Xi'an Grand Prix: Prediction, Tips and Odds

The second ranking tournament of the snooker season gets under way in northwestern China and the Racing Post's Joe Casey has picked out the best three bets for the first ever edition of this tournament.

Xi'an Grand Prix Tips betting tips and predictions

Ronnie O'Sullivan to win outright - 11/4

As part of snooker’s further expansion into China, the WST have inaugurated a new tournament, the Xi’an Grand Prix.

With a bumper total prize pot of £850,000 and £177,000 to the winner alone, snooker’s biggest names will descend on northwestern China looking to secure the crown and the winner’s cheque.

All matches up to and including the quarter‑finals are best-of-nine frame battles. The semi‑finals are best-of-11 frames, and the final is a best-of-19 frames clash.

There will be 64 players battling it out from Monday onwards, with 32 of those seeded.

Ronnie O’Sullivan has a strong record in the inaugural edition of tournaments and he could extend that in this first attempt at the Xi’an Grand Prix.

O’Sullivan won the first ever World Masters of Snooker earlier this year and the Rocket tends to save his best performances outside of the majors these days for overseas tournaments with big prize pots.

The seven-time world champion reached the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters last time out, losing 10-3 to Judd Trump, but he should improve further for that run as it was his first tournament this season.

The Rocket has landed in a relatively soft part of the draw, with Neil Robertson priced up as the main danger although the Australian's powers have been on the wane in recent years.

Other contenders such as Si Jiahui, Hossein Vafaei and Tom Ford all have poor head-to-head records against O’Sullivan and may struggle to lay a glove on the fifth seed. 

By contrast, O’Sullivan’s main rival Judd Trump has been given a tough draw with Mark Selby, Jack Lisowski, Gary Wilson, David Gilbert, Jak Jones and Pang Junxu all housed in his section.

Stick with the Rocket to win this one.

The 48-year-old won five tournaments last season and could get his hands on his first silverware of the 2024/25 campaign in this one.

Pang Xunxu to win 3rd Quarter - 14/1

One of the players in the tough third section of the draw who could be flying under the radar is Pang Junxu.

In front of home support, the 24-year-old could star and looks overpriced to win the third quarter.

He has been one of the most progressive young players in snooker in recent years and recently beat Gary Wilson and Mark Allen en route to the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters.

Although he is in a tough part of the draw, he has shown he can mix it with the best players in the world in recent years, finishing as runner-up to Mark Selby in the WST Classic last year.

Side with the youngster to win the third quarter.

Mark Allen to win 4th Quarter - 7/2

Mark Allen could be the player to side with in an open final quarter of the draw. The Northern Irishman won three tournaments last season and now looks ready to hit the ground running this term.

He was edged 6-5 in the recent Shanghai Masters by the progressive Pang Junxu but has landed in a winnable part of the draw.

Shaun Murphy is his main rival but Allen has won the last two head-to-heads and could be very tough to overcome in the fourth quarter.

Read more snooker betting tips and predictions on site

Xi’an Grand Prix odds

Ronnie O’Sullivan - 11/4
Judd Trump - 11/4
Mark Selby - 11/1
Neil Robertson - 11/1
Shaun Murphy - 12/1
Mark Allen - 12/1
Kyren Wilson - 14/1

View the full market and more odds for the Xi'an Grand Prix on site.

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.