Snooker legend Stephen Hendry says Ding Junhui has what it takes to beat Ronnie O’Sullivan in tonight’s World Grand Prix final.

Ding Junhui. Picture by Monique Limbos

A cracking contest awaits at the Preston Guild Hall with the worlds number two and three battling it out for the trophy and £100,000 winners prize.

O’Sullivan goes into the grand final after having a full day’s rest with his semi-final victory against Stephen Maguire being held on Friday night.

But Ding faces O’Sullivan having had little rest as his semi-final win against Mark Selby was not concluded until after midnight on Sunday.

However seven-times world snooker champion Hendry, working as a pundit for ITV’s World Grand Prix coverage, said Ding’s lack of rest won’t be an issue for the pair’s first meeting since Ding beat him in last year’s World Championship.

“It will not matter one bit for Ding,” he said.

“He will come out tomorrow (Sunday) feeling the adrenaline and the occasion of playing Ronnie O’Sullivan in the final of a major ranking tournament. There’s no way he will fatigued by tonight (Saturday) at all.

Stephen Hendry. Picture by Monique Limbos

“Ronnie’s match (against Xiaou Guodong) where he made four centuries he was outstanding, but apart from that Ding’s been the better player for me (this week).

“Absolutely Ding can win, he’s got the powerful scoring game that you need and, as I’ve said many times, the only way you can put pressure on O’Sullivan is by winning frames in one visit and that’s what Ding is especially good at. “