Ding Junhui 'deserves' to win World Championship title, says six-time winner Ronnie O'Sullivan

Ronnie O’Sullivan is backing Ding Junhui to rediscover his best form and fight for a world title “he deserves”. Ding’s form has been disappointing this season, with his best performance being a run to the third round of the English Open, but he showed better signs in his loss to O'Sullivan in the Welsh Open on Thursday. Ad/> His barren run dates back to the 2019 UK Championship, and he has slipped to 31 in the world rankings — while he is down at 85 on the one-year list.

Welsh Open'Ronnie performs a bit of grand larceny' — Magical pot against DingAN HOUR AGO Ding will have to qualify to secure a place at the World Championship next month, but it is a stage O’Sullivan feels the three-time UK Championship winner deserves to grace. O’Sullivan feels Ding can get back to his best and believes his run to the final of the 2016 World Championship, where he beat the Rocket and pushed Mark Selby hard in the final, will stand him in good stead in future. “I came off that game thinking the right man probably won,” O’Sullivan told Eurosport of his loss to Ding at the Crucible in 2016.

“To take Selby the distance he did in that tournament, it said more to me in those two matches than what he had done over his whole career. “There was doubt about whether he had that stamina or the ability to go the full hog. “Selby won the match.