Joe O'Connor vs Zak Surety Whitecaps: Prediction for the Match on July 16 2025

Joe O'Connor vs Zak Surety: Prediction for the Match on July 16 2025

Snooker is back again, and this is the first stage of the Championship League. In this competition, the 28th-ranked world player, Joe O'Connor, will face the 65th-ranked world player, Zak Surety. All actions will be held at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester. Both players are in form with the same regular pattern across their last five matches, with four wins. Who will win this next round of snooker? At Telecom Asia, we look at the match’s preview and offer free betting opportunities.

Joe O'Connor: Form and Statistics

Joe O'Connor is on a two-match winning streak. He faced fellow Englishman R. Walden and Chinese J. Jun. The matches ended with scores of 2-4 and 5-4, respectively. John Higgins demonstrated his skill as he fought through a 10-7 victory against Joe O’Connor. The Scotsman was challenged but showed his class, especially towards the end of the match, to prevail. John Higgins defeated Joe O'Connor 10-6 to win the Weide Cup World Open for the first time. It's his 32nd ranking win. He celebrated victories over R. Evans and H. Lyu, with scores of 4-0 in each match. He was defeated 3-2 by Judd Trump and Thomas Ford. Starting in 2025, he had an impressive run with back-to-back wins, defeating top players like Jak Jones, Jimmy Robertson, Mark Selby, and Jackson Page. However, he then suffered four consecutive losses: to Stuart Bingham (3-0), Matthew Selt (3-2), Mark Selby (1-3), and Jak Jones (3-1). He successfully defeated Kyren Wilson in the 1/16 round. When Joe O'Connor faces Zak Surety, he will be hoping to maintain the strong performance he has shown in this match. The Englishman has been performing well, having won each of his last five matches against Mark Williams, Junhui Ding, Zhao Xintong, Mark Davis, and Zak Surety, respectively. 

Joe O'Connor: Strength

Joe O’Connor has been playing some quality Snooker recently, but his performance against Kyren Wilson was pretty much flawless. In 2024, Joe O'Connor made Snooker's 200th maximum break. An incredible moment of history achieved by the Leicester man in his home city.

Zak Surety: Form and Statistics

John Higgins battles through to make his 57th ranking event final. He defeats first-time semi-finalist Zak Surety 6-5 in a decider. As he so often does, the Scotsman took advantage of Surety’s mistakes to take the final 3 frames and progress. Ding Junhui survives a scare to progress 10-7 over debutant Zak Surety. Impressively, Surety made 4 centuries (136, 110, 109 & 104) throughout the match to pressure the former finalist. Ding played his best stuff at the back end of the match to get over the winning line. He eliminates the 9th seed of the qualifiers, Jack Lisowski, to move on to Judgement Day. He played against Scot Donaldson in the Wuhan Open, and he easily dispatched him. In the meantime, Surety took on Sanderson Lam in the China World Grand Prix in a prior game and secured a 2-5 win. Looking at the Englishman's previous games, Zak Surety has three wins accumulated while losing to Si Jiahui and Peter Lines in other encounters.

Zak Surety: Strength

Throughout the qualifiers, Surety was a standout performer, defeating Ricky Walden, Jack Lisowski, and Antoni Kowalski to book his at the 'Home of Snooker' for the first time. Since he turned professional in 2014, there has been little to celebrate for the Englishman, but he did make the Semi-Final of the World Open this season, only to be edged out by John Higgins in a decider. That form shown in Yushan is a sign that he is more than capable of making a deep run when all aspects of his game click.

Joe O'Connor vs Zak Surety: Betting Tips & Odds

• O’Connor has been eye-catchingly impressive all week, defeating Trump, Murphy, and Carter on the way. The option is available at 1.72 odds in the 1xbet bookmaker for Joe O'Connor's first-frame winner.;
• Zak Surety and Ding have met once before in the 2024 World Open, with Ding coming out on top 5-3, but Surety hit a maximum 147 break in that match. The option is available at 2.20 odds in the 1xbet bookmaker, Zak Surety, Highest break in a match
• Both players have recorded four wins in the last five games. The odds the bookmakers have for Joe O'Connor to win are 1.80 and for David Lilley to win at 4.00.;

Joe O'Connor vs Zak Surety Match Prediction 16 July 2025

An intriguing tie that sees a repeat of the 2023 World Champion League - first stage, where Joe O`Connor secured a 3-0 victory over Zak Surety. O'Connor will be determined to make a historic repetition of his feature and won't be intimidated by the similar form in which Zak Surety is currently on, especially in the last five matches. I have been impressed by the 29-year-old this season despite not collecting any silverware. He was in top form to come through a high-quality battle with a 2-time maximum man, Jackson Page, on Judgement Day, making eight 50+ breaks. There's a high possibility this will be a high-scoring, intense battle from start to finish between the pair, but I have a feeling the Englishman has the talent and bottle to come out on top.

Our match prediction is Joe O'Connor to win odds available at 2.37 on the 1Xbet bookmaker. 

Our betting tip is Joe O'Connor 3-1 correct score with odds available at 3.75 on the Betway bookmaker. 

Our last match prediction is Joe O'Connor's first-frame winner with odds at 1.72 on the Bet365 bookmaker.