Ronnie O’Sullivan rates Shaun Murphy as a strong outside bet to win the the 2025 World Snooker Championship in Sheffield.
The Magician sealed a memorable success at the Masters in January with a 10-7 victory over Kyren Wilson in the final.
As a result, some people have been a little surprised that Murphy’s odds for the Crucible haven’t been shortened much.
The 43 year-old was only the ninth or tenth favourite with odds of around 18/1 before the action at the venue stages got under way on Saturday.
The likes of Zhao Xintong and an out-of-form Mark Allen are considered more likely picks by the bookies.
Part of the reason for that might be Murphy’s very recent form, with respective 6-0 and 10-1 defeats in the Players and Tour Championships halting his momentum.
But the 2005 world champion, who meets Daniel Wells in round one, has bags of experience in Sheffield and someone the Rocket sees as a threat on the opposite side of the draw to him.
“It’s a really different tournament,” Ronnie O’Sullivan said on TNT Sports on day one of the 2025 World Snooker Championship.
“Sometimes, you need a bit of experience here just to know how things can ebb and flow.”
“Sometimes, you can feel like you’re out of a match, but it can quickly turn around. Only experience gives you that knowledge.
“I was a little bit surprised that Zhao was up there as high as he was. For me, someone like Shaun Murphy, who has played great all season.
“He plays well at the Crucible – a very good bottle player. I know obviously he’s near Judd [in the draw], so maybe that’s why his odds were quite big.
“If he gets through Judd, you’d have to say he’s a strong contender.”
Shaun Murphy and pre-tournament betting favourite Judd Trump could clash as early as the second round if they both emerge from their last-32 ties.
In the same half of the 2025 World Snooker Championship draw as O’Sullivan, meanwhile, lies one of his fiercest rivals in Mark Selby.
The seven-time world champion, who lost Selby in the 2014 title-deciding contest and could meet him in the quarter-finals again this year, believes that he is another competitor to keep an eye on.
“You’d have to make Kyren and Judd the two best players in the world and ahead of everybody else,” said Ronnie O’Sullivan, who will meet Ali Carter in round one.
“But I think Selby has played good all season. I think he’ll play well here at the Crucible, and I think he’ll be a match for anybody.”
“Sometimes, certain players match up better against others. So I think Selby’s only difficult opponent would be someone like Judd Trump.”
Mark Selby and Ronnie O’Sullivan have been instilled as the second and third favourites behind Judd Trump with most bookies.
And with reigning champion Kyren Wilson succumbing to the Curse of the Crucible on the first evening with his 10-9 defeat to Lei Peifan, Zhao Xintong has been elevated to the fourth favourite.
That may come as somewhat of a surprise to many, given how the Chinese cueist still competes as an amateur player.
But the former UK champion has been in lightning form since beginning his comeback from a ban, dominating the feeder Q Tour and emerging through four rounds of World Championship qualifiers at the English Institute of Sport.
“With Xintong, he won the Q Tour so easily. He was miles in front, he had loads of 147s, loads of 140s,” TNT Sports pundit Jimmy White said.
“He went through qualifying. In his match with Elliot Slessor, they both had three centuries. Elliot Slessor played really well.”
“But Xintong has got them extra gears. For me, he is one of the best ball strikers I’ve ever seen.
“He can win four or five frames in a row, no problem at all. Ronnie at his best, that’s what he used to do all the time.
“Okay, it takes a lot to win the World Snooker Championship – you do need a bit of experience.
“But no one sitting here would be surprised if Xintong did win it, because he is that good. He’s that good a scorer.”
Zhao Xintong plays his first-round match against 2024 runner-up Jak Jones on Sunday and Monday.
Featured photo credit: Monique Limbos
