Ronnie O’Sullivan: Jimmy White explains why Rocket will beat Luca Brecel and ‘probably’ win World Snooker Championship

Eurosport’s Jimmy White has attempted to explain why Ronnie O’Sullivan will beat Luca Brecel in their quarter-final and ‘probably’ win his eighth World Championship title.

“Luca is one of these players that is all-out attack,” White said as he began by analysing Brecel in the Eurosport studio.

“If they go in, he can win frames regularly from nowhere and from impossible positions.

“Why I think O’Sullivan will beat Luca and probably go on to win his eighth world title is because, in his game against Hossein [Vafaei], he was measured and focused.

“He scored and his positional play was good. Tactically, everything was working right and he was putting the cue ball in to trap his opponent.

“If he does this with Luca, those big pots and long shots are going to get more and more difficult, he is going to get frustrated, and he is going to give O’Sullivan a lot of chances.”

McManus added: “The only way he is going to beat Ronnie is by throwing the kitchen sink at him.

“He is not going to outmanoeuvre him, out-think him and out-smart him, but in my opinion, he is playing well enough to do just that.

“He is such a danger from deep play and deep baulk. He is a massive danger and Ronnie will know that.

“Ronnie is an unbelievably good player and he is so good on the big occasion. Every time he plays here it is a massive occasion.

“Like with the Hossein match, it just does not affect him. You cannot make it stick on him. You land one and you jab him, but it just will not stick to him.

“He is able to play with freedom. I don’t know how he does it, but I think it is his biggest asset, particularly at this place.”

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