Northern Ireland Open: Judd Trump v Ronnie O'Sullivan head-to-head, form and stats

O'Sullivan was first to book his place with an impressive victory over Ali Carter, storming to victory with five frames in succession having trailed 3-1.

Trump soon followed, ending the fairytale run of surprise contender David Grace with a professional performance on Saturday night.

It means current world champion O'Sullivan has an opportunity for revenge, having lost to Trump in 2018 and 2019, both renewals of course having taken place in Belfast.

Here we take a look at their head-to-head record, including both those finals, their form in 2020, high breaks so far this week and more.

Key info

• Best-of-17 frames final
• Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes
• Session times: 1300 & 1900 GMT
• Television coverage via Eurosport

Match odds

• Judd Trump: 8/11
• Ronnie O'Sullivan: Evens

Head-to-head

• Matches played: 26
• Trump wins: 13
• O'Sullivan wins: 13
• Frames won by Trump: 141
• Frames won by O'Sullivan: 148
• Finals won by Trump: 7
• Finals won by O'Sullivan: 3

2019 Northern Ireland Open final

Trump 9-7 O'Sullivan

• Centuries: 4-2
• High break: 123-135

2018 Northern Ireland Open final

Trump 9-7 O'Sullivan

• Centuries: 3-1
• High break: 117-134

2020-21 form

Judd Trump

• European Masters: SF
• English Open: W
• Championship League: F
• Champion of Champions: SF

Ronnie O'Sullivan

• European Masters: R2
• English Open: R3
• Champion of Champions: QF

Richard Mann's verdict

King and prince. Master and apprentice. Maybe we’re past that now, Judd Trump sat comfortably on his world number one throne and having beaten Ronnie O’Sullivan in each of the last two finals of the Northern Ireland Open.

Still, O’Sullivan is world champion having reigned supreme at the Crucible in the summer, a 37th ranking title making him the most decorated player in the history of the game.

Trump had too many guns for O’Sullivan 12 months ago, but only just, and the winning margin of two frames, while probably fair, doesn’t tell the full story of just how well O’Sullivan played.

A year earlier and O’Sullivan performed with similar distinction in the 2018 final of this event before going on to claim a record-breaking seventh UK Championship a couple of weeks later.

Throw in a Trump demolition in the final of the 2019 Masters between the pair and there is plenty of evidence to suggest the baton has been passed from the star pupil of that class of ‘92 to the new shining star of the sport.

Those rooting for O’Sullivan, of which there will always be many, will cling to the memory of his stunning comeback victory over Trump in the Tour Championship as recently as March 2019.

And, of course, this is no ordinary snooker player we are talking about: this is Ronnie O’Sullivan. If anyone can defy the form book, the stats and Father Time, it’s him.

Trump will start marginal favourite on Sunday, and rightly so, but O’Sullivan is a different animal nowadays; perhaps not the dazzling potter of old, but still the best break-builder in the business and now boasting a never-say-die attitude that was missing in his early years.

That has again been in evidence this week, most notably against Ali Carter in their semi-final, while Trump has also had to battle to reach his third final of the season.

Trump might bring the most explosive fireworks to the party but O’Sullivan still has fire raging in his belly and he will surely get a kick out of having the chance to put his younger rival back in his place.

This all makes for a fascinating final between these two greats of our game. Who knows, it could even be the last major final between O’Sullivan and Trump. In sport, there are no guarantees.

My advice would be to sit back and savour the match. That’s what I intend to do.