Ronnie O’Sullivan has tried to alleviate any pressure to win his sixth World Championship title by naming Judd Trump as favourite for the tournament.

The 39-year-old was beaten in last year’s final at the Crucible, contriving to blow a 10-7 lead against Mark Selby, who would win 13 of the final 17 frames to claim an 18-14 victory in Sheffield.

Now O’Sullivan, who has a property in Chigwell, believes 25-year-old Bristolian Trump is the man to beat ahead of the 2015 edition, which begins on Saturday.

The pair have met in three finals already this season with ‘The Rocket’ leading 2-1, however, Trump got the better of the Worsley-born potter in the World Grand Prix final.

O’Sullivan’s tournament is scheduled to begin on Wednesday, April 22 with the qualifying rounds currently underway. And speaking ahead of the tournament, he predicted Trump would be the favourite.

He said: “Judd has now beaten me in a big final and I think that was important for him.

“I would say he goes into the championship as the favourite – but of course there are people capable of upsetting him.”

O’Sullivan continued: “Hopefully I am one of those and you are looking at players like Mark Selby, Shaun Murphy and Neil Robertson while John Higgins has come back to some better form.

“But I just see Judd as the player in front at the moment. We have seen what can happen when he gets on a roll.”