Judd Trump tipped to win World Snooker Championship
'Rocket' Ronnie O'Sullivan says his 25-year-old English rival has long been hailed as a rising star and will go into the tournament as favourite
Five-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan has labelled English rival Judd Trump the favourite to win the World Snooker Championship, which starts on Saturday.
The pair have met in three finals so far this season, with O'Sullivan leading 2-1, although the 25-year-old Trump impressed when he won the World Grand Prix.
Trump, who lost to Scotland's John Higgins in the 2011 World Championship final, has long been hailed as one of snooker's rising stars and O'Sullivan said: "Judd has now beaten me in a big final and I think that was important for him.
I just see Judd as the player in front at the moment. We have seen what can happen when he gets on a roll
"I would say he goes into the championship as the favourite - but, of course, there are people capable of upsetting him."
"The Rocket" added: "Hopefully, I am one of those and you are looking at players like Mark Selby, Shaun Murphy and Neil Robertson, while John Higgins has come back to some better form.
"But I just see Judd as the player in front at the moment. We have seen what can happen when he gets on a roll."
O'Sullivan, beaten by Selby in last year's World Championship final at the Crucible Theatre, will face tournament debutant Craig Steadman in the first round.
Selby, too, is up against a Crucible newcomer in Norway's Kurt Maflin, who beat Irish veteran Fergal O'Brien in the final qualifying round on Wednesday.
Trump is up against another World Championship debutant in Stuart Carrington.
"The record speaks for itself," said world No 1 Selby. "It is in the back of my mind, you can't take that away. I feel I'm confident enough. Just to win it once as I did last year was a fantastic achievement for me, but to win it twice and break the curse would be outstanding.
"I also heard that no one has ever won the China Open and then gone on to win the World Championship, so you could say there are two records.
"Now I'm trying to make a name for myself I have noticed players are raising their game against you because you are seen as more of a scalp than you were five or six years ago - in a way that just shows what you have achieved and is a good accolade."
For all O'Sullivan's talking up of Trump, Selby was in no doubt about who would start favourite for the tournament. "Ronnie is Ronnie. He is one of the greatest, if not the greatest."
