After a pretty intense week of snooker in the Scottish Open we have made it to the final and it promises to be a really entertaining conclusion to the tournament. We have a home player in it in John Higgins and he takes on the player of the week Marco Fu in a best of 17 frames showdown for the £70,000 first prize.
Marco Fu
Marco Fu has been amazing this week. His scoring has been there for all to see but he has come through the last two rounds for the loss of two frames and you only do that at this stage of a tournament if every part of your game is in good nick. Having lost the opening frame to Mark Davis in the quarter he has now won 11 of the last 12 frames he has played.
One of the reasons for that has been the scoring power he has displayed all week. Fu is now up to 10 centuries for the tournament which in only 27 winning frames is some going and there is a lot of high breaks added to that too. Having taken out Neil Robertson earlier in the event the big names aren’t being feared either and why would they be?
John Higgins
The home favourite had to come through a quite remarkable semi-final against Judd Trump to make it into this final. Trump flew into a 5-1 lead on Higgins with three centuries and a 99 break but Higgins held his nerve to reply with a ton of his own and three 50+ breaks to break the heart of his opponent and seal a 6-5 win.
That in itself showed us everything about John Higgins. He is playing some terrific snooker and when he is in this mood you literally need to peel him off the table to beat him. Wins over Ronnie O’Sullivan and Alan McManus earlier in the week highlight the sort of form the ‘Wizard of Wishaw’ is in currently.
Head to Head
Believe it or not Marco Fu actually holds a narrow lead in their head to head in all matches between the two. This will be their 22nd meeting and Fu leads 10-9 on past matches with a couple of draws mixed in. Fu has won their last two matches 4-1 and 4-0 but they were both two years ago.
Betting
I hate taking John Higgins on when he is playing well but I’ve got to do it here both because of the way Marco Fu is playing and the price the man from Hong Kong is. I think this will be a cracking final and like the one before it in the Home Nations I would not be at all surprised if this one goes the distance but Fu is scoring so well he is hard to ignore.
I’ve said time and time again you can judge Marco Fu’s game on how well he scores and 10 tons and countless 50+ breaks this week highlight that he is in fine fettle. Higgins got away with going 5-1 down to Judd Trump in the semi-final but I don’t think he’ll get away with it again. Fu is just a little too big here so I’m on him.
I want to be on the centuries in this final too. I expect high class throughout this match. These two are players who rise to the challenge set down by the opponent and if one makes a ton I expect the other to follow in kind. We have two of the six highest centuries makers in the history of the game on show here and between them they can produce three for us in this final.
Tips
WON – Back M.Fu to beat J.Higgins for a 3/10 stake at 3.10 with Boylesports
Back him here:
WON – Back Over 2.5 centuries for a 4/10 stake at 2.25 with Paddy Power
Back it here:
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