Ronnie O’Sullivan names his Masters favourite as he doubts Mark Selby belief
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Ronnie O’Sullivan has backed Judd Trump as the Masters favourite, saying Mark Selby is his closest challenge but lacks the belief to beat him. The quarter-final line-up is set, with Trump taking on Ding Junhui and Selby meeting Mark Allen in the last eight.
![[Johnstone's Paint Masters 2025 - Day 2]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/GettyImages-2193776528.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
Elsewhere, Shaun Murphy faces Neil Robertson and world champion Kyren Wilson plays Luca Brecel in a blockbuster set of fixtures played over Thursday and Friday. The Rocket – who pulled out of the tournament two days before he was due to defend his title – says world number one Trump deserves to be favourite for every tournament he enters and the Masters is no different.
![[Johnstone's Paint Masters 2025 - Day 3]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/GettyImages-2193938268.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
O’Sullivan was extremely impressed by Selby’s opening round win over Ali Carter and sees him as second favourite to Trump, but feels the Jester has an issue when facing the Ace. The seven-time world champion compared Selby playing Trump to Michael van Gerwen’s struggles against Luke Littler in the World Darts Championship final earlier this month.
‘I obviously think Trump has to be favourite for every tournament he plays, so a lot of us kind of take him out of it and think, who’s second? Who’s the one who might get past him?’ O’Sullivan said on Eurosport. ‘For me, that would have to be Selby at the moment, but I don’t think Selby relishes playing Judd. I think it was like when Van Gerwen played Luke Littler. He looked like he didn’t want to be there, he didn’t fancy the job.
