The World Grand Prix final on Sunday promises to be a mouthwatering affair between Ronnie O’Sullivan and Judd Trump.
The two Englishmen will clash at the Morningside Arena in Leicester for the first ranking title of 2024 and the £100,000 top prize.
On Saturday, O’Sullivan produced arguably the performance of the decade so far in his 6-1 semi-final defeat of Ding Junhui.
Although a three-time champion this season in prestigious tournaments, there have been a lot of matches when the Rocket hasn’t performed at his best.
But the perfection he so desperately craves was on show for all to see as he effortlessly wiped the floor of a helpless opponent.
O’Sullivan compiled four century breaks and made two other frame-winning contributions as he orchestrated a near faultless display against a formidable foe.
The 48 year-old is on a 13-game winning streak on the main tour and in this kind of form looks almost unstoppable.
Victory would see him add to the trophies he already collected this season in the Shanghai Masters, the UK Championship, and at the Masters just a week ago.
Tasked with the mission of taking on the world number one at his very best is one of O’Sullivan’s greatest rivals in Trump.
There haven’t been many players over the course of O’Sullivan’s career who have been able to, on a consistent basis, stand up to the pressure of facing the seven-time world champion.
Trump possesses that in his locker, though, as proven by the countless times he has overcome O’Sullivan in final showdowns.
Indeed, this World Grand Prix final will represent the duo’s 13th title-deciding battle against one another in all competitions.
Trump has emerged triumphantly in seven of the previous 12, including at the inaugural staging of this tournament back in 2015.
Yet O’Sullivan has enjoyed the upper hand in more recent times, winning their last three encounters overall.
That run of success included triumphs in the finals of both the World Championship and the Champion of Champions in 2022.
Trump, however, has been the other form player of late, with the 34 year-old set to contest his sixth final of this term alone.
Following a 6-2 defeat of Cao Yupeng in the semi-finals, Trump remains on course to claim a fourth ranking title of the campaign.
If both O’Sullivan and Trump can perform at their best again on Sunday, it promises to be blockbuster viewing.
The 2024 World Grand Prix final pits the world numbers one and two against each other – an occasion not to be missed.
2024 World Grand Prix draw and schedule
Round of 32 (bo7)
Judd Trump 4-2 Jamie Jones
Lyu Haotian 4-3 Chris Wakelin
Mark Selby 4-3 Yuan Sijun
Ali Carter 4-3 Wu Yize
Barry Hawkins 3-4 Cao Yupeng
John Higgins 0-4 Shaun Murphy
Hossein Vafaei 4-3 Matthew Selt
Mark Williams 4-3 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Zhang Anda 4-2 Dominic Dale
Mark Allen 4-2 Jack Lisowski
Noppon Saengkham 4-1 Xiao Guodong
Ding Junhui 4-3 Ricky Walden
Tom Ford 4-1 Jordan Brown
Gary Wilson 4-2 David Gilbert
Zhou Yuelong 4-1 Stephen Maguire
Ronnie O’Sullivan 4-2 Pang Junxu
Round of 16 (bo7)
Judd Trump 4-0 Lyu Haotian
Mark Selby 4-3 Ali Carter
Cao Yupeng 4-0 Shaun Murphy
Hossein Vafaei 1-4 Mark Williams
Zhang Anda 4-2 Mark Allen
Noppon Saengkham 1-4 Ding Junhui
Tom Ford 2-4 Gary Wilson
Zhou Yuelong 3-4 Ronnie O’Sullivan
Quarter-Finals (bo9)
Judd Trump 5-1 Mark Selby
Cao Yupeng 5-4 Mark Williams
Zhang Anda 2-5 Ding Junhui
Gary Wilson 1-5 Ronnie O’Sullivan
Semi-Finals (bo11)
Judd Trump 6-2 Cao Yupeng
Ding Junhui 1-6 Ronnie O’Sullivan
Final (bo19)
Judd Trump 7-10 Ronnie O’Sullivan
Featured photo credit: WST
O’Sullivan proved once again last night that his peak game is the best we’ve ever seen. It’s the best I’ve seen him play since the 2017 English Open final. It sits comfortably alongside the other 10-15 displays I’ve seen from him where he’s produced masterpieces that leave you buzzing from what you’ve witnessed. Other ones include the two semi-finals he won over Hendry at the Crucible; thrashing Walden 6-0 at the Masters in less than an hour and the 2005 and 2007 Masters finals.
O’Sullivan appearing in a record-extending 63rd ranking final. It’s his third in this event. Trump in a 42nd ranking final and 4th at the World Grand Prix.
Trump has won their two meetings in this event. O’Sullivan leads the head-to-head 14-12 using the Hendon method and 16-15 by the Florax criteria!
Incidentally, Ron Florax no longer listed on the BBC credits as a statistician. Hendon now their only stat man.
Hendry, Selby and John Higgins are arguably the only other players that have been able to consistently stand up to O’Sullivan in the big matches.
The record for centuries in the World Grand Prix is 30, held jointly by Trump and O’Sullivan.
Of course, a fifth World GP final for Trump. He’d lost to Allen in addition to winning his first three finals.