Ronnie O'Sullivan v Xiao Guodong: Prediction, Tips and Odds

After a lean start to the season, Ronnie O’Sullivan will be hoping that the Champion of Champions will be the tournament that can spark his revival.

Since the tournament’s reinstatement in 2013, The Rocket has won four of the 11 stagings with his latest victory coming in 2022, when he defeated Judd Trump 10-6 in a blockbuster final.

However, O’Sullivan has struggled to get going this season and he arrives at the Toughsheet Community Stadium in Bolton following a series of early tournament exits.

The seven-time world champion was beaten in the last 32 of the International Championship most recently, enduring a 6-4 defeat to Pang Junxu, and he has a tricky draw in the Champion of Champions.

The Rocket’s opening opponent is Xiao Guodong and the Chinese cueman has been in excellent form for over a month now. The winner will face either Mark Selby or Shaun Murphy in the quarter-finals, highlighting the difficulty of their draw.

Guodong claimed his maiden ranking title at the Wuhan Open in October and he was a semi-finalist at the International Championship last time out, showing he remains in peak form and full of confidence.

So, while O’Sullivan deserves to be favourite given his ability to turn on the style at any point, his Chinese rival is in excellent shape and can’t be taken lightly.

This is Guodong’s debut appearance in the Champion of Champions but the 35-year-old has made multiple ranking event semi-finals and is fully deserving of finally taking his place in the tournament.

Ronnie O'Sullivan v Xiao Guodong betting tips and predictions

Xiao Guodong to win - 13/8

This seems like a good time to be taking on a vulnerable O’Sullivan, especially in a best-of-seven contest where a slow start can be extremely costly.

The Rocket has lost three of his last five matches, with his defeats coming against Si Jiahui, He Guoqiang and Pang.

Only world number 13 Si is ranked higher than current number 16 Guodong, who is finally starting to live up to some of his early promise with 11 wins from his last 13 matches.

In the International Championship last time out, Guodong defeated seasoned performers Ricky Walden, Mark Allen and Jack Lisowski and on recent evidence he should believe that he can perform to the level required to upstage O’Sullivan.

Ronnie has won four of his five previous meetings with Guodong but they haven’t played since 2018, so it may be unwise to read too much into that head-to-head record.

It would be no surprise if world number five O’Sullivan chose to turn a corner in this event, given his past success, although that must be taken on trust given his recent signs of vulnerability.

Xiao Guodong to have the highest break - 6/5

One of the most impressive aspects of Guodong’s recent resurgence has been his break-building and the Chinese cueman looks capable of having the contest’s highest break at 6/5.

Guodong has posted the highest break in six of his seven matches since winning the Wuhan Open, which includes victories over Walden, Allen, Lisowski and Jackson Page at the recent International Championship.

In his 6-4 quarter-final victory over Page, Guodong posted breaks of 135, 110, 73, 64 and 60, showing that once he gets in with a good chance to clinch the frame he often seizes it.

He also recorded breaks of 122, 91, 89 and 81 in a 6-3 victory over Lisowski in the previous round and he can take that confidence with him into Bolton, especially with O’Sullivan having been starved of much match practice recently.

The Rocket has made a century in only one of his last five appearances and those breaks of 132 and 124 came against women’s world number one Mink Nutcharut. 

Things will be much tougher against the tactically astute Guodong, who has an excellent chance of building on his current purple patch. 

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Ronnie O'Sullivan v Xiao Guodong odds

Ronnie O’Sullivan - 1/2
Xiao Guodong - 13/8

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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.