Ronnie O’Sullivan versus Dominic Dale – 2011 Betfred.com World Snooker Championship Preview
Ronnie O’Sullivan and Dominic Dale are set to meet in the first round of 2011 Betfred.com World Snooker Championship, which is going to be held from 16 April to 3 May, at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, England.
This match is going to pull a huge crowd, as the Rocket, O’Sullivan, will take on the Spaceman, Dale. They have a completely one-sided head to head record, as these two players have met eleven times before in a professional competition and all eleven
matches were won by Ronnie O’Sullivan.
Their first meeting was in 1993, at the qualifying stage of World Championship and then it was in the 1998-99 season during the Nations Cup. The third and fourth encounter came in the same tournament the following season. The fifth meeting was in 2001,
at the China Open and then it was the British Open in 2002. Their next two clashes were the most significant, as they came in the semi-finals of both 2004 Welsh Open and 2006 Northern Ireland Trophy tournaments respectively.
The next time both players faced each other final was at the 2007 Grand Prix and this season’s PTC1 event. Their final meeting came at the PTC4 event. They were also scheduled in the German Masters but Ronnie’s withdrawal saw Dale move into the last-16.
So in their overall head to head record O’Sullivan leads Dale by 11-0.
As far as their Crucible history is concerned, the 35-year-old, O’Sullivan, has appeared eighteen times before and this will be his nineteenth time. Moreover he has also lifted the World Championship trophy three-time before; in 2001, 2004 and 2008.
O’Sullivan has also been in the semi-finals five times before; in 1996, 1998, 1999, 2002 and 2006.
Meanwhile the world number thirty-one, Dale, has participated five times before and this will be his sixth appearance. His best performance came in the 2000 World Championship, where he made it to the quarter-final before losing out to Joe Swail by
a frame score of 13-9. So arguably it can be said that the world number ten, O’Sullivan, leads Dale by miles in regards to his credentials.
The Englishman, O’Sullivan, started well enough with this season, as he reached the quarter-final and the final of PTC1 and PTC4 event respectively. However he chose not to appear in the following subsequent PTC events, as well as the Shanghai Masters.
Later on, he again reached the final of the World Open before going down against Neil Robertson. In the meanwhile he also produced a magnificent but controversial 147 break.
He won the Premier League as well but since then he has just struggled. He has suffered opening round defeats in each of the following tournaments which have brought him down to the tenth number in the world rankings.
For the Welshman, Dale, it has been an excellent season. His best performance came in the sixth PTC event where he beat Martin Gould in the final deciding frame.
Though he couldn’t perform in the two Chinese events, he has won his opening matches in each of the other five tournaments. Another strong performance from him came at the German Masters where he outplayed the likes of Davis Morris, Xiao Guodong and
Gerard Greene to qualify before receiving a bye to the last-16. He also did well in the qualifying round of this year’s World Championship.
Keeping all the facts and figures in mind, it is difficult predict the winner. However it will be Ronnie O’Sullivan, who is fancied for the match, though Dale believes he can beat him this time.
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