For the second successive Chinese final Ding Junhui will meet Mark Selby on Sunday with the International Championship title on the line. The two met in last month’s Shanghai Masters final with Ding coming out on top so Selby will be out for revenge in this best of 19 frame encounter.
Ding Junhui
There used to be a time when Ding would struggle with the burden of expectation whenever he played in China but those days look well behind him now and it is so good to see him able to play his best stuff in front of his adoring public. He has certainly produced that this week.
In many ways Ding could still be freerolling because at 2-5 down in the held over qualifying match his tournament looked done and yet here he is in the final having got stronger with every match he has played. His last two wins against John Higgins and Judd Trump were nothing short of superb so he’ll be confident heading into this final.
Mark Selby
The Jester from Leicester has got a reputation as a bit of a grinder who battles his way to successes but he didn’t seem to read that script in the semi-final where he was nothing short of brilliant in demolishing Stuart Bingham 9-3 to set up this final.
Selby had lost the opening two frames but once he woke from his slumber he played some sublime snooker including three centuries and a host of other breaks in one of his best ever performances. If he can back that up in this final then he is going to be a very tough nut to crack.
Head to Head
This will be the 25th time these two great players will have met. Selby heads into this final with a narrow 12-11 lead with the one draw. Their last meeting was in that Shanghai Masters final which Ding won 10-6 but their biggest meeting came back in May in the World Championship final, a final which Selby prevailed 18-14 in.
Betting
This is all set up to be a quite brilliant final and it is largely one I’m going to sit back and enjoy rather than get too involved in but there is one bet I like. It isn’t in the match betting. Some bookmakers can’t separate the two in their odds and in fairness I’m struggling too. This final really could go either way.
The bet I like is over 11.5 50+ breaks which looks ridiculously low given the way these two are playing at the minute. First of all in a best of 19 match you would think we would get 16 frames again at least so we only need 75% of those frames to have a 50 break in it. In their Shanghai Masters finale there were 13 50+ breaks and I’d wager both are playing better now than they were then.
In their respective semi-finals they made 14 50+ breaks between them so all the evidence is that this line is too low so I’m happy to go with the overs accordingly.
Tips
Back Over 11.5 50+ breaks for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with Paddy Power
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