Ronnie O’Sullivan kicks off his quest for a third Champions of Champions title on Tuesday with a first-round match against Stuart Bingham at the Ricoh Arena.

Former world number one O’Sullivan has had a light playing schedule so far this season although he has impressed on his few appearances, with a Shanghai Masters win followed by a run to the semi-finals of the English Open.

The 42-year-old now returns to one of his happiest hunting grounds, having won the Champion of Champions in 2013 and 2104 before losing out in the final in the past two editions.

England’s number two is the most successful player in the tournament’s history and he will be confident of making it through to at least the quarter-final stage this year when he takes on an opponent on Tuesday that he has lost to just three times.

World number three O’Sullivan has won 13 of the 16 meetings against Bingham and the Rocket beat his compatriot en route to landing the Shanghai Masters earlier in the campaign.

The Wordsley-born star, who is the 3.50 favourite to win a third Coventry title, is 1.30 to pick up the first-round victory whilst Bingham is the outsider at 3.30.

Victory for O’Sullivan, who leads the 2019 World Championship market at 4.33, would set up a last-eight clash against either John Higgins or Ryan Day.

Higgins is 1.50 to advance into the quarter-finals whilst his Welsh opponent, who won the Gibraltar Open and Romanian Masters this year, is 2.50 to upset the Scottish ace.

Defending champion Shaun Murphy kicks off his quest for glory on Monday and he is 17.00 to lift the trophy once again.