tournament he has won twice previously, expect this to be a comfortable win.
Alternative Bet: Ronnie O'Sullivan to win 6-2 @ 15/4
Across his three meetings with Page, the Essex cueman has conceded just five frames to his opponent.
While not quite at his free-flowing best recently, a consequence of his selective schedule, O'Sullivan is still more than capable of producing the goods.
His 6-1 win over Linhao was proof that he can play superb snooker, making four 50-plus breaks in the victory over the 18-year-old.
Against Wilson in round two, he even produced three century breaks in a row, yet eventually suffered a disappointing 6-4 loss.
If he can take that sort of performance into his first round against Page, the Welshman could find himself in trouble early on in this clash.
The 24-year-old will look to get off to a good start and he will need to in order to defeat O'Sullivan.
With a bumper clash against Judd Trump awaiting the winner, however, expect The Rocket to ease to victory.
Backing a score of 6-2 is a solid looking bet considering how comfortable the previous encounters between these two have been for O'Sullivan.
Ronnie O'Sullivan v Jackson Page H2H Record & Stats
Ronnie O'Sullivan | 3 |
Jackson Page | 0 |
Key Match Stats
Ronnie O'Sullivan has won all three of his previous matches against Jackson Page
O'Sullivan has won the China Open on two occasions (1999 & 2000)
Page has never played in the China Open before
Page reached two quarter-finals of ranking events last season
O'Sullivan made the highest-ever break in professional competition with 153 at the 2026 World Open
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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.
